SWCS, Show-Me Chapter of Missouri Jefferson City, Missouri Fall Forum October 29, 2008
SES is a natural resources and environmental consulting firm Core business is providing consulting services to the agribusiness community Based in Merriam, Kansas Verifying acres for Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX) since 2003 Verified close to 400,000 acres, primarily in 10 Midwestern and Great Plains States
Verification serves as the fundamental basis to secure information about contracted agricultural practices that result in carbon sequestration, and assurance that these practices are being followed. Verification is integral to the validity of carbon equity trading and the financial transactions between providers and purchasers of equity credits.
Acres have to be considered “croppable” by the Farm Service Agency (FSA) Minimum tillage: Credit of 0.6 ton/ac/year
◦ No-till ◦ Strip-till ◦ Not ridge-till
Conversion of cropland to permanent grass: Credit of 1.0 ton/ac/year
◦ Conservation reserve program (CRP) ◦ Farmer’s own conversion because of forage or other needs
Must not disturb more than 30 percent of the row width Eligible implements: No-till planter or drill, rolling harrows, subsoil ripper with at least 24-in spacing, anhydrous ammonia applicator, low disturbance manure injector Ineligible implements: Moldboard plow, chisel plow, offset disk, tandem disk, field cultivator
Had to be “croppable” acres Permanent pasture or rangeland is not eligible Had to be seeded after January 1, 1999 Must show paperwork of seeding date
◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ CRP contract FSA-578 form Seeding dates on NRCS seeding plan Farmer’s seeding records or receipts
Randomly select 10 percent of the acres from an aggregator’s pool of contracts annually. Not feasible to field verify every acre every year. Aggregator sends SES a spreadsheet; randomly select from this list. Typically choose 12 to 13 percent of the acres for a cushion in case of missing paperwork or access issues to fields.
Signed contract Contact information for farmer Enrollment worksheet FSA maps showing enrolled fields with acreage FSA-578 forms CRP contracts
All field verification (and general premise of program) is practice-based or managementbased. In other words the verification is based on visual observations of management practices. No soil sampling or other direct measurements are involved. This would be cost-prohibitive. Management-based verification: ¢/acre Soil sampling: $/acre
Ensure we have all necessary paperwork from aggregator Contact the farmer ahead of time
◦ This is a courtesy call ◦ Farmer does not have to be present, but can ride around with us if he wants to
Attempt to visit every enrolled field
◦ Look for old residue ◦ Look for indicators of soil disturbance
Confirm acreage by comparing FSA maps to visual observations in the field Confirm crop type Assess evidence of tillage practices
Collect GPS reading of point-of-entry to the field Collect digital photograph of overview of field and close-up of soil surface conditions (if necessary)
Majority is done in the spring (April 1-June 30) around planting season
◦ Allows easier view of entire fields ◦ Easier access to fields ◦ Timing matches opportunity for farmer to till fields
Lesser amount done in fall after harvest
SES prepares a verification report for each aggregator’s pool of contracts Verification report sections
◦ Introduction ◦ Methodology ◦ Summary which includes a summary table and a discussion of all contracts with discrepancies ◦ Conclusions ◦ Summary spreadsheet
Verification Summary Table
◦ Total no-till and grass acres field verified ◦ Total and percent of no-till and grass acres meeting program requirements ◦ Total and percent of no-till and grass acres not meeting program requirements
Contract specific discrepancies: The report notes specific fields and acreage that had anomalies (e.g., tillage).
Conformance rates for no-till have typically been 95 to 100 percent, with a mean of about 98 percent. Conformance rates for grassland conversion have been more variable and slightly lower at 75 to 100 percent, with a mean of about 90 percent. Conformance rates for grassland conversion usually are lower in the early pools of contracts because of confusion about land eligibility.
Tilled end rows because of compaction Tillage to fix storm event damage
◦ Often these two types of tillage account for less than 3% of a field which Aggregator considers “De Minimus”
Tillage to fix rutting caused by wet conditions at harvest or from manure applications Tillage necessary because of compaction or rutting caused by cattle grazing stalks Tillage necessitated because of change in cropping practices (e.g., corn after corn)
Eligibility of specific implements: Must not disturb more than 30% of the row-width. If in doubt, take a picture of field and send to Aggregator. Ridge-till is not allowed Continuous low-residue crops (e.g., soybeans or cotton) are not allowed Biomass removal of annual crops (e.g., corn silage, burning wheat stubble) is not allowed. Only lose that year’s credit.
Fallow acres. Fallow is defined as at least a 12-month period without a crop; sometimes difficult to interpret with winter wheat and a row crop in a rotation. Would not receive credits for that year that field is fallowed or a prevented planting situation (flooding). Alfalfa hay: Although a perennial crop, receives a no-till credit because most stands only last 4-6 years.
Acres were seeded prior to 1999
◦ Can still be confusing when examining CRP contracts regarding exact seeding dates and land use prior to CRP contract.
Acres were in permanent pasture, never farmed; therefore, not considered croppable
Alfalfa/grass mix: >50% grass considered grass credit; >50% alfalfa considered no-till credit Re-seeding or renovating old CRP or pasture: Since it was already in grass, not eligible for grass credit. Haying, grazing, or burning restrictions: There are none unless it has been abused to the point that weeds, not grass, are the dominant vegetation or significant bare ground.
“Old” grass: Cropland that was seeded to grass prior to 1999. Currently, ineligible for enrollment. Growing interest in crediting at a no-till rate. CRP brought back into no-till crop production: Currently not eligible for no-till crediting rate because already in grass. Turns into a policy debate because want to incentivize farmers not to till the CRP land if brought back into production (i.e., emissionavoidance credit).