Carbon trading

hendrebc

Member
Livestock Farmer
I say this on every thread about selling carbon credits but don't do it it's a trap.
Make bloody sure you really do have them and you don't need to offset yourself and your own farm first. Then be very very careful of you sell them to the wrong place they are gone for a long time and it's up to you to make sure the carbon stays there. If it disappears (which it can do through no fault of your own) you will have to pay for the difference in what's missing.
I'd much prefer to rent them out short term and keep the credits for myself but I don't know if that's possible yet.
 

holwellcourtfarm

Member
Livestock Farmer
Short term (<50year) carbon offsets are trading at £20 - £50/T at present and are little more than greenwash imho. (I'll plant a few trees for you or add 1T/Ha carbon to my top 20cm of soil type schemes).

Long term/ permanent (>100 year) storage is trading between £800 - £10,000/T and is what will genuinely make a difference. (Geological storage, buried biochar or adding carbon to soil below 30cm type schemes).

Trees are an odd one imho. There no point paying offset money for trees that are already growing as it's not delivering "additionality" - they are there whether the money is paid or not. Planting a new tree won't deliver useful sequestration for 2 decades (if then, on some sites it actually releases carbon) and we need to get results quicker than that. Also, the carbon may not be stored for long depending on the eventual use of the tree. Using it in a building might lock it up for 150 years but might not.....

Paying folk NOT to cut trees down is probably necessary but doesn't do anything to reduce what's already in the atmosphere.

What's lacking so far is detailed rigour in the certification of the quantity and robustness of storage.

To answer the OP: we haven't sold any yet but might in a few years if the market becomes stable.
 

melted welly

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
DD9.
So, who’s sold some carbon credits? Who’s got some to sell?
BB
Looked into it, but didn’t go through with anything.

if I planted trees, sold the credits. I’m under contract to the buyer to maintain and ensure targets are met at my cost. Plus none of that sequestration would be on our account so we could end up in a pickle should net zero become mandatory or leveraged by means such as attractive finance rates for ticking the right boxes.
 

farmerm

Member
Location
Shropshire
Emperors new clothes.. the tailors are spinning their yarns for both land owners and those wanting to be seen to be green.... As far as I am concerned agriculture and forestry has no carbon offset capability until it can first offset its own emissions... each year globally there is a massive net loss of forests and soil organic, under this scenario is just beyond comprehension that anyone can believe tree planting, direct drilling and other such measures can offset fossil fuel use. You cant overfill a bath and create a surplus by pouring water in with a 1L jug whilst someone else is pulling out 10L buckets! Its all greenwash bulls**t with the sole aim of redistributing wealth, it has nothing to do with reducing atmospheric carbon.
 

hendrebc

Member
Livestock Farmer
Short term (<50year) carbon offsets are trading at £20 - £50/T at present and are little more than greenwash imho. (I'll plant a few trees for you or add 1T/Ha carbon to my top 20cm of soil type schemes).

Long term/ permanent (>100 year) storage is trading between £800 - £10,000/T and is what will genuinely make a difference. (Geological storage, buried biochar or adding carbon to soil below 30cm type schemes).

Trees are an odd one imho. There no point paying offset money for trees that are already growing as it's not delivering "additionality" - they are there whether the money is paid or not. Planting a new tree won't deliver useful sequestration for 2 decades (if then, on some sites it actually releases carbon) and we need to get results quicker than that. Also, the carbon may not be stored for long depending on the eventual use of the tree. Using it in a building might lock it up for 150 years but might not.....

Paying folk NOT to cut trees down is probably necessary but doesn't do anything to reduce what's already in the atmosphere.

What's lacking so far is detailed rigour in the certification of the quantity and robustness of storage.

To answer the OP: we haven't sold any yet but might in a few years if the market becomes stable.
It's almost all greenwash at this stage. They don't even know what they are looking for never mind how they are going to pay for it.
 

hendrebc

Member
Livestock Farmer
Looked into it, but didn’t go through with anything.

if I planted trees, sold the credits. I’m under contract to the buyer to maintain and ensure targets are met at my cost. Plus none of that sequestration would be on our account so we could end up in a pickle should net zero become mandatory or leveraged by means such as attractive finance rates for ticking the right boxes.
Exactly why I say it's a trap.
 

holwellcourtfarm

Member
Livestock Farmer
I'm going to a farm walk at Rothbury, Northumberland on Thursday. Some talk of carbon credits there but I'm more interested in hearing the bloke from UnderstandingAg in the US speaking.
Not sure which one you mean but their staff list is almost a directory of the best of the best in genuinely regenerative stateside ag today!

 

Cuba Pete

Member
I saw something recently that takes a less fashionable view.
He has lots of points, some that I'm quite sceptical of, but the carbon "facts" discussed here are 180 degrees from the mainstream media.

A small amount of research seem to agree that carbon are at low levels for optimal plant growth. Almost dangerously low.
And that polly tunnel growers burn gas to increase Co2 levels.

I'm not a farmer, but I'd interested on hearing your opinions.

 
Not sure which one you mean but their staff list is almost a directory of the best of the best in genuinely regenerative stateside ag today!

The bloke's name is Kyle Richardville, he doesn't seem to be listed on there. Maybe they've just sent the laddie over? :)

I've been listening to Gabe Brown and Allen Williams on the 'Working Cows' podcast. Interesting stuff and I'm sure someone that's trained with them will have plenty of useful information to impart!
 

Loadabullocks

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
east mids
The bloke's name is Kyle Richardville, he doesn't seem to be listed on there. Maybe they've just sent the laddie over? :)

I've been listening to Gabe Brown and Allen Williams on the 'Working Cows' podcast. Interesting stuff and I'm sure someone that's trained with them will have plenty of useful information to impart!

I have met Kyle a couple of times. He’s great. And yes he’s only been here a short while. Not sure if he’s permanently based here now or just temporarily.
 
I have met Kyle a couple of times. He’s great. And yes he’s only been here a short while. Not sure if he’s permanently based here now or just temporarily.
His wife is in the US Air Force based in East Anglia, so I presume it'll depend on how long her posting is. He's very good on analysing soil, admitted that Northumberland is very different to Indiana though!
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

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Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

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As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
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