Voluntary offset Program to reward farmers for sustainable
agricultural practices – November 2009
This initiative is provided by the National Farmers
Union (NFU), United States of America.
Further resources
carboncredit.ndfu.org
chicagoclimatex.com//nfu.org

National Farmers Union (NFU) of the United States has
put in place in 2007 a voluntary offset program for farmers
and ranchers to contribute to overall greenhouse gas (GHG)
emission reductions through practices that sequester carbon
and reduce emissions from livestock. Agricultural offsets
provide the easiest and most readily available means of
reducing GHG emissions on a meaningful scale in the U.S.A.
while providing additional carbon sinks and associated cobenefits.

NFU’s Carbon Credit Program allows agricultural producers and landowners to earn income by storing carbon in their soil through no-till crop production, conversion of cropland to grass, sustainable management of native rangelands and tree plantings on previously non-forested or degraded land. In addition, the capture of methane from anaerobic manure digester systems can also earn carbon credits.

Monitoring and evaluation
Protocols are in place to ensure science-based conservation
practices, credit rates, third-party verification, full accountability in the event of non-compliance, and reserve pools of credits.

NFU as aggregator of carbon offsets
NFU has earned approval from the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX) to aggregate carbon offsets (carbon credits) and sell
them on behalf of producers. The NFU enrols producer
acreage into blocks of marketable offsets that are traded on
the Exchange, much like other agricultural commodities are
sold. Proceeds from the sales are then forwarded to producers as each pool of carbon credits is marketed.

NFU’s carbon credits as additional sources of income
Farmers Union or other aggregators are the bridge between
agricultural producers and the market for carbon offsets. For
producers who can commit to a management system, carbon credits are an additional source of income.

NFU’s Carbon Credit Program wrote more than $9.5 million
in carbon credit checks to producers to date.

Agriculture: Where Poverty Reduction, Food Security and Climate Change Intersect
Statement of Outcomes from Agriculture and Rural Development Day
12 December 2009, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Copenhagen

A group of more than 300 policymakers, farmers and scientists meeting in Copenhagen today urged on negotiators at the United Nations Climate Change Conference to recognize agriculture’s vital role in climate change adaptation and mitigation.

The group strongly endorsed the proposed target of cutting greenhouse gas emissions to avoid a temperature increase of more than 2 degrees C. They stressed that reducing greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture is essential for achieving the target. Farmers and researchers are already finding climate change solutions. On that basis, the agricultural community intends to play a pro-active role in actions aimed at reducing emissions, while increasing the productive capacity of agriculture through the development of sustainable practices.

Agriculture faces the challenge of nearly doubling food production in order to meet the food needs of a population expected to reach 9 billion by mid-century but without increasing the sector’s emissions.. Across most of the tropics, agriculture will continue to face the enormous challenge of adapting to harsh and unpredictable growing conditions.

To meet the climate challenge, substantial additional financing and investment will be needed across the entire rural value chain. New investments must be handled transparently to ensure that adaptation and mitigation are not undermined by reduced support for global food security and rural development. In addition, new investment must be accessible to all stakeholders, including researchers and members of civil society, especially farmers and their associations.

Specifically, the group urged climate negotiators to agree on the early establishment of an agricultural work program under the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA).

Agriculture and Development Day was organized by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research, the Global Donor Platform for Rural Development, the Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Copenhagen, the International Federation of Agriculture Producers, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the International Fund for Agricultural Development, the Global Forum for Agricultural Research, the Earth System Science Partnership.