Carbon Finance:

A Resource Guide for

Colorado Producers

CSU’s Soil Carbon Solutions Center designed this resource guide to help stakeholders make informed decisions on carbon sequestration activities. Specifically tailored for regional producers, the guide is designed as a one-stop shop for information on carbon finance, to learn more and weigh risks and benefits of market participation.

If you are new to the concept of carbon markets and finance, you can start with our background guide here.

The Soil Carbon Solutions Center shares these resources for information only and does not endorse any of the organizations or programs mentioned in the guide.

Resource Links

List of quality consulting groups

  • The Soil Carbon Solutions Center is not endorsing any of these organizations.

    • Voluntary Registry Offsets Database | Berkeley Carbon Trading Project | Projects | Center for Environmental Public Policy (CEPP)
      This is a database that contains all carbon offset projects, credit issuances, and credit retirements under the American Carbon Registry, Climate Action Reserve, Gold Standard, and Verra.

    • BCarbon A nonprofit carbon registry that aids producers in participating in carbon markets and implementing carbon sequestration practices in a holistic manner.

    • Regenerative Organic Certified is doing work to provide support to farmers who don’t own their land

    • Zero Foodprint An organization that funds the implementation of regenerative agriculture projects to sequester carbon and improve soil health by providing grants.

    • Mad Agriculture Encouraging regenerative organic farming through supporting producers in their transitioning to these practices. They provide aid in financial resources, management guidelines, connecting farmers to markets, and education and outreach. 

    • FARMS – Farmers advancing regenerative management systems A project that focuses on supporting farmers in Colorado, Nebraska, and Kansas on improving soil health through financial rewards, context-specific plans, education and analysis of their soils. This organization is unique because it is led by farmers and ranchers.

    • Continuum Ag A company helping farmers profit more from improving their soil health. They also have a tool called TopSoil to aid with this. Their website contains a Regen Roadmap, which has information on how to implement regenerative agricultural practices. 

    • Climate Action Reserve Carbon credit registry that participates in both VCMs and CCMs.

    • The Climate Registry Non-profit organization that participates in carbon projects.

    • International Carbon Registry A carbon registry that focuses on VCMs and participates in climate projects.

Is carbon market participation right for you?

RISKS

  • Permanence and long contract timelines: Carbon projects usually require a 10 year initial contract, while the idea of permanence requires that the practice be carried out for 100 years. From a climate perspective, there is no point in participating in carbon sequestration projects if the carbon does not stay in the ground for a long period of time. This can be a significant barrier to participation among farmers due to uncertainty about their future farming practices or land management.

  • Additionality requirement: This requires that the practices sequestering carbon are newly implemented and are provide an ‘additional’ sink for carbon. 

  • Upfront additional costs: There are many upfront costs associated with monitoring, reporting, and verifying (MRV) for a project. Costs include: soil sampling, purchasing new machinery and seeds, and getting the project third-party verified. Also, farmers sometimes have to pay a brokerage fee, holdback amounts, or a verification fee. The unpredictability of markets can present a threat to farmers participating in VCMs.

  • Land tenure: The issue of land tenure is another significant risk for farmers. About half of all farmers rent their land, so the ability to sign onto a 10-20 year contract is very limited. Oftentimes, farmers are unsure what they will have to do in the future to produce yields and are hesitant to sign onto a binding agreement. For example, if there is a flood and nutrients are washed away, farmers may have to use fertilizers on their land, even if that is not outlined in the carbon project.

BENEFITS

  • Ecological benefits: Regenerative agricultural practices have a variety of positive ecological impacts. By sequestering more carbon into the soils, they become healthier and more resilient. Soils with an increased ability to sequester carbon have more water retention capabilities, are more resilient to drought and disease, reduce the need for fertilizers, and are better-suited for future environments with climate change. Water scarcity will continue to increase in severity and soils that are able to retain more water will allow farmers to more efficiently grow crops. Soils with greater amounts of carbon also experience less erosion.

  • Financial incentives: Payments can be made in different ways: payment per acre, as a percentage of the profit sale from the credit, a flat fee, or per ton of carbon sequestered.

  • Lower operational costs: There is also the potential for producers to save money by implementing regenerative agricultural practices. For example, no-till allows farmers to cut costs through reduced fuel costs and machinery expenses.

Video Recordings from the

Carbon Credit Conundrum Webinar

with Quivira Coalition + the Soil Carbon Solutions Center

Carbon Markets 101

2/20/2024

Carbon Market
Case Studies (grazing + cropping)

2/27/2024

Evaluating Whether
a Carbon Project
is Right for You

3/5/2024

Emerging Opportunities in Carbon Markets and Beyond

3/12/2024

Want more resources to learn more about soil carbon and regenerative agriculture?

This project is funded in part by Colorado State University Extension, particularly the Extension Internship Program, and through the generosity of philanthropic donors.