Project Credible opens public consultation on its report on “Bridging the gaps between academia, farmers and carbon farming program developers to quantify the on-farm ROI of co-benefits generated by soil organic matter increase”

Agronomic benefits of Soil Organic Matter (SOM) and societal benefits as ecosystem services are rarely quantified in economic terms to support the hidden potential of carbon farming. However, when SOM-co-benefits are calculated as estimated productivity improvement, nutrient replacement value, or reduced fuel consumption for soil tillage, the return on investment (ROI) of carbon farming increases and becomes a top reason for farmers participating in carbon programs. This topic was recently thoroughly discussed in a report titled “Bridging the gaps between academia, farmers and CF program developers to quantify the on-farm ROI of co-benefits generated by soil organic matter increase”, developed by Project Credible’s Focus Group led by Andrea Ferrarini (UCSC) and available here.

To date, as the report points out, there is no scientific consensus on the quantitative economic benefits of SOM increase obtained with carbon farming, and there are no available accounting frameworks to quantify the economic value of SOM that can be easily adopted by carbon farming operators. However, assessing the economics of soil health is the way forward to help farmers understand the real farm ROI of adopting carbon farming and to encourage them to be part of the decarbonization journey in agriculture, being rewarded with carbon or ecosystem markets.

The document also stresses that a farm-centered and scientifically sound joint research effort between agronomists, farm advisors, farmers, and agricultural economists is needed to bridge the gap between soil health measures and the short- and long- term ROI of increasing SOM with carbon farming. Furthermore, this would help address the private vs societal value issue when a program developer needs to monitor and report mandatory or voluntary co-benefits within the Carbon Removals and Carbon Farming (CRCF) Regulation, which should in turn include soil health-related sustainability criteria.

Overall, the Focus Group report discusses the general regulatory framework, market context, and scientific consensus, providing as well a series of recommendations on how to improve profits for farmers while focusing on soil health. Don’t miss the opportunity to participate in this public consultation, which is funded by the European Union and monitored closely by the Expert Group on Carbon Removals that supports the Commission in its ambition to develop the CRCF Certification Framework.