Karl Plume

(Reuters) – Agricultural chemicals and seeds supplier Bayer AG (DE) is expanding the carbon farming program available to CHS Inc members, increasing incentives for them to join the program. The announcements were made Wednesday by the two companies.

CHS’s 75,000 farm-members will be able to sign up for Bayer’s (OTC) Carbon Program. This program is a leader in encouraging farmers to take carbon from the soil by using fertilizer less efficiently, planting in off-season, and sowing more crops.

The program is now available in 21 states, according to the companies.

Bayer Carbon Program offers growers up-to $9/acre to plant cover crops or reduce soil tillage. To generate carbon credits, farmers must log their activities on digital platforms.

The credits can be used to offset other aspects of their operations’ climate effects or to sell to companies that want to decrease their carbon footprint.

The latest cooperation between large agricultural businesses racing for acres to be signed up for carbon sequestration (or trapping atmosphere-warming carbon underground) and programs that offer credit trading is this.

Carbon programs have been welcomed by some farmers as a new source of income and an effective tool for combating climate change. Some farmers are concerned that the companies may collect data from their farms to help them sell more of their products.

CHS members will receive an extra $3/acre to enroll in Bayer’s program or purchase certain products like “enhanced efficiency fertilizers.” CHS stated that payments will be made in the fourth quarter 2022.