What is Additionality in Carbon Farming?

How a common carbon farming program requirement impacts eligibility

Carbon farming programs are on the rise across the U.S. Farmers are drawn to these programs not only for their environmental impact but for the financial incentives they offer.

Carbon farming programs pay farmers to adopt practices that sequester carbon into their soils. Yet it’s not quite as simple as it sounds: to qualify as a genuine carbon offset, farmers must prove that the carbon sequestered is additional – or a genuine, measurable difference in reducing emissions beyond what would have occurred naturally or through farmers’ existing farming practices.

This is the concept of additionality.

This article answers:

• What is additionality in carbon farming?
• How important is additionality in carbon farming?
• Is additionality required for carbon program participation?
• How do carbon programs determine additionality?
• How does additionality impact carbon farming program eligibility?
• What are common practice change additionalities for carbon farming programs?
• How do Locus AG’s biologicals qualify as an additionality for carbon farming?

What is additionality in carbon farming?

The concept of additionality in carbon farming programs refers to the idea that activities implemented to sequester or reduce carbon emissions should result in additional carbon benefits beyond what would have occurred in a business-as-usual scenario. In the context of carbon farming and offset projects, additionality is important for ensuring that the claimed carbon benefits are real and can be attributed to the specific project or program.

What is the importance of additionality in carbon farming?

The significance of additionality lies in its ability to validate the effectiveness of a carbon farming project. Carbon offset programs aim to sequester or reduce emissions that would otherwise have been released into the atmosphere. If a project can demonstrate additionality, it provides assurance that the claimed environmental benefits are real and not simply a result of existing practices or circumstances.

Is additionality required for carbon program participation?

Fig. 1: Most carbon farming programs require the implementation of a new agricultural practice that is proven to sequester carbon for entry into the program. The use of cover crops (as shown in this image) is a common practice change, or additionality, utilized in carbon farming programs.

Yes, the concept of additionality is typically a key requirement for farmers participating in carbon farming programs. Additionality is essential to ensure that the carbon sequestration or emission reduction activities undertaken by the farmers result in real and additional climate benefits beyond what would have occurred in their previous farming practices.

In the context of carbon farming, farmers may engage in various practices that contribute to carbon sequestration or emission reductions, such as adopting reduced tillage, implementing cover crops or grazing, or the use of qualifying agricultural biologicals as an approved practice change. To qualify for carbon credits or other incentives, it is important for these activities to meet the additionality criteria.

How do carbon programs determine additionality?

There are two widely-used approaches to determining the additionality of a project:

1. Project-specific approaches analyze an individual project’s financial, legal, and operational characteristics to verify that the project is voluntary and additional.
2. Standardized approaches evaluate projects using pre-determined eligibility criteria to verify that the project is viable and additional.

There are pros and cons to both project-specific and standardized approaches to assessing additionality.

• Project-specific approaches are often based on assumptions about the future (such as fuel prices), but can be more effective when applied meticulously.
• Standardized approaches are less precise than project-specific approaches, but can reduce the administrative load associated with evaluating each project case-by-case.

While proving additionality can be a time-consuming, expensive, and imperfect process, it’s also necessary to ensuring that participating projects are going to successfully offset carbon emissions from credit buyers.

How does additionality impact carbon farming program eligibility?

Additionality is typically a prerequisite for participating in carbon farming programs, and can disqualify farmers who would have adopted carbon sequestering practices in the program’s absence. While eligible practices for participating in carbon programs can appear straightforward, the need to prove additionality means that farmers already implementing conservation practices face much larger hurdles to join.

What are common practice change additionalities for carbon farming programs?

• No-till or tillage reductions
• Cover cropping
• Fertilizer reduction
• Nutrient management plans (Nitrogen reduction)
• Irrigation reduction
• Integrated grazing
• Biological application increase
• Residue removal reduction
• Buffer practice

Carbon programs often deny farmers who have already been engaging in the above practices because they can’t demonstrate additionality. This keeps many regenerative farmers out of the marketplace, penalizing them for being ahead of the curve in implementing carbon sequestering practices.

Although not common, the use of certain agricultural biologicals does count as an additionality in certain carbon farming programs.

Do Locus AG’s biologicals qualify as an additionality for carbon farming?

Yes, Locus AG’s agricultural biologicals count as an additionality, or qualifying practice change.

Locus AG’s carbon farming program, CarbonNOW®, offers broader eligibility for farmers—even those already engaged in regenerative practices. That’s because it’s the first carbon program with a biological product approved as a practice change eligible for carbon credits.

LEARN MORE: CarbonNOW 

Locus AG’s qualifying line of Rhizolizer biologicals are specifically tailored to expand root growth, increase nutrient uptake, enhance plant vigor, boost crop yields, and sequester more soil carbon.

CarbonNOW provides industry-leading benefits:

• Guaranteed annual payments
• Generous revenue sharing bonuses on carbon credit sale
• No program fees
• Third-party verification
• Broad eligibility

Farmers should be rewarded for their efforts to reduce emissions and sequester carbon into the soil. CarbonNOW allows farmers already employing eligible practice changes to join the program by utilizing biologicals that are demonstrating immense value to growers across the country.

CarbonNOW is currently enrolling farmers for its 2025 program.