Farmers see prices tank for carbon credits

Farmers enrolled in a program that rewards them for reducing greenhouse gasses are finding the market for their carbon credits has shrunk amid the recession and uncertainty about climate legislation being crafted by Congress. Carbon dioxide credits are fetching about 60 cents a metric ton, down from a high of about $7 a year ago, according to the National Farmers Union, which runs the program. Farmers, ranchers and landowners earn credits by growing grasses and trees or using no-till farming practices, in which seeds are injected into the soil to reduce the amount of dirt turned over and carbon released. Livestock producers can participate by installing systems to capture methane from manure. The program pools the credits for sale on the Chicago Climate Exchange, a private agency that trades greenhouse gases and other pollutants just as other exchanges trade commodities such as crops and livestock. Corporations, cities and other exchange members buy the credits to help offset their emissions. The program's participants in 2006 and 2007 captured carbon dioxide from 2.8 million acres, or about the amount produced by 320,000 cars per year, Enerson said. Farmers usually receive payment for their credits - typically a few thousand dollars - in July. But those checks haven't been sent this year because most of the carbon credits pooled in 2008 have yet to be traded, Johnson and Enerson said...AP