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AgriCapture Part 1: Rice farmers use data to verify methane reductions and enhance revenue.

Rice farmers who adopt irrigation techniques, like alternate wetting and drying (AWD) and furrow irrigation (FIR) have a promising avenue for increased profitability. These practices, promoted through initiatives by AgriCapture, provide a dual benefit.  

Farmers can monetize their agricultural data, which verifies carbon credit generation while simultaneously producing a more sustainable rice crop. 

AgriCapture, a company founded in 2021, recently sold 32,000 carbon credits to international buyers looking to offset greenhouse gas emissions. This year, the company plans to increase its acreage. Thus, more rice farmers can take advantage of the economic gain. 

“Rice farmers are exporting carbon credits to carbon buyers in other countries in a whole new market,” said AgriCapture President Tyler Hull. “All of a sudden, rice has a new export market in my mind, and that is really exciting.” 

Plus, AWD and FIR are shown to produce a healthier rice crop, and AgriCapture can connect enrolled farmers to buyers looking to pay a premium for identity-preserved, climate-friendly rice. 

For these programs to work, AgriCapture relies on three essential components. Hull said, “You need the farmer, you need the irrigation infrastructure, and you need field data – because no one is going to buy a credit if you can’t prove it.”

All-encompassing advantages 

One ton of reduced greenhouse gas emissions (CO2e) equates to one carbon credit, and farmers who implement AWD or FIR can improve their environmental footprint.  

Let’s break down the grand scheme. 

On a global scale, rice cultivation contributes an estimated 8% to 12% of anthropogenic methane emissions, which are greenhouse gasses created by human activity. Those statistics are consistent with numerous studies that blanket the past decade. 

In rice, methane emissions are highest in continuously flooded conditions (like traditional cascade irrigated fields), which prevent oxygen from getting to the soil. The flood creates an anaerobic environment where bacteria thrive and feast on plant residue in the soil that results in methane emissions. 

On the other hand, fields irrigated by AWD or FIR get more oxygen to the soil, because water is applied intermittently, allowing for dry down periods. In turn, fields with these irrigation methods emit less methane – because the bacteria cannot thrive in that dry, aerobic environment.  

Thus, farmers implementing AWD or FIR are also reducing methane. “We are trying to incentivize farmers to do these practices,” Hull said. “Then we sell a carbon credit.” AgriCapture goes out into the open market to sell those credits.

Hull said buyers of the carbon credits include international banks in Canada and the UK that are looking to offset emissions of their investment companies. In this program, that money is brought back to the U.S. rice farm, as a profit share with the farmer. 

So far, Hull said farmers have received $30 to $40 per acre for their participation in the AgriCapture project. In addition, AWD and FIR reduce water usage, so it all works hand in hand. 

Based on AgriCapture’s recent sale of 32,000 carbon credits, Hull said enrolled farmers saved around 270,000 gallons of water per acre. “Our first issuance of carbon credits was 9 billion gallons of water savings,” he said. 

For farmers not participating in the carbon credit program, some grain buyers are specifically looking to purchase climate-friendly rice. “These buyers want to know the water savings and more specifically the carbon footprint,” Hull said. 

“These same irrigation practices show a reduced uptake of inorganic arsenic in the grain itself, so it is making the rice healthier and safer for consumers, and they do not want that rice to get comingled.” 

In southeast Arkansas, Jim Whitaker has been with AgriCapture since its inception. He grows continuous rice on zero-grade fields and implements sustainable irrigation strategies.  

“We are using less water, and it is a compound effect,” Whitaker said. “The environmental footprint of rice is better than people think it is. It starts with the data, and people can monetize that data. 

“Now I am proving that I’m doing these practices, and I am giving the proof that holds up to a verifier. When you record the data to a point that you can pass it off to a verifier in another country and he checks it off, then you have something,” he said. 

What is next for AgriCapture? 

Hull looked back to how AgriCapture started. The idea came to him in 2020 when he was working for LandFund Partners in Nashville, Tenn. He took notice of the carbon market, and became fascinated with how farmers could financially benefit from carbon credits. 

He recounted a conversation he had with John Farris, founder and CEO of LandFund, and from there, AgriCapture spawned out of seed capital provided by LandFund. In the beginning, they looked at other crops like cotton, corn, and soybeans. Carbon credits generated from those crops didn’t pencil out like rice.  

“You generate credits based on tons of CO2, and with cotton, corn, and soybeans, the soil carbon builds up very slowly over time. But when you are dealing with methane from the flooded rice fields, you can generate much higher credits per acre and higher economic return,” Hull said. 

The focus shifted to more lucrative opportunities with methane reductions in rice. What started with 11 farmers has now grown to 45 farmers enrolled in the AgriCapture project, and the company looks to expand enrollment. 

Plus, there are new opportunities on the horizon for cattle and grazing lands. Hull said the company is currently working with ranchers in Montana and Texas on those endeavors. 

Farmers who are interested in pursuing opportunities with AgriCapture can reach out directly to the company or use the enrollment link on the AgriCapture website. They can also contact their local rice cooperative to see how the co-op can connect them to the program. 

Regardless, the data tells the story. Learn more about this data capture and hear from farmers who share their experience with this program in parts two and three of this series. 

Source : farmprogress