Farmers in approximately 50 central and eastern Nebraska counties can apply to receive money for carbon sequestration when participating in a new Pilot Project. Producers and landowners in Nebraska have the right to sign up for a new program to lease carbon credits from your land. The deadline to apply is April 1, 2005.
Carbon sequestration is a term used when carbon dioxide in the air is stored in the soil as soil carbon. Carbon dioxide is taken up by plants and is incorporated into living plant matter through photosynthesis. Crop residues left on the soil surface in no-till farming break down slower compared to when fields are tilled. Over long periods of time, increases in soil organic matter may occur. So the question becomes, how much carbon is being stored and who is willing to pay for this?
Research at Land Grant Universities is ongoing to study carbon sequestration. Effects of tillage, various crop rotations, soil conservation practices and grassland management practices are being researched. There is much debate on how to best measure carbon changes in your soil. In the mean time, several agronomists at land grant universities helped to start a pilot project with the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX) which targets carbon offset payments for the U.S. Canada, Mexico and limited offset projects in Brazil. Work is being carried out under the direction of the Environmental Financial Products, LLC. The Iowa Farm Bureau is working as the aggregator for carbon credits for sale on the Chicago Climate Exchange.
The carbon payments are somewhat like the non-starlink contract and payments last year because you don’t know how much money for sure you will receive for the small amount of time invested. The payment for no-till, ridge-till or strip till could be a $1.00 per acre per year, maybe more, or maybe less for the cropping years 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006. If you did not no-till, ridge plant or strip till plant in 2003 or 2004 you cannot participate in the pilot program. New CRP or new grass that was established after January 1, 1999 is eligible. The key is you must certify that you have new grass or no-till crop plantings ALL four years of the pilot program 2003-2006. Soybeans cannot be planted more than two of the four years in a rotation or the field is ineligible for the carbon payments.
If you no-tilled in 2003 and 2004 and because of the severe storms you need to do some soil scraping or spot tillage to smooth areas of the field, that appears to be acceptable as long as spot tillage does not go over 5%. Whole field tillage with discs, field cultivators, chisel plows, one pass tillage tools, etc. would cause the applicant to surrender any payment on that field plus interest. All farms are subject to random spot checks. More severe penalties could occur in the advent of fraud or gross negligence of the rules. Communication with Iowa Farm Bureau is the key.
Agriculture has not been a major player in carbon offset payments, which is one reason why there is a pilot project to prove the process can work. Advertising to participate in the pilot project has been low key. In otherwords, Iowa Farm Bureau is not spending money in Nebraska to advertise. In Kansas, the Kansas Carbon Coalition Group is hosting meetings across the state to educate the public. It is not that hard to read the contract and decide for yourself to participate.
To review the application go to www.iowafarmbureau.com Fill out the farm worksheet information available at this website describing the eligible acres, provide FSA farm maps and include FSA form 578 for the 2004 crop year and FSA form CCC509 to certify your enrollment in the farm program.
Forms need to be mailed to Iowa Farm Bureau, 5400 University Av, West Des Moines, IA 50266. The person that makes the functional farm decisions needs to sign the contract. Note that this column does not constitute an endorsement by Cooperative Extension.
Dave Varner is an Extension Educator with the University of Nebraska Cooperative Extension office in Dodge County. Dave may be contacted at 727-2775, 1206 West 23rd Street in Fremont, or at dvarner1@unl.edu
