Assessing the economic impact of the co-benefits of increasing Soil Organic Matter with carbon farming

Carbon (C) sequestration value and the profits generated for farmers from C credit markets are often considered the only benefits of adopting carbon farming. For every ton of C sequestered in the soil there are almost 2 tons of Soil Organic Matter (SOM) that are built-up and support the farm profitability. However, rarely agronomic benefits of SOM or societal benefits as ecosystem services are quantified in economic terms to support the hidden potential of carbon farming. Decarbonization solutions in agriculture are often C-centred and they underestimate the financial payoff value of SOM increase. When SOM-co-benefits are calculated as estimated productivity improvement, nutrient replacement value, or reduced fuel consumption for soil tillage, the return on investment (ROI) value of carbon farming increases and becomes a top reason for farmers participating in carbon programs. If well understood and declined, this concept might help certification methodologies validated by the Carbon Removals and Carbon Farming (CRCF) Certification Framework also support soil health business models and embrace ecosystem markets and contemporary help track on-farm the ROI of investing in soil health promoted by Carbon Farming (CF) adoption. The discussion of this Focus Group centred on identifying which evidence (academic and on-farm research) and accounting methodologies are available in soil health economics to support CF program advisory services and CRCF voluntary co-benefits reporting and verification.