CARBONBANK FAQ’s

Our team at Future Food Solutions (FFSL) will be in touch to organise initial soil sampling on the agreed tract of land. This will be used to determine the baseline level of your existing soil carbon. Modelling based on soil types, cropping plan and carbon safeguarding management practices, will then estimate how much carbon could be sequestrated.

To ensure there is always enough carbon to meet certified commitments, what is known as a “buffer” stock of 50% of the predicted carbon sequestrated will be held in reserve as soil data until the 5-year “truing up” process is undertaken. 

The data collected is sent to the independent certification body BCarbon, who will verify the estimates detailed in the application and convert into carbon credits which are then available to be sold.

Carbon is a commodity, the value of which will change each year depending on market conditions. Despite this, there are strong expectations that the price of quality carbon credits will continue to increase as we move toward 2030 carbon reduction targets. 

At the beginning of each year, the carbon credit price will be negotiated by the Carbon Bank and its customers. Due to the robustness of the CarbonBank methodology, focus on carbon removal and additional ecosystem benefits, credits generated are expected to achieve a premium over other emission-based credits. This ensures you will receive the best possible price for your premium carbon credits, year on year.

The FFSL team under the Carbon Bank brand manages the sale of the carbon credits. FFSL already has already engaged with several customers looking to purchase these carbon credits as they become available. As with commodity equalisation programmes, farmers will receive the average price achieved for each batch minus a 30% management fee.

No, although, certain farming practices sequestrate more carbon into the soil than others. To optimise the potential carbon credits within a rotation the use of cover crops, catch crops, short term grass leys and companion crops, wherever possible, is very important as they will pull atmospheric carbon down into the soil. Under the scheme, farmers will need to initiate carbon capture practices at least 3 times in every 5 years to ensure threshold amounts of carbon capture are met.  

The Sustainable Landscapes programmes will support farmers in maximising their carbon sequestration potential by sharing knowledge in farmer-to-farmer learning groups led by industry experts.  The addition of carbon safeguarding actions such as chopping straw, adding organic manures and biosolids will also help build soil organic carbon. 

Ploughing or heavy tillage will remove carbon from the soil, and therefore cultivation within the programme is limited to minimal disturbance.

We are requesting a minimum of 40 Hectares (100 acres) of land parcels. You could register all of your land as part of the programme. However different soil types will sequestrate carbon at different rates, and different rotations will also impact on carbon sequestration potential.

Future Food Solutions through the Carbon Bank will charge a management fee of 30% to fund the rigorous soil sampling exercise required to satisfy the certification requirements. This fee will also cover data collection costs, ground truthing, remote sensing, insurance, assembling data into a certified carbon credit programme, facilitating the certification process and any other associated certification fees. This fee will be deducted from the value of the carbon credits sold. We believe in removing barriers to sustainable farming. This means there are no up-front costs, membership fees or monthly payments to be accounted for.

To receive payment for carbon credits the farmer/landowner will need to commit the designated land parcels for 10 years. This will be on a rolling contractual basis to ensure that the carbon credit sold is reflected in the level of carbon sequestrated in the land.  This ensures that any Carbon sequestered in one year is stored in the soil for the following ten years, resulting in sequestered carbon making a measurable contribution to any Net Zero Carbon Policy. Companies who purchase your carbon credits will require the carbon to be retained in the soil for at least 10 years to enable them to offset their carbon emissions.

As the carbon credits are based on the predicted amount of carbon sequestrated, it is important to create a reserve in case the predicted carbon credits are not achieved.

After 5 years a follow-up soil sample will be taken from precisely the same location. The carbon levels will be measured using the same soil analysis. If the soil carbon after 5 years is equal to the predicted level, the buffer amount will be paid back to the farmer.

If the soil level is higher than predicted the additional carbon will be certified. The surplus carbon will be credited to the farmer’s account and a proportion of this made available for sale the following year.

If the soil carbon is less than predicted the buffer payment will be reduced to reflect the deficit. Soil carbon of less than 50% of the predicted levels, will impact future carbon sales. Any carbon deficit could be rolled over or offset against future carbon sequestration activities, with the deficit being made up in the next 12 months.

Yes, you will. The carbon credits are linked to the protocols and data collected by the SF Carbon Bank and the certified carbon credits can only be traded and redeemed through the CarbonBank. There are other carbon trading platforms, but these are likely to return a lower value, of carbon credit to the farmer. If you require carbon credits for use within your own business or associated business, it is possible to buy these back from FFSL minus the 30% cost of achieving them. 

The carbon credits sit with the land, however, the amount of carbon in the soil is dependent on the rotation and the farming methods employed. Therefore, there will need to be a negotiation between the tenant and the landowner to agree on how much of the value goes to each. This arrangement is likely to impact rent and other future income streams. 

No, following current guidance and consultation we are confident that you are able to stack benefits from both public schemes for regenerative practices and private incentives such as the SF CarbonBank. Upcoming schemes will help pay for regenerative farming techniques and cover the costs of practices such as cover crops, helping to complement the carbon credit programme. Going forward FFSL will look to further enhance the value of the carbon credits or create stand-alone credits for eco-system services such as improved biodiversity, flood attenuation and improved water quality.

The process will be managed by Future Food Solutions. FFSL will collect and hold all the data required by the certification body BCarbon and use the soil sampling data collected to create a baseline soil carbon. Using previous R&D and data collected over several years through the programme’s activities, and soil carbon modelling, FFSL can accurately predict potential carbon sequestration over 5 years. This will be presented to the accreditation board to receive interim certified carbon credits. FFSL will remotely monitor the fields and help validate the process.

The Future Food Solutions team will look at soil types, soil analysis, weather patterns, proposed rotations, farming practices and any other information available to calculate the potential for carbon sequestration in the soil.

The carbon credits will be independently certified by BCarbon Inc, a not for profit company established by the Baker Institute, at Rice University Houston, Texas, USA. It is a well-regarded, high-profile institute with many global partners. BCarbon has been working in partnership with FFSL and the Sustainable Landscapes Programme to certify carbon sequestrated in soil. 

It is likely that farmers will be expected to take care of their production emissions, to meet contract requirements or legislation. FFSL have built in, an on farm emissions element into the buffer reserve to offset your own production emissions.

As part of the Carbon Credit Programme, you will be encouraged to review your carbon emissions with the FFSL team currently developing practical ways to support this.

The data will be held by FFSL and utilised to achieve accreditation from the Certification body BCarbon. The data relating to each certified Carbon Credit needs to be retained for the full ten-year Carbon storage period and will form part of the Carbon Credit Trading Register.

Once all the live carbon credits for which you have been paid have been retired. In most cases, this will be 10 years. Leaving the programme before this point is possible but would mean that any outstanding credit payments would be foregone.