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john@nebraskafarmersunion.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 15, 2007

Nebraska Farmers Harvest New Carbon Credit Opportunities

LINCOLN, Neb. – Nebraska farmers and ranchers have enthusiastically taken advantage of the Nebraska Farmers Union sponsored Carbon Credit Program to harvest market based farm income for using good conservation practices that store carbon in the soil.

John Hansen, President of Nebraska Farmers Union, announced the preliminary signup results for their 2007 carbon sequestration program. The farm program acres for continuous no-till and newly seeded grasses or legumes provision signups increased 105,500 acres to a total of nearly 164,000 acres for the Nebraska Farmers Union sponsored program. The no-till and newly seeded grasses or legumes program was expanded from 51 to all 93 counties in 2007. The sequestration rates were also increased. “The Chicago Climate Exchange’s expansion of the carbon credit program to all 93 counties and the increase in rates for 2007 were a huge plus for Nebraska. It means that farmers and ranchers across the whole state have the opportunity to participate in this new innovative program,” Hansen said.

The Chicago Climate Exchange’s new Rangeland Management program established in 2007 was a big hit with Nebraska ranchers. The new program attracted 185,500 acres in new rangeland management applications. Those applications are currently in the process of being verified. Hansen said.

“The response has been tremendous. We did not know what to expect when we started this program late last fall. I would never have guessed that we would have nearly 350,000 acres signed up,” Hansen said.

Nebraska Farmers Union believes that the value of carbon will likely go up as carbon reduction and climate exchange legislation is implemented. “I think most observers feel it is just a matter of time until some sort of “cap and trade” regulatory system is established in the United States to reduce carbon emissions. When that happens, the number of carbon buyers will go up dramatically.” Hansen said. “While we feel really positive about the number of acres we have signed up, we believe there are a tremendous number of acres of both cropland and rangeland that are currently eligible but have not been signed up yet. The beauty of this program is that based on your farming or rangeland management practices, you are either eligible or not. If you are, why not get paid for what you are already doing? If you are not eligible, as the value of the carbon increases in the future, you might want to make some of the changes necessary to receive additional market based income from carbon storage.”

The Chicago Climate Exchange will be responsible for inspecting 10% of the acres enrolled to make sure they are in compliance. Those inspections will go on this fall according to Nebraska Farmers Union President John Hansen.

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