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Northey expects slow takeoff for carbon markets

The Trump administration’s undersecretary for farm production and conservation at USDA suggests carbon markets won’t be big moneymakers for farmers right away.

Bill Northey tells Brownfield reducing tillage and implementing cover crops will make soil more productive over time.

“Now, what that turns into for a market, I just don’t know what that looks like. We have several different players out there (with) each taking different approaches.”

He says the “additionality” of carbon markets concerns him.

“Meaning if I’m no-tilling today, and that’s considered baseline, somebody else isn’t no-tilling (and) gets paid for converting to no-till, the fact that I was no-tilling for years and helped developed technologies to make it possible for them to do it, I don’t any payments.”

And Northey expects USDA to play a critical role.

“Do they decide what those credits look like and how they’re measured? Or (will USDA) decide they’re going to support the various different players out there that are all describing their credits just a little different?”

He cautions farmers not to assume that payments typically seen from ARC or PLC will quickly move to carbon credits, and Northey says the majority of income will remain market-driven for a long time to come.

Northey has moved back to Iowa, where he was ag secretary from 2007 to 2017, and tells Brownfield he’s considering opportunities in the sustainability space.  He recently joined Big Idea Ventures, a venture capital fund, as an advisor.