ESMC is launching a US national scale ecosystem services market program for agriculture, to recognize and reward farmers and ranchers for their environmental services to society - which include increased soil carbon, reduced net greenhouse gases, improved water quality and water use conservation. The final objective is to create a voluntary national market to sell credits for greenhouse gas reduction as well as water quality and quantity for the agriculture sector by 2022.

ESMC is conducting 12 pilot projects/tests leading up to the targeted 2022 market program launch. The company is testing and refining their integrated ecosystem services credit protocol and other new technologies for every major farm commodity across the nation. Current pilot projects are being deployed within specific regions (Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, Illinois, and Indiana among others) and production systems where program build-out has been completed.

ESMC received $1.8M along with Dagan Inc, Argonne National Lab, and Veris Technologies from the US DOE’s ARPA-E program to develop the systems and models necessary to cost effectively quantify soil carbon and nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions at field scales.

Member-based non-profit organization.

ESMC’s protocol sets a monetary value on four environmental benefits farmers and rancher can generate on their land: added soil carbon, reduction in net GHG emissions, and increases in water quality and quantity. All of these benefits flow from good soil health.

ESMC’s market program will sell assets and credits for soil carbon and net GHG offsets as well as water quality and water quantity assets generated through a scientifically rigorous, standards-based, and cost-effective framework that meets corporate sustainability and reporting standards.

• Non-profit: ESMC wants to maximize environmental impact by delivering as much of the market value back to farmers and ranchers as possible and accelerate growth of the market.
• Scientific rigor: ESMC will ensure that their protocols have the strongest scientific basis possible to provide confidence and trust for both sellers and buyers of agricultural ecosystem assets.
• Multiple markets: they are not a carbon credit-only initiative. GHG impacts are fundamental, but land stewardship practices can deliver other benefits like water quantity and quality improvements, enhancement of habitat, and protection of biodiversity.
• Outcomes, not practices: Their protocols measure outcomes on farms and ranches. ESMC does not require any specific practices or set of practices but allow producers flexibility to manage their operations in ways that work best for them.
• Inclusion and Racial Justice: establishing a Working Group on Inclusion and Racial Justice to identify and remove barriers to equality, equity, inclusion, and racial justice encountered by Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) farmers and ranchers.

• Asset Quantification: developing techniques that help fund cost-effective and scalable regenerative agriculture. ESMC’s work centers around the development of accurate and cost-effective ways to measure changes in soil health as well as water quality and water quantity.
• MRV Technology: ESMC develops tools and technologies to permit long-term monitoring and verification of regenerative agriculture. In particular, ESMC is working with Dagan on the development and expansion of their OpTIS platform, a satellite system that tracks conservation tillage- and cover crop deployment.