- Significant expansion for winter crop season enables more farmers to unlock range of economic, agronomic, and climatic benefits through Indigo Carbon
- Participating farmers to be offered additional incentives to transition into the pilot program and adopt most effective carbon farming practices
- Expansion reflects increasing momentum behind program and growing political support for carbon farming reflected in emerging CAP eco-schemes
Basel, 23.06.2021 - Indigo Agriculture Europe, GmbH., a company dedicated to harnessing nature to help farmers sustainably feed the planet, and Beiselen, GmbH, one of Germany’s leading family-owned agriculture trade businesses committed to transforming agriculture, today announced a significant expansion of the Indigo Carbon program pilot across and beyond Sachsen-Anhalt and Thüringen. This will enable more German growers to participate and unlock a range of economic, agronomic, and climatic benefits through Indigo Carbon. These include improvements in farm profitability and productivity and increased resilience and sustainability. The expansion of the pilot program is based on the learnings and momentum built through the spring crop season as well as the growing political support for carbon farming in Germany reflected in the emerging Common Agriculture Policy eco-schemes.
The Indigo Carbon program is the first of its kind in Europe to use a new Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) methodology released by Verra. The methodology is unique in quantifying reductions in all of the main on farm greenhouse gas emissions along with increases in soil organic carbon storage resulting from the adoption of regenerative farm practices. These include planting cover crops and reduced use of tillage and synthetic fertilizers. Following the VCS methodology ensures the integrity of any carbon credit generated through the adoption of these practices. This is already attracting companies like Barclays, JP Morgan, Maple Leaf Foods and Ralph Lauren Corporation who have committed to purchase the first verified agriculture carbon credits.
Farmers who join the Indigo Carbon program through Beiselen for the coming winter crop season will receive an initial incentive to cover some of the transition costs. This incentive can also increase depending on the size of the fields enrolled in the program and the farm practices adopted.
Farmers who meet the qualifying criteria will be able to join the program for an initial 5-years commitment. The pace and extent to which farmers change their agriculture management practices will determine the reduction in emissions and increase in soil organic carbon. In turn, this will determine the extent of agronomic benefits and the number of carbon credits that can be generated by the farmer.
Speaking at a workshop to launch the winter crop campaign pilot, Georg Goeres, Head of Indigo Agriculture in Europe said: “Together with Beiselen, we have been encouraged by the progress during our spring crop pilot and enrolling the first growers outside the United States in the Indigo Carbon program. Today, around 35 growers are involved, in one way or another, in working with us to develop our program in Germany. The emerging CAP eco-schemes also show real momentum behind carbon farming and could provide additional incentives for growers joining programs like Indigo Carbon.
We are also encouraged by the trajectory of the EU price for Carbon which has more than doubled since the start of the year. This reinforces our belief that carbon farming credits can be a new and valuable source of revenue for farmers in the years ahead. But, to maximize the potential value of the credits that can be generated on their land, it is vital that farmers join credible and scientifically robust programs, such as Indigo Carbon. We are delighted to be working with Beiselen to offer this opportunity to more farmers in Germany for the winter crop season”.
Fritz Schuler, family shareholder and jointly responsible for Strategic Projects at Beiselen, said: “The spring pilot revealed the strong interest of German growers in adopting regenerative farm practices as one solution to meet the challenges of climate change. At the same time, every grower has their own farming strategy which needs to be checked on how to best implement these practices. Based on their feedback, Beiselen and Indigo have revised the grower offer for the coming winter crop season to encourage growers in the adoption of the most impactful practice changes.
The regional expansion of the pilot will give more German farmers the opportunity to join Indigo Carbon and test an approach that can simultaneously address the ecological and economic priorities for agriculture. By enrolling this winter, growers can gain valuable experience on regenerative practices before the proposed CAP eco-schemes come into effect which are most likely to include some of most important carbon farming friendly practices. In the meantime, growers can start to realize the agronomic and ecological benefits generated by the program.”
About Indigo Agriculture
Indigo Agriculture improves grower profitability, environmental sustainability, and consumer health
through the use of natural microbiology and digital technologies. The company’s scientific discoveries and digital platforms benefit stakeholders across the agricultural ecosystem, including tens of thousands of growers across millions of acres. Working across the supply chain, Indigo Agriculture is furthering its mission of harnessing nature to help farmers sustainably feed the planet. In 2019, the company launched ‘Indigo Carbon’ – a scientifically backed program that provides growers with a new revenue stream in the form of verified agricultural carbon credits. Indigo Agriculture is headquartered in Boston, MA, with additional offices in Memphis, TN; Research Triangle Park, NC; Sao Paulo, Brazil; and Basel, Switzerland with operations in Germany, Hungary, Ukraine and Turkey.
About Beiselen
Beiselen GmbH is Germany’s leading private agricultural wholesaler. In response to structural circumstances, Beiselen serves its customers with regionally adapted models and handles the entire variety which features in a full cycle of productive and sustainable agriculture: from seeds to marketing of agricultural products for conventional as well as organic farming. And, in this context, the service offer ranging from financing to consultancy, logistics support to digital solutions, is as wide and varied as the range of products. The company generates turnover of approximately €1.3 billion per annum and employs over 700 persons at 26 locations. Beiselen is a family business which is run by managing directors Rainer Schuler, Magnus Schuler, Ludwig Striewe, Hauke Thordsen and Jan Thordsen.
Background information regarding the Verra VCS-Program can be found here.
Press contact
Alexandra Jakob
ajakob@indigoag.com