Carbon credit generates nearly $500,000 for Nebraska's farmers

Nebraska Farmers Union President John K. Hansen announced that 221 Nebraska farmers will receive checks totaling $484,485.66 in income for 2006 and 2007 practices from no-till and newly seeded grassland offsets that capture and store carbon in their soil through the National Farmers Union Carbon Credit Program. Nebraska checks averaged $2,192.24. Check amounts varied reflecting the amount of acres enrolled, rates, zones, and practices. Some farms enrolled their entire farm, and some enrolled only part of their acres, depending on their situation. "This private sector based program works for farms of all sizes," Hansen said.

While enrollment is ongoing, the next pool deadline for no-till and seeded grass offsets is Aug. 15.

Hansen said, "Eligible farmers are encouraged to enroll before the Aug. 15 deadline so they can benefit from the 'reach back' provision and receive carbon credit payments for both the 2007 and 2008 crop years. If farmers or ranchers need help enrolling, call our office at 402-476-8815."

The Rangeland Management pool that utilizes prescribed rotational grazing offsets deadline is Aug. 1.

Nationwide, this pool of enrollments sequestered carbon from 2.8 million acres using no-till cropping practices and by converting cropland to long term grass stands, as in Conservation Reserve Program acres planted after Jan. 1, 1999. After third-party verification of the enrolled acres, the tons were registered and sold on the Chicago Climate Exchange since the first of the year. That amount of stored carbon offsets the estimated annual emissions of 320,000 automobiles. The NFU program has earned U.S. ag producers $8 million since the voluntary program began in late 2006.

Farmers Union was approved as an aggregator for the CCX to pool and market carbon offsets in 2006 and has since become one of the largest providers of agricultural soil carbon offsets to the CCX. The CCX is the world's first greenhouse gas emissions registry, reduction and trading system, trading more than 86 million tons of carbon offsets to date. Nebraska is currently the fourth largest state in the NFU program.

Over the next three to five years, these farmers and ranchers will receive annual payments based on the acres they have enrolled and the price of the offsets traded that year. In addition to no-till and seeded grass offsets, credits can also be earned with prescribed grazing on native rangeland, tree planting projects, and methane capture projects. Additional carbon pools will be marketed in the coming months.

The program is entirely voluntary, but contracts are considered legally binding once signed. More information on the program can be found at www.nebraskafarmersunion.org or www.nfu.org.

Nebraska Farmers Union is the state's second largest and oldest general farm organization representing 5,000 farm and ranch families and the rural communities they live in. The mission of Nebraska Farmers Union is to improve the economic well-being and quality of life of family farmers and ranchers, and the rural communities they live in.