Today farmers get rewarded for their food, feed, and fiber production. Bayer announced to start rewarding selected farmers in Brazil and the US for generating carbon credits by adopting climate-smart practices. The company believes that incentives for farmers to no-till, precision nitrogen use, or cover crops will help sequester carbon in the soil, reduce fossil fuel usage, and lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
The 2020/2021 season of the Bayer Carbon Initiative will include approximately 1,200 farmers in Brazil and the US. In both countries, farmers will receive assistance in implementing climate-smart agricultural practices. Bayer will acquire the carbon removals created by those practices at transparent prices. The company is also collaborating with partners such as Embrapa (state-owned Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation) to build a viable carbon market for farmers.
The company plans to expand the program in the US and Brazil to other farmers and then later into other world regions with tailored approaches that will allow growers to choose what climate-smart practices and implementation works best for them. Bayer believes that in Europe, this approach could be adapted as part of the European Green Deal, and, in the Asia-Pacific region, it could help to increase the productivity of small farmers and reduce methane emissions from rice farming.
- Bayer AG, Leverkusen, Germany
