Working Ranch Magazine Summer 2025

How To Make Carbon Work For You ranch-raised marbled steak. “And we’re doing that now.” However, the payday from twice the beef sold from the same resource isn’t a bad deal either. SHOW ME THE MONEY There are a couple of ways to directly monetize the landscape’s ability to sequester carbon, according to Jared Knock, co-founder of AgSpire and a rancher and farmer in east-cen tral South Dakota. One is selling and buying carbon contracts. Those allow a company to “offset” its carbon emissions by buying a contract with a landowner. “It’s not much different than signing an oil or natural gas contract,” Knock says, “than trading that contract as an asset.” In the U.S., most of the carbon con tracts are voluntary as opposed to legally-based compliance markets like

in California, according to John Ritten, Ph.D., director of grazing land research and engagement with AgNext at Colorado State University. These contracts can be offset or inset. An offset carbon contract means a landowner can sell sequestered carbon to anyone, Ritten says. “I can sequester carbon on my ranch, then sell it to United Airlines to offset the emissions coming from their airplanes.” But be sure to read the fine print. There are a lot of nuances to consider. “Some of the challenges are that soil carbon measurement is difficult and expensive, partic ularly when we’re talking about ranches,” he says. That’s import ant because for some protocols a lot of sampling will be required to ensure an accurate measure ment across the landscape. “(Soil carbon amounts) can change even within pastures, based on the soil type,” Elzinga says. Plants in more rainy areas sequester carbon better than plants in more arid cli mates. So make sure your soil quali fies for the minimums established in

the contract. Which brings up additional ity, according to Ritten. That’s the amount of carbon stored beyond the baseline. “If I’m already storing car bon through my business-as-usual approach, there’s nothing they can claim to offset their emissions,”

80 I SUMMER 2025 WORKING RANCH audited readers run 21 million head of beef cattle.