President Joe Biden has proposed creating a carbon bank, a significant move towards engaging in the global carbon marketplace. Chase Hubbard, Senior Hemp Analyst for HIA member the Jacobsen, discusses the remarkable potential of hemp carbon capture and how carbon markets could benefit hemp in particular in a feature over at Hemp Grower:
The administration is aiming to give the USDA, and agriculture, a prominent role in the campaign against climate change. In addition to increasing agency staffing and overall capacity—with a focus on cultivating agency leadership—President Joe Biden plans to roll out programs that involve promoting climate-smart practices at both farms and forests, creating incentives through existing programs like crop insurance, as well as developing a carbon bank.
Carbon markets are a complex concept and Chase manages to demystify it in his typical able fashion, explaining:
The concept of carbon trading is simple—the practice, not so much. One carbon credit equals one metric ton (MT) of carbon dioxide (CO2). This system allows companies to offset their GHG emissions by paying a farmer to utilize agricultural practices that sequester CO2 in soils. Carbon sequestration can be achieved by employing farming practices that forgo tillage or incorporate cover crops, for instance.
He focuses on how a carbon market might play out nationally and in the hemp space, and emphasizes the potential benefits to farmers:
For hemp farmers, the ability to complement hemp prices with the sale of carbon credits is compelling. Fiber and hempseed producers will more likely benefit from this policy, as they tend to grow on a larger scale, but cannabidiol (CBD) producers using organic mulches and cover cropping may also.
A very informative piece. You should read the whole thing here.