Bayer Carbon Program Expands Eligibility, Creates New Potential Revenue Streams for Thousands of US Farmers

ST. LOUIS, February 28, 2024 -- Bayer announced today several enhancements to its Bayer Carbon Program that provide all-new opportunities for more U.S. farmers to earn incentives for implementing regenerative agriculture practices that sequester carbon while promoting soil health.

The updates include expanded enrollment eligibility that gives more farmers access to potential new revenue streams for participating.

“Our mission is to improve and expand our program to create additional opportunities for even more American farmers,” said Leonardo Bastos, Senior Vice President of Ecosystem Services at Bayer Crop Science. “These recent enhancements provide farmers with more options, resources and benefits so that we can meet them where they are in their regenerative journey. There’s never been a better time for farmers to explore enrolling in our program.”

The Bayer Carbon Program is part of ForGround by Bayer, Bayer’s digital platform of resources and program options, designed to help U.S. farmers realize the soil health benefits of regenerative agriculture practices, like reducing tillage and planting cover crops. The carbon program creates a mutually beneficial model that pays farmers for their efforts to sequester carbon through regenerative agriculture practices.

Farmers who enroll eligible fields, perform their selected regenerative agriculture practices and pass practice verification, have the potential to earn an annual payment of up to $12 per acre.

Farmers can choose the eligible cash crops and practices they want to adopt, while Bayer provides agronomic support, performs soil sampling and helps with data collection and verification.

These new enhancements not only open the Bayer Carbon Program to thousands of additional farmers across the U.S., but also introduce more opportunities for them to earn. These include:

• Additional States: Expanding geographic footprint to 28 total states. (3)
• Eligible Practices: Program accepts no-till/strip-till and/or cover crop practices rewarded at $6 per acre, per practice. (4) Plus, the addition of a new Nitrogen Management Program, rewarded at $4 per acre. (2)
• Expanded Cash Crops: In addition to corn, soybeans and wheat, the following crops will now be eligible: barley, sorghum, oats, rye, millet, dry beans, lentils, chickpeas and peas.

These updates will be supported with the launch of a simplified web experience designed to make enrolling in the Bayer Carbon Program easier.

“We listened to feedback from farmers who are already enrolled in the program and concentrated on the enrollment process to make it even simpler to understand and navigate,” said Bastos.

The new web experience streamlines the enrollment process with field-by-field enrollment and securely stores all relevant documents. Farmers can explore multiple eligibility options at once to check if they qualify for additional incentives that may be able to be stacked on top of their Bayer Carbon Program payment. Personalized assistance from Bayer experts will be just a few clicks away if a farmer needs support during the enrollment process.

For full details about the Bayer Carbon Program, visit www.bayerforground.com/carbon. To learn more about Bayer’s commitment to driving innovation in sustainable agriculture, visit https://www.bayer.com/en/agriculture.

Legal statements:

1 Payments subject to: (a) verification by Bayer that the selected practices have been performed and, for historical payments, that carbon assets have been generated; and (b) all other applicable terms of the Bayer Carbon-Smart Master Services Agreement and attached program terms.

3 Eligible states are Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin.

4 Available practices subject to state eligibility requirements. Visit BayerForGround.com to determine the current practice implementation opportunities available for your field(s). Eligible states may be periodically updated.