The credits were issued by the Climate Action Reserve (CAR), a globally trusted carbon market offset registry
AgriCapture is issued the first-ever avoided grasslands conversion carbon credits in Texas through a partnership with the property’s landowner and the Texas Agricultural Land Trust to protect soil carbon and ensure that the property’s native grasslands will not be converted.
The credits were issued by the Climate Action Reserve (CAR), a globally trusted carbon market offset registry, to a Bailey County ranch. Located in the High Plains of the Texas Panhandle, the area is recognised by the U.S. Department of Agriculture as a New Dust Bowl Zone, where preserving native grassland habitats and preventing land use conversion is especially critical.
“We are proud to deliver the first avoided grasslands conversion carbon credits in the history of the state of Texas and thrilled that AgriCapture’s programs will unlock significant value for Texas landowners,” says Kam Kronenberg, AgriCapture Board Member and Texas landowner.
Based in Nashville, AgriCapture was created by a group of agriculture specialists, passionate environmentalists, and economists to combat climate change through sustainable agriculture. AgriCapture verifies Climate-Friendly agricultural practices on farms, ranches, and grasslands to track environmental benefits and boost profitability for agricultural partners across the country.
AgriCapture’s Avoided Grasslands Conversion Project is dedicated to protecting native grasslands and ranches from conversion to cropland, allowing the land to naturally sequester carbon, and prevent agricultural greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. To facilitate the generation of carbon credits, AgriCapture methodically collects data on soil types, vegetative cover, land use history, and ranch operations to submit for registry verification and credit issuance under CAR’s Grasslands Protocol. The AgriCapture team quantifies avoided GHG emissions and monitors ranch operations to protect underground carbon storage.
The Texas Agricultural Land Trust (TALT) partnered with AgriCapture on the Bailey County project and holds the conservation easement that will protect the land from being converted or developed. The easement contains provisions that make the property eligible to receive carbon credits for sequestering and storing soil carbon, as well as eliminating emissions that would be associated with crop production.
“We believe this bellwether project could result in future carbon credit revenue streams for agricultural landowners in Texas and beyond,” said Chad Ellis TALT CEO.
