Experts at a Farm Foundation session on climate and carbon markets laid out the possibilities for farmers with the efforts to capture carbon and to provide financial incentive/support for farmers on that front, but also indicated that developing the processes, procedures and tools needed for the important factors of measuring carbon and verifying activities will take time to develop.
The experts also stressed a need for farmers to be able to get benefits from deploying carbon capture efforts and that failure to make that happen will limit the effectiveness of any such program. While corporate efforts are being seen, those participating in the forum related a view that government could play a key role in research into technologies and practices.
The effort will not be an immediate shift, with some indicating it could take upwards of 20 years for moving to new farming practices that sequester more carbon in the soils. And for farmers that have already deployed those efforts, one of the keys may be having the data to back up what their actions have meant in terms of carbon capture.
Carbon measurement and carbon prices remain two major components ahead, especially for those already deploying practices like minimum-tillage or no-till. Developing ways to measure those actions retroactively will be key.