US companies and American farmers are digging even deeper into soil-based carbon credits, a commodity that offsets greenhouse gas emissions, protects future food supplies — and pays big money to participating landowners.

Microsoft, aiming to become carbon negative by 2030, recently agreed to purchase 40,000 soil-based carbon credits from Indigo Ag, a Boston-based company that helps farmers develop carbon-friendly practices. The transaction was announced on June 20. Financial details were not disclosed.

Science-Backed Soil Credits

The Microsoft deal is notable on several levels. It marks Indigo Ag’s largest delivery of carbon credits to a single buyer. Even more, it reflects the rising appetite among many companies for science-backed soil credits now available across huge swaths of America’s ag acres, as The Land Report has chronicled.

Farmers who work with Indigo Ag to boost carbon storage in their soil and raise sustainable crops have collectively earned more than $12 million via carbon credit sales since 2019.

At the same time, Indigo Ag’s carbon and sustainability programs have reduced or removed more than 340,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions and saved nearly 20 billion gallons of water.

Regenerative Practices on Farmland

To accomplish that, Indigo Ag shows farmers how to adopt regenerative practices, such as adding cover crops, using diversified crop rotations and decreasing tillage, which help fortify the soil while sequestering carbon dioxide. Scientists suggest that soils, particularly in agriculture, have the potential to sequester over a billion additional tons of carbon annually.

At the other end of these transactions, Indigo Ag calculates carbon credits on farm acres by taking soil samples and tracking farm data. The results are then shared with a carbon registry that issues carbon credits that ultimately get sold to corporations like Microsoft.

Climate Action Reserve

Indigo Ag’s carbon credits are confirmed and issued by the Climate Action Reserve, an independent, global carbon registry recognized for its scientific rigor.

Indigo Ag CEO Dean Banks called the Microsoft purchase “a significant win for science-based, high-integrity, agricultural soil carbon credits.”

“We are working with our partners to enable growers to benefit from valuable, durable new revenue streams that reward them for their efforts in changing practices,” Banks added.