INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — A bill that would pave the way for Indiana producers to tap into the expanding ecosystem market has passed the state House Judiciary Committee and is now in the hands of the state House of Representatives. 

SB 373 would task the Indiana State Department of Agriculture with creating a panel of advisors and certified field inspectors to educate farmers and landowners and set parameters for carbon sequestration. It’s enactment would allow farmers and forest owners to sell carbon credits to ecosystem market firms, companies and others based on verifiable conservation practices. Approved in February by the state Senate, the bill is now under consideration by the House, according to Brady Hagerty, PR manager-public policy for the Indiana Farm Bureau.

“SB 373 passed the committee 10-3 and is on its way to the full House,” Hagerty confirmed to Farm World. “It will be on the House calendar (this) week.”

The bill was the brainchild of retired Indiana Sen. Mark Stoops (D-Bloomington), who last year proposed a study on carbon sequestration opportunities and markets within the state. A working group of environmental, economic and agricultural interests was formed, leading to Sen. Susan Glick’s (R-LaGrange) introduction of the bill in January.  

“It’s sort of like a statewide farmer’s market for selling carbon credits,” said Jeff Dukes, director of the Purdue Climate Change Research Center. “I think that could be appealing to a lot of people who are thinking about selling them because it would make it a little bit easier for them to figure out.”

Tim Maloney, senior policy director for the Purdue Climate Change Research Center, said the ecosystem market program, when approved, will be voluntary and no one will be required to buy carbon offsets. “It’s based on the idea that Indiana businesses — who are interested in reducing their carbon footprint and in the market to buy carbon offsets -— should be able to buy these offsets in Indiana, offsets that are generated by Indiana farmers and woodland owners, and by state-run forest conservation projects,” Maloney explained. “If enacted, the bill will leverage new private investment for land, water and wildlife conservation in Indiana and reward farmers and woodland owners for stewardship practices that sequester carbon.”

How do farms sequester carbon?

According to the USDA-funded National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service, carbon sequestration in the agriculture sector refers to the capacity of agriculture lands and forests to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. “Carbon dioxide is absorbed by trees, plants and crops through photosynthesis and stored as carbon in biomass in tree trunks, branches, foliage and roots and soils (EPA, 2008b). Forests and stable grasslands are referred to as carbon sinks because they can store large amounts of carbon in their vegetation and root systems for long periods of time. Soils are the largest terrestrial sink for carbon on the planet,” the NSAI reported in a 2009 publication.

“The ability of agriculture lands to store or sequester carbon depends on several factors, including climate, soil type, type of crop or vegetation cover and management practices. The amount of carbon stored in soil organic matter is influenced by the addition of carbon from dead plant material and carbon losses from respiration, the decomposition process and both natural and human disturbance of the soil. By employing farming practices that involve minimal disturbance of the soil and encourage carbon sequestration, farmers may be able to slow or even reverse the loss of carbon from their fields. In the United States, forest and croplands currently sequester the equivalent of 12 percent of U.S. carbon dioxide emissions from the energy, transportation and industrial sectors (EPA, 2008b).” 

Who are the leading ecosystem market companies?

Some of the top ecosystem market companies that may choose to offer contracts to Indiana farmers include Indigo Ag, Nori, Ecosystem Services Market Consortium (ESMC) and the Soil and Water Outcomes Fund (SWOC). Company-to-company discrepancies in contract particulars exist, such as the data collected from farmers at enrollment, new practice requirements, third party practice verification and the ability to double-enroll properties in USDA-NRCS conservation programs.

The Illinois Soybean Association announced in February it would team with SWOC to offer producer contracts in Illinois starting with the northern counties of Bureau, DeKalb, DuPage, Grundy, Kendall, Lake, LaSalle, Lee, McHenry and Will, targeting 20,000 acres of new conservation practice adoption. SWOC plans to expand to more than 100,000 acres of cropland across Iowa, Ohio and Illinois in 2021, significantly increasing opportunities for farmers to earn compensation for implementing conservation practices that produce verified environmental outcomes.

Those who wish to learn more about ecosystem markets can access a helpful Ecosystem Market Information one-sheet issued by the Illinois Sustainable Agriculture Partnership at www.ilsustainableag.org/ecomarkets.