New Wisconsin Carbon Credit Program Signs First ContractWisconsin Ag Connection

Wisconsin Ag News Headlines
- 02/29/2008The first contract has been signed in the Wisconsin Farm Bureau's new carbon credit program. A Farm Bureau member from Ozaukee County enrolled 106 acres of grassland located just a few miles from the western shore of Lake Michigan. Since then, three other contracts have been signed, covering 1,690 acres of cropland and 118 acres of grass. One farmer alone enrolled 1,452 acres of the cropland, and 25 acres of the grass into the program."We are very pleased with the initial interest in this innovative program," said Deb Raemisch, Farm Bureau's carbon credit program coordinator.Although the concept is relatively new in Wisconsin, private industries have already purchased the contracts that landowners have placed on nearly 1.5 million acres in 24 states. The landowner agrees to sequester carbon emissions from the atmosphere by keeping their land in one of two forest programs, undisturbed grasslands or cropland tilled with no-till or strip-till practices. In certain situations an acre of cropland can keep up to 1 metric ton of carbon dioxide from being released into the atmosphere annually. Cropland contracts typically run for five years.Land in managed forest contracts require an official forest management plan. Thinning and harvesting is allowed under this contract. The amount of lumber that is harvested will determine how much carbon is being sequestered, and hence, the number of carbon credits that will be achieved per acre.Afforestation contracts do not require a forest management plan. Thinning and harvesting is not allowed. The maximum amount of carbon that can be sequestered annually on an acre in the afforestation contract is 2.5 metric tons.Carbon contracts are also available to dairy producers who store manure. For every metric ton of methane that is captured and destroyed (either through a manure digester or flaring it off) the producer receives 18.25 carbon credits.Farm Bureau and its partner on this program, AgraGate, will have an information booth at the Tri-State Forest Stewardship Conference at the Sinsinawa Mound Center in Grant County on March 8, and the American Society of Foresters Conference in Waukesha on March 20