Iowa Farmer Finds $341,000 Fortune Hidden in his Soil

Iowa Farmer Finds $341,000 Fortune Hidden in his Soil

How Kelly Garrett Used Locus AG’s CarbonNOW^™ Program to Create a New Revenue Stream
from Sequestered Carbon    

ARION, Iowa (December 16, 2020) — It has been an especially challenging year for U.S. farmers who are facing insurmountable struggles to stay profitable. In an effort to counter the financial impacts of the pandemic and harsh weather, many have started to search for new revenue streams that don’t disrupt current growing practices or require high investments. For Iowa row crop grower Kelly Garrett, that search resulted in the discovery of a hidden fortune in his soil worth $341,175—carbon.

Garrett has a passion for sustainable agriculture and was already utilizing an array of regenerative farming practices that naturally sequester carbon. Throughout the last eight years, Garrett Land & Cattle has become 100% no-till and implemented additional initiatives, including utilizing manure, composting, livestock grazing and crop rotations. As a leader in innovation, Garrett has also never been afraid to try new things. When he heard about CarbonNOW^™, an award-winning carbon program developed by Locus Agricultural Solutions^® (Locus AG), he quickly realized he could get paid for the carbon he was already removing from the atmosphere. But just how much that was worth surprised him…

Photo credit: XtremeAg.Farm

After a visit with a CarbonNOW expert at this farm, Garrett learned how easily the program leads farmers through the carbon credit process and maximizes earnings. “I don’t think anyone should be scared away because they think it’s going to be too much work; Locus AG’s CarbonNOW team really makes it pretty painless,” says Garrett. Through a no-cost and no-obligation analysis of his farm practices, referred to as a CarbonNOW scorecard, Garrett was able to review an estimate of total potential carbon credits before joining the program. After reviewing his scorecard and looking into other carbon programs, Garrett decided CarbonNOW was the best choice for him.

“I knew that by going with Locus AG’s CarbonNOW, I was going to be one of the first farmers in the nation to actually get paid for carbon credits,” said Garrett. “There’s a lot of advertisements. There’s a lot of talk. The reality is other carbon programs haven’t accomplished anything yet; CarbonNOW has. I was the first to get a big check.”

Ecommerce giant Shopify has already purchased $75,000 worth of credits from Garrett

After going through the documentation and verification process, it was determined that Garrett had removed 22,745 tons of carbon from the atmosphere over the past five years—equivalent to offsetting the average annual emissions of almost 5,000 passenger vehicles. CarbonNOW experts then helped Garrett become one the first farmer in the nation to monetize high-volume carbon credits. He chose to sell the carbon credits at $15/credit in the Nori marketplace for a total value of $341,175. Ecommerce giant Shopify has already purchased $75,000 worth of credits from Garrett, with other buyers purchasing another estimated $15,000 of credits.

“Marketing our carbon credits provided an unforeseen financial gain to our farm,” Garrett said. “It has been a tremendous experience to go through the CarbonNOW program that I would highly recommend to every farmer.”

But it didn’t stop there—Garrett learned he could earn even more income by using Locus AG’s Rhizolizer^® Duo soil probiotic technology. Named the best new biological product of 2019, It is the only soil amendment proven to accelerate carbon sequestration, increase nitrogen uptake and increase yields per acre. Garrett saw immediate results. “Our nitrogen levels started dropping and we decided to use Rhizolizer Duo rather than adding more nitrogen. Within one week, the nitrogen levels increased by 12%. I have no doubt in my mind that Rhizolizer Duo made a difference.”

Based on the successful results, Garrett plans to continue using Rhizolizer Duo on all of his acres.

“When I first started working with Locus AG I was more interested in the carbon credits; but now I see equal value in the agronomic benefits of Rhizolizer Duo. It gives the soil more microbes, makes nutrients more plant available and gives me more yields. We were sequestering 1.1 tons of carbon per acre, but with Rhizolizer Duo we’re hoping for 4 tons. I’m a true believer in the product.”

Hear more from Garrett on his CarbonNOW program experience here. For more information on CarbonNOW, contact the Locus AG team.

About Locus Agricultural Solutions®
Locus Agricultural Solutions^® (Locus AG) is an agtech start-up and innovator member of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development that is helping to solve the interrelated challenges of climate change and food security. Its innovative, award-winning microbial soil “probiotic” technologies and CarbonNOW^®program give farmers a new way to boost yields, profit and accelerate carbon sequestration while reducing operating costs and environmental impact. The company’s success has received global recognition, including being named a Top 100 North America Winner by Red Herring, one of the Top New 50 Startups to Watch by Cleantech Group and winner of  NREL’s Industry Growth Forum Outstanding Venture Award. Locus AG gets its core scientific capabilities from its parent company, Locus Fermentation Solutions (Locus FS), an Ohio-based, globally recognized green technology company. For more information, visit LocusAG.com.

About CarbonNOW™
Deemed the top environmental project in the U.S., Locus AG’s CarbonNOW™ program gets farmers paid through carbon credit sales for practices that sequester carbon and reduce GHG emissions and helps buyers meet their corporate sustainability goals. The program uses a two-step approach that leads farmers through the process of monetizing their current conservation practices and gives them access to soil “probiotic” technologies that accelerate carbon removal and boosts yields to increase per-acre revenue by 2-3X. CarbonNOW is the first and only program to get a farmer paid a high-volume by a corporate buyer (Shopify). It was chosen as a World Changing Idea finalist by Fast Company and is the only U.S.-based finalist for the Boldest AgriTech Global Award. For more information, visit LocusAG.com/CarbonNOW.

About Rhizolizer^®Duo
Rhizolizer^® Duo is a global-award winning, non-GMO, organic-certified microbial soil amendment—or soil “probiotic” technology—proven to grow more food on less land, help reverse climate change and reduce chemical use in agriculture. It is the only technology that can simultaneously enhance soil health, supercharge carbon removal by 2-3X and boost crop yields by up to 43%. Named Best New Biological Product in 2019, the fresh treatments are comprised of a beneficial soil fungus and rhizobacteria that work synergistically to solubilize more soil nutrients, accelerate carbon sequestration and improve crop performance to maximize grower revenue and environmental impact. For more information, visit LocusAG.com/Rhizolizer.