Inside Look at Agoro Carbon's $9 Million to Farmers In Its First Year

Agoro Carbon Alliance has marked its first year and announced a total payment of $9 million to farmers and ranchers enrolled in the program. This carbon market was launched in June of 2021.

The Agoro Carbon program is a 10-year contract which pays for a change practice aiming to increase carbon sequestration. These include cover crops, no-till, reduced tillage, nitrogen management and rotational grazing. 

“In this first year we learned a lot about what will work best for farmers,” says Ashley Bruner, U.S. marketing manager for Agoro Carbon. “One thing we did from the start is we tried to build a program that fits farmers’ needs, and then we even adjusted our contract to be the most forward farmer-friendly contract.” 

Bruner explains the 10-year timeline includes two payment options. In the first, payments in years 5 and 11 based on verified carbon results with higher guaranteed per/ton floor prices. Or the second,  guaranteed annual payments are made in the early years of implementation plus additional variable payments based on verified carbon results in years 5 and 11.  The program is open to crop and livestock producers. 

“The prepayments each year are based on a floor price for carbon, and we also will pay higher for the carbon if the market continues to go up,” Bruner says. 

The $9 million paid in 2022 is based on the forward payments to growers calculated on the expected sequestration rates. 

There are eight Agoro Carbon agronomists working to sign up farmers and support them with the agronomic practices required. Bruner also says there are channel partners assisting in the sign up of farmers. 

Mark Worner, an Agoro grower success agronomist says this milestone helps answer farmer who question the opportunity in participation. 

“There is a level of skepticism surrounding carbon markets, but I openly tell farmers this is the real deal, this is real money, and these markets aren’t going away,” he says. 

In Worner’s experience with the program, the reduced tillage is a gateway to get farmers interested, but he’s seeing increased interest in moving to full no-till and also introducing cover crops. 

For the year ahead, Bruner shares the team is working to sign up 1 million acres, expand into new geographies, and grow their work with channel partners. 

Agoro was launched by Yara International, and is still backed by the global company today.