Carbon credits new revenue stream for agriculture

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Eastern Colorado farmers and ranchers are sitting on virtually tons of additional revenue that one Weld County resident says now is the time to look at the possibilities.

The revenue? Carbon credits that can be captured in topsoil and sold on the relatively new Chicago Climate Exchange.

Lowell Messman, an aggregation specialist with AgraGate Climate Credits Corp. of West Des Moines, Iowa, grabbed a lot of attention Thursday morning during the last day of the 2009 Colorado Farm Show at Island Grove Regional Park. AgraGate Climate Corp. is a subsidiary of the Iowa Farm Bureau and is among two or three companies that are offering contracts for carbon credits that can be sold on the CCX.

And Warren Hammerbeck, who lives east of Greeley, is in the process of taking out a contract on the ranch he grew up on in South Dakota.

“It’s a source of additional revenue everybody who farms or ranches needs to explore,” Hammerbeck said, adding he’s developed a specific range management plan on 5,700 acres he owns near Pierre, S.D., in preparation of taking out a carbon credit contract with AgraGate. He runs yearling steers, cows and calves on the ranch, which fits in nicely with a rangeland contract being offered by the Iowa company.

“The market has gone from about $1 per ton per year this past year up to $7 per ton. But I think it could go a lot higher than that, unless the government gets involved and puts a cap on how much credits can be sold for,” Hammerbeck said.