Sustainable agriculture and biological solutions provider Indigo Ag and Microsoft announced their second carbon removal agreement, with a new commitment from Microsoft to purchase 60,000 soil carbon credits generated through the promotion of regenerative agriculture practices by U.S. farmers.
The new transaction follows an initial 40,000 carbon credit purchase agreement by the companies last year.
Founded in 2013, Indigo Ag provides nature-based and digital technologies aimed at helping farmers improve profitability and environmental sustainability. The company launched its carbon program in 2019, helping farmers adopt regenerative agriculture practices including cover crops, diversified crop rotation, reduced tillage and improved nitrogen timing, that enrich soil while sequestering carbon dioxide. Under the program, farmers add the new practices with agronomic support from Indigo, while the company also calculates the carbon credits through the use of soil samples and on-farm data, validates the findings with a verifier, with results submitted to a carbon registry, for issuance of the credits, which can be sold to corporate buyers.
The new transaction is sourced from Indigo’s fourth carbon crop, consisting of over half a million independently verified carbon credits issued through the Climate Action Reserve. To date, Indigo’s carbon program has generated over 900,000 tons of carbon removal across 28 states, and has prevented over 64 billion gallons of surface water runoff.
Indigo Ag CEO Dean Banks said:
“When Microsoft, recognized as the major driver behind the carbon removals market, invests in Indigo’s carbon credits, it affirms their confidence in our science, team, and technology. Our microbial and sustainability portfolio spans 20 million acres across 15 countries, and this deal underscores the trust in farmers’ hard work to create a healthy and resilient agri-food system.”
Microsoft is by far the largest corporate buyer of carbon removal credits globally, with the company recently reporting that it contracted nearly 22 million tons of carbon removal last year alone as part of its efforts to become carbon negative by 2030. In just the past few weeks, the company has announced a series of large-scale carbon removal purchases across a broad range of technologies including biochar, forest management, bio-energy carbon capture and storage (BECCS), and reforestation, among others.
Brian Marrs, Senior Director of Energy and Carbon Removal at Microsoft, said:
“Indigo’s work to create resilient farms and secure watersheds across the U.S. delivers measurable climate benefits as well as improved soil and water health and new economic development opportunities in rural communities. We conduct extensive due diligence when choosing projects for our portfolio, and are pleased to support this project as part of Microsoft’s broader portfolio of high-quality carbon removal solutions. The collaboration aims to protect the economic security of our agri-food system with a measurable and scalable approach to nature-based carbon removal.”
