Incentive to change farming?
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To listen to Ribera
Ribera will discuss farming and ranching for carbon credits:
From 11a.m. to noon on Thursday
At the Victoria Community Center, 2905 E. North St.
In the Annex 2.
Farmer Brown might get paid to become Farmer Green.
If Congress passes controversial climate change legislation, some farmers might earn extra money by trapping carbon in their soil.
Luis Ribera will discuss what this possibility means to you. The College Station Texas AgriLife economist manager is a featured speaker during the 2009 Victoria Farm and Ranch Show.
"If you produce corn or sorghum, any crops really, and you switch from conventional to reduced or no tilling, you can absorb carbon in your soil," Ribera said. "If you practice 'no-till,' a farmer can get money for selling their carbon."
Conventional tilling prepares soil for plants and crops by grinding and unearthing the dirt. Doing so, however, also unearths trapped carbon. The no-till method does not disturb the soil. A farmer fertilizes first and then plants the seed with a no-till drill.
"It's a big switch," Ribera said. "Ninety percent of producers in the Coastal Bend are conventional tillers."
The climate change bill, HR 2454, proposes capping to one ton per year the permitted carbon dioxide companies can emit.
Farmers who practice no-till and thus trap carbon in their soil could sell the carbon credit to companies that emit beyond the federal cap. Farmers earn money and help to off-set carbon pollution. Companies would pay less for sequestration than many could on-site, and still operate within the rules.
Since 2003, the experimental Chicago Climate Exchange allows firms to voluntarily buy and sell carbon offsets. Profits for Crossroads farmers, though, are less than attractive. Last year, the exchange paid $7 per metric ton. That price dipped in September to 25 cents per ton.
In the Crossroads, soil types remain unkind to carbon trapping. The sandy, clay soil only traps about .2 metric tons an acre per year, Ribera said. Soil types in the Texas Panhandle, by comparison, trap three times as much carbon per acre.
"To no-till in your area and to make any money, you will to have a lot of land," he said.
Farmers who own smaller plots, however, could join with other like farmers and contract with an aggregator. The aggregator could then present this portfolio to companies in need of carbon credits.
Concerns about climate change increased during the past few years. Carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, many scientists warn, lead to global warming. No-tilling is just one of many alternatives proposed to help ease those concerns.
While no-tilling might help to reduce emissions during the short-term, Ribera questions its long-term capabilities.
"After 10 to 15 years, there's a plateau," he said. "At that point, your soil's saturated with carbon. Producers could get those carbon payments for 15 years, and then nobody knows what's going to happen."
Comments
Dear Luis Ribera,
October 13, 2009 at 11:37 a.m.Carbon dioxide is not a pollutant! It is necessary for abundant, healthy trees and plantlife. Wasting money studying this scam is a crime against the taxpayer! This is a scam devised by con men like Al Gore to make him a multi millionaire.
The climate in his home state has been cooler and the winters harder than normal for the past several years.
Global warming is an obvious and already debunked lie!