Bayer AG, one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies, is capitalizing on environmental initiatives. The German company launched a pilot program on July 21 in Brazil and the US that will pay farmers for capturing carbon in croplands.
In the first season of Bayer’s Carbon Initiative, the company plans to enroll around 1,200-row crop farmers and will scale up in the following seasons. Eventually, it plans to expand the program to other countries.
Over the next three years, Bayer expects to invest $5.76 million (5 million euros) through the program in Brazil. However, the company refuses to disclose the total cost of the initiative in both countries.
The program follows several recent environmental initiatives by agriculture companies, which were criticized for not trying hard enough to stop deforestation in Brazil and for using harmful chemicals. For example, Land O’Lakes Inc. announced a multi-year partnership with Microsoft Corporation to tackle technology and sustainability goals in the food system. At the same time, Cargill Inc. launched a project in Iowa targeting fertilizer runoff and greenhouse gas emissions.
If growers want to participate in Bayer’s carbon program, they are required to enroll in its Climate FieldView digital farming platform. From the platform, farmers would log data about their eco-friendly agricultural practices, including no-till farming or planting cover crops, both of which are excellent at decreasing soil erosion. Satellite imagery could then verify those claims.
Farmers would be compensated for sequestering carbon. Bayer will give them the option of either getting paid in credits to buy products from its Bayer Plus rewards platform or in cash. “If farmers are sequestering carbon to the benefit of society and the planet, they should be rewarded for it,” said Brett Begemann, the lead operating officer of the Crop Science division at Bayer.
Begemann highlighted that the market would dictate the value of the carbon sequestration. “At the end of the day, we have to have a clear line of sight that this has to contribute to Bayer’s bottom line and benefit our shareowners as well,” he added.
The company chose around 500 farmers in 14 states of Brazil to participate in the pilot program for the 2020/2021 crop season, with roughly 60,000 hectares of mostly corn and soy farms.
