Indigo Ag today announced it has made a second set of payments to farmers in the Carbon by Indigo program. The payments, which total more than $3.7 million, come ahead of the company’s second credit issuance, anticipated for the first half of 2023.

“This is another notable milestone for Indigo and the agriculture industry as a whole,” said Heather Gieseke, vice president, Carbon Commercial for Indigo Ag. “We’re excited to celebrate the growth of Carbon by Indigo with this second round of payments to our farmers. They give farmers a leg up as they make purchasing decisions for next year's growing season and signify the future of improved profitability through farmers' sustainable efforts."

Nearly 450 farmers received payments in Carbon by Indigo’s second year of producing carbon credits. Farmers who generated credits in the first issuance also received an additional payment to reflect the $30 per credit final payment rate for that issuance, which was a 200% increase over the original minimum payment rate. Combined with the number of eligible states (30) and breadth of eligible crops, this payment rate further positions Carbon by Indigo as the most compelling program in the market.

“Payments per credit have doubled from our initial payments to farmers in September 2021. We’re excited to see farmers benefit economically for adopting practices that sequester carbon and improve soil health,” Gieseke said. “As we round the corner on our second year, we’re pleased to see that about 90% of farmers in the first issuance continued their practices and generated payments in both years. This illustrates the durability of carbon farming, the attractiveness of our program, and the dependability of income generation for participating farmers.”

Carbon by Indigo pays farmers for carbon sequestration and abatement outcomes based on sustainable practices like planting cover crops, converting to no-till or reduced tillage, changing the timing of nitrogen applications, and adding a new cash crop to their rotation – while still giving farmers full flexibility to make the right decisions for their operations.

“We started experimenting on a small scale with cover crops and Indigo just fit our program really well and allowed us to expand,” said Keaton Brenneman of Allen County, Ohio. “It’s about soil health, increasing carbon in your soil, and building the nutrients that come from organic content. And now that we see the payments coming in, it’s all added up very nicely.”

With at least 75% of the average buyer price for each credit issuance coming back to the farmers producing the credits, farmers can benefit as carbon credit prices increase.

“The growth in the payment rate, and the fact that we’ve made two years of payments to farmers, validate Indigo’s approach to helping farmers generate high-quality, registry-issued carbon credits,” Gieseke said. "We're extremely encouraged by the growth of the program. We've doubled the number of acres enrolled in the program in 2022 by offering farmers more qualifying practices and greater profit potential. It's even more gratifying that over 16 companies have chosen to collaborate with Carbon by Indigo to help their farmers access this new sustainability focused revenue stream."

In addition to generating income through Carbon by Indigo, many farmers are also receiving premiums for participating in Indigo’s sustainable crop programs. These programs, serving major corporations like Anheuser-Busch, offer farmers a chance to earn premiums for growing crops with specific practices and attributes. The availability of these programs is expected to grow rapidly in 2023, giving farmers another exciting way to increase profitability.

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