Carbon farming

Carbon farming pays farmers for verified soil carbon sequestration through regenerative practices — cover crops, no-till and crop rotation. The voluntary-carbon-market shakeout hit the sector in 2024, when Nori (Seattle) halted its soil-sequestration carbon marketplace citing a stagnant voluntary market and funding headwinds. Surviving programs now scale via corporate Scope-3 supply-chain deals: Truterra (a Land O’Lakes unit) has paid farmers about $21 million for over 1 million metric tons of sequestered carbon; Agreena’s AgreenaCarbon project funds regenerative agriculture across more than 4.5 million hectares in Europe; Soil Capital runs Europe’s first certified agricultural carbon payment programme with over 1,800 farmers; and CIBO’s data and analytics platform powers Nutrien’s MRV. This article covers the credit-program and marketplace layer; the soil-carbon measurement tech is in soil carbon MRV (IND-096).

The key directions of carbon farming are:

1. Carbon-credit marketplaces & programs (Carbon-Credit Marketplaces & Programs): platforms (Truterra, Agreena, Soil Capital) paying farmers for verified soil carbon sequestration.
2. Regenerative practice adoption (Regenerative Practice Adoption): cover crops, no-till and rotation supported by CIBO and Truterra platforms for credit eligibility.
3. Corporate Scope-3 supply-chain deals (Corporate Scope-3 Supply-Chain Deals): food corporates (Nestlé with Soil Capital) buying farm credits to cut supply-chain emissions.
4. Soil-carbon science & standards (Soil-Carbon Science & Standards): long-term SOC research (Soil Health Institute) underpinning credit integrity.

Sectoral value chain#

[regen practice adoption] ──> [MRV measurement] ──> [credit issuance] ──> [marketplace / corporate sale]
                                   │
                           (pay farmers for sequestration)
                                   │
                                   ▼
[verification & standards] <─── [farmer payment] <─────┘

Value chain levels#

Cross-cutting technologies of the sector:

• Regenerative carbon practices (Regenerative Carbon Practices): cover crops, no-till and rotation that build soil organic carbon while maintaining yields.
• MRV data & analytics platforms (MRV Data & Analytics Platforms): independent data platforms (CIBO) modeling soil carbon change for credit eligibility.
• Voluntary carbon standards (Voluntary Carbon Standards): Verra and Gold Standard frameworks that verify and register soil-carbon credits.

The stack pairs credit programs and MRV platforms with soil-carbon science.

1. Carbon-credit marketplaces and programs (Carbon-Credit Marketplaces & Programs):
   • Truterra has paid farmers about $21 million for over 1 million metric tons of sequestered carbon via food-company supply-chain deals.
   • Soil Capital’s certified programme rewards 1,800+ farmers across France, Belgium and the UK, with a Nestlé deal showing the corporate Scope-3 pull.
2. MRV data and analytics platforms (MRV Data & Analytics Platforms):
   • CIBO’s independent platform models soil-carbon change for credit eligibility and now powers Nutrien’s sustainable-agriculture MRV across the Midwest.
   • Agreena’s AgreenaCarbon combines MRV with upfront farmer financing across more than 4.5 million hectares.
3. Soil-carbon science and standards (Soil-Carbon Science & Standards):
   • The Soil Health Institute’s long-term research (e.g., 19-year no-till soil-organic-carbon studies) underpins credit integrity.
   • Voluntary standards (Verra, Gold Standard) and the EU Carbon Farming Initiative frame verification and registration.