Dollars in the dirt: Big Ag pays farmers for control of their soil-bound carbon

The biggest global agriculture companies are competing on a new front: enticing farmers to join programs that keep atmosphere-warming carbon dioxide in the soil. Fertilizer producers and seed and chemical dealers are paying growers for every acre of land dedicated to trapping carbon underground, known as sequestering it. The companies' ambitions stretch from the United States to Canada, Brazil, Europe and India, executives told Reuters. Farmers capture carbon by planting off-season crops, tilling the ground less and using fertilizer more efficiently. They log their practices on digital platforms to generate a carbon credit. Agricultural companies use the credits to offset the climate impact of other parts of their businesses or sell them to companies looking to reduce their own carbon footprints. Agriculture covers nearly 40% of the world's land and is responsible for 17% of global emissions, according to the United Nations. Changes to farm practices could sequester as much as 250 million tonnes of carbon dioxide annually in the United States, or 4% of the country's emissions, according to a 2019 report by the National Academy of Sciences.- Reuters