Source: POLITICO'S MORNING AGRICULTURE, 1/25/21


If squashing the pandemic is priority No. 1 for the Biden administration and Democrats in Congress, getting a grip on climate change is the runner-up. And agriculture is expected to be a key piece of those efforts, including the increasingly popular idea of paying producers to sequester carbon in their farmlands and forests.

Farmers have already been participating in private carbon markets, earning money from business and individuals that purchase credits to offset the greenhouse gases they emit. Maryland grower Trey Hill hauled in $115,000 in 2020 for sequestering more than 8,000 tons of carbon in the soil over the past few years, the Washington Post reports.

Biden, bipartisan lawmakers, scientists and agribusinesses have all said such practices will be needed to help curb global warming in the years and decades ahead. But skepticism remains that farmland soils can store carbon for long enough to make a significant difference, or that voluntary efforts will be adequate.

While regenerative ag practices aren’t new, there are still plenty of barriers that deter farmers from diving in. Hill said he relies on special machinery and has yet to benefit from higher yields or premium prices, while growing cover crops on his corn fields has caused headaches — like turnips getting stuck in his planting equipment. “It’s a b— to farm this way,” he told the Post.