Agriculture
Reduce your farm’s carbon footprint, comply with environmental regulations, and grow more efficient and sustainable crops.
Various farming practices supported by government standards allow farmers to accumulate carbon credits that can be sold back to regulated industries.
Conservation Cropping (Minimum Tillage)
The conservation cropping protocol was developed by the Alberta government in 2005. It is a regulated protocol that has become adopted by the voluntary market in Canada. This protocol ensures equipment and tillage practices ensure as little soil disturbance as possible, sealing the topsoil and capturing carbon in the soil.
Shifting from conventional farming to conservation cropping can increase carbon sequestered in the soil. This results in reduced carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions to the atmosphere and lower nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions resulting from less soil disturbance. Fewer passes on a farm field reduces fossil fuel emissions from farm equipment further helping to lower greenhouse gas footprint for the farm.
Does your farm meet the criteria?
- Must seed an annual season crop
- Allowed up to 2 passes that penetrate the subsurface during a season (the season begins after harvest and ends at harvest)
- During each pass, up to 38% soil disturbance is allowed, calculated based on equipment opener width and shank spacing in inches % disturbance = opener width/shank spacing*100
Our carbon credit trading approach is simple
- Partner with Fertoz through a contract, so we can register your credits
- Provide legal documentation proving ownership of land
- Provide 2 photos with measuring tape showing shank spacing and drill opening
- Provide acreage of each crop per quarter
Interested in getting started?
Contact UsNitrous Oxide Emissions Reductions Protocol (NERP)
Nitrous Oxide Emissions Reductions Protocol (NERP) was developed around the 4Rs of nutrient stewardship to minimize nitrogen volatilization from synthetic fertilizers. The NERP protocol encourages the use of control release fertilizer, the placement of fertilizer in furrow, applied in the spring or fall, at recommended soil test rates or according to a variable rate plan to maximize nitrogen use efficiencies and minimize losses. Adding Legumes or cover crop to the field as a source of nitrogen reduces nitrogen fertilizers needs, reduces nitrous oxide emissions, and encourages a more sustainable approach.
Fertoz is now helping producers accumulate carbon credits through the NERP protocol, which was approved and registered through CSA in May 2022.
NERP minimizes N2O emission pathways by managing on-farm applied nitrogen sources through the implementation of the best management practices described by the 4R Plan.
The 4R Plan is a risk-based approach, informed by more than 40 years of peer-reviewed research on the effect specific management practices have on the biological processes that lead to nitrogen losses in North American cropping systems. The 4R Plan is designed to address the risk of nitrogen losses by promoting comprehensive nitrogen management across the 4Rs:
Right Source: Use an advanced efficiency nitrogen fertilizer the provides slow or controlled release and more stable nitrogen when applied to the soil.
Right Rate: Follow soil test recommendations to optimize nitrogen application rates throughout the field.
Right Time: Apply in the spring, over a split application, and when the soil has cooled to 10 degrees C.
Right Placement: Apply in bands, or as an injection to ensure optimal nitrogen usage by the growing crop.
Interested in getting started?
Contact UsResearch of new protocols
Fertoz is working with industry partners to develop new protocols that fit with producers’ farming practices using cover crops, intercropping and variable rate technology to maximize carbon emissions reductions, enhance soil carbon sequestration, and to improve crop production.
Intercropping
Fertoz aims to shift the agricultural landscape to production methods that are more sustainable, regenerative, and ensure healthy and productive soils for generations. These production methods directly and indirectly promote major reductions in greenhouse gas emissions (nitrous oxide, carbon dioxide, methane). To achieve this, Fertoz proposes a multifaceted approach to using intercropping and cover crops in agriculture for sustainable food and feed production, biodiesel, and soil nutrient enrichment.
Cover Crops
Cover crops provide a host of benefits, as described below, and enhance soil organic matter, which leads to increased soil organic carbon pools. Voluntary cover cropping carbon protocols are available on popular registries and can be implemented by producers today. Cover crops such as nitrogen fixing legumes also mitigate some conventional N fertilizer requirement and reduce manufacturing demands upstream, resulting in overall carbon emissions reductions.