(Reuters) – Bayer AG launched a pilot program in the United States and Brazil on Tuesday that will pay farmers for capturing carbon in cropland soils, making it the latest agriculture company to capitalize on environmental initiatives.
The company seeks to enroll about 1,200 row crop farmers in its Bayer Carbon Initiative in the first season, scale up in upcoming seasons, and ultimately expand to other countries, company executives said.
The announcements came after the U.S. Treasury Department in May clarified a federal tax credit designed to spur investment in carbon capture and sequestration projects.
Bayer’s program requires that farmers enroll in its Climate FieldView digital farming platform, where growers would log data about their eco-friendly farming practices such as no-till farming or planting cover crops. Those claims could then be verified by satellite imagery.
Bayer would compensate growers for sequestering carbon and pay them in cash or credits to buy products on its Bayer PLUS rewards platform.
Source: Reuters. Read the full release here
