The percentage of acreage devoted to no till farming is increasing in the US because the long-term effects of intensive farming are not good for the land. But farmers face decreasing yields for the first couple years after moving to no till. Farmers may need incentives to move to no till farming on a permanent basis. Corporations looking to reduce their value chain emissions can provide those incentives by buying carbon credits.
Verification that carbon really is being reduced is critical to getting large food companies and retailers to buy the credits. At, soil samples and on-farm data are collected. This data is then aggregated for privacy and provided to buyers to show the stewardship metrics—and demonstrate year-on-year improvements.
Trimble works with agriculture protocols that help farmers reduce their carbon footprint. Through a carbon exchange component in its software, Trimble gathers the necessary data to certify that a farmer has followed a protocol correctly, creating a certain number of carbon credits based on acreage and other factors. Trimble aggregates those credits and sells them on a carbon exchange, ultimately creating an income stream that Trimble pays back to the farmer.