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Survey shows carbon market interest depends largely on payment rates

The latest Purdue University/CME Group Ag Economy Barometer shows farmer interest in carbon markets hasn’t changed much in recent years. Jim Mintert is with Purdue’s Center for Commercial Agriculture.  “Six percent of corn and soybean producers in the survey said they had engaged in some discussions with the company about possibly getting paid to sequester carbon,” he says.  “Of the group that said they’d had some discussions, 2% of them said they had signed a contract.”

He says payment rate matters.  “Among the folks who had some discussions with companies, but chose not to actually sign a contract, the top reason was they felt like the payment rates weren’t high enough,” he says. “So that’s the same story we’ve been picking up on some prior surveys.”

Of the farmers who had signed a contract, Mintert says about 50% of farmers had been offered a rate of $10 to $20 per metric ton and 32% said the rate was less than $10 per metric ton.  Sixteen percent were offered $20 to $30 per metric ton and just 5% were offered $30 or more per metric ton.

The Ag Economy Barometer is a monthly national survey of 400 U.S. agricultural producers.