Farming for Carbon

      Farmers have many options when deciding what to plant in their field depending on the region and season. They can choose from such staples as corn, beans, wheat and ... carbon?

    On September 15, 2011 the Australian Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency passed the Carbon Credits initiative. This allows farmers and land managers to earn carbon credits by practicing sustainable agriculture by storing carbon or reducing greenhouse emissions, the page states.
    The website also features an animation that clearly shows how carbon trading works.


Video credit: Australian DCCEE
     The United States is at the beginning steps of raising awareness of carbon farming. The United States Department of Agriculture held a workshop in 2012 to discuss carbon farming. In April the University of Maryland held a workshop on the topic.
     So what is the big deal about carbon farming? Like the video animation shows, carbon taxes are being put in place towards companies that emit a lot of carbon. Even though farmers are exempt from the tax, they can utilize green farming practices to reduce the amount of emissions produced.
     Farmers can do this by practicing some of the practices wrote about in my blog. They can use no-till farming to prevent the carbon from escaping the ground. They can use cover crops to absorb more carbon dioxide. These little acts build up to help protect the environment.
    When farmers choose to participate in these acts, they can earn credits which they can then sell to companies that produce a lot of emissions. These companies use the credits they buy to offset the amount of
carbon dioxide they release into the environment.
     Lets do the math here. Green farming methods that save money minus carbon emissions plus money for doing it: sounds like a pretty sweet deal.

   Would you participate in a Carbon Trade system at your farming operation? What is your opinion about this system? Leave a comment below letting me know what you think?

   Have a topic you want to see covered? If so leave a comment below and I will add it to a list of topics.