Browse Ambrook’s collection of grants, loans, discounts, cost shares, easements, and insurance for operations interested in carbon credits.

Create a free account and enter basic operation information to check eligibility. Indigo provides a carbon calculator to estimate earning potential by location and practice change before enrolling. Enrollment is digital, and growers can review the terms and conditions of the Carbon contract during the enrollment process.

Questions about whether an operation qualifies can go to customersupport@indigoag.com.

Carbon by Indigo pays farmers for carbon sequestered through practice changes on cropland, rather than&#x2004;a lump sum or single payment for practice change. The standard program returns 75% of the weighted carbon credit purchase price directly to the farmer, and farmers always take home 75% or more of the carbon credit average sale amount.


Credits are issued by the Climate Action Reserve (CAR), an independent third-party registry, which confirms their eligibility for sale. Indigo describes the program as the largest registry-approved agricultural soil carbon program in the market, with more than 2 million credits issued to date.



Carbon by Indigo pays farmers for carbon sequestered through practice changes on cropland, rather than a lump sum or single payment for practice change. The standard program returns 75% of the weighted carbon credit purchase price directly to the farmer, and farmers always take home 75% or more of the carbon credit average sale amount.

Credits are issued by the Climate Action Reserve (CAR), an independent third-party registry, which confirms their eligibility for sale. Indigo describes the program as the largest registry-approved agricultural soil carbon program in the market, with more than 2 million credits issued to date.

There are eight criteria your operation needs to meet to be eligible for the Carbon by Indigo program:

1. Location — fields must be located in an eligible state. The program is available across all 48 continental US states.
2. Land use — at this time, only cropland is eligible. Indigo states it aims to expand to other land use types, such as pastureland, in the future.
3. Crops — you must grow a currently supported crop on the fields you would like to contract, and have exclusively planted eligible crops on those fields in the last five years (excluding crops grown as covers). Eligible crops: alfalfa, barley, dry beans or peas, canola, corn, cotton, flax, millet, oats, peanuts, rye, sorghum or milo, soybeans, sugar beets, sunflowers, triticale, wheat.
4. Practice change — you must make a practice change on your farm. Eligible practices include planting cover crops, reducing tillage, diversifying crop rotation, and improving nitrogen timing. Cover crops are the best way to maximize payment.
5. Other programs — fields currently enrolled in other carbon credit programs are not eligible. Fields under some conservation agreements may also be ineligible: fields in CRP are ineligible, but fields utilizing EQIP or CSP are eligible.
6. Tenure — fields must have been used in agricultural production for at least the past ten years.
7. Uncommon situations — a few scenarios may make a field ineligible, including clearing native ecosystems, farming on histosols, reclaiming mining land, and adding tile drains during the Carbon contract period.
8. Record keeping — you are required to submit detailed field records, which may include planting dates, fertilizer type, and application method, depending on your operation.

Indigo also states the program is open to farmers who grow any of 18 types of crops on at least 150 acres, enrolling at least one field.

A contract to sell an environmental outcome the operation produces - sequestered carbon, a water-quality credit, a habitat credit - to a buyer, rather than receiving an award. Payment is typically per unit (per acre or per ton CO2e) over a multi-year term and contingent on verification, so records using this instrument carry the payment.* and contract.* fields rather than award.min/award.max. Covers both credit-generating programs, where credits are sold to outside buyers, and supply-chain insetting programs, where a company the operation already sells to pays for the practice.

Environmental Market

Cover Crop

No-till

Alfalfa

Barley

Dried Beans

Dry Peas

Canola

Corn

Cotton

Flax

Millet

Oats

Peanuts

Sorghum

Soybeans

Sugar Beets

Sunflowers

Triticale

Wheat

Malting Barley

Sweet Corn

Grain Corn

ELS Cotton

Upland Cotton

Pima Cotton

Durum Wheat

Hard Red Spring Wheat

Row Crops

Pulse Crops

Peas

Fibers

Other Commodities

Soil Health

Reduced Tillage

Regenerative

Conservation

Carbon Capture

Payments are based on performance — the number of verified carbon credits generated on enrolled land and sold to a third-party buyer.

All payments under Carbon by Indigo are subject to multi-year vesting and are contingent on continued long-term maintenance of regenerative agricultural practices and soil carbon levels. Indigo's disclosure states payments are "paid on a five-year schedule."

All carbon credits generated are subject to a buffer pool holdback of up to 20% of credits generated, required by third-party crediting to protect against reversals; participants will not receive payments for the holdback.

Indigo states that even if farmers choose to discontinue carbon farming with Indigo, they will never be asked to pay back money they have been paid.

The first step for ranchers interested in participating is to submit an application of interest. From there:

1. Native will reach out to schedule an initial phone/video call or ranch visit.
2. Native will request information about the ranch: baseline records and maps (shapefiles), ranch improvement plan, easement contracts (if applicable), and written leases (if applicable).
3. Native gathers final information: three years of income statements and balance sheets, a credit check, a background check, and final carbon sequestration estimates.
4. Native will confirm eligibility and provide terms.
5. You sign the contract.
6. You get paid to start project activity and continue to receive carbon credit payments for 40 years.

Ranchers or landowners outside the project region can contact Kirsten McKnight at kirsten.mcknight@native.eco or submit an application of interest for a new region.

Tara Povalish

Native's Northern Great Plains Program Manager

Adele Stenson

WSE Rancher Coordinator

Native's improved grazing carbon program provides ranchers with upfront financial and technical support to sequester carbon in&#x2004;soils. In partnership with Western Sustainability Exchange, the program provides upfront funding to help ranchers implement sustainable land management practices that enhance soil carbon sequestration, enabling ranchers to invest in infrastructure and grazing improvements while gaining access to verified and credible carbon markets.


Participating ranchers benefit from increased forage and land productivity, greater drought resilience, enhanced carrying capacity for livestock and wildlife, capital support for infrastructure improvements, and diversified income through carbon credit revenue for up to forty years.


The program supports ranchers in adopting improved grazing techniques such as increasing pasture splits to boost stocking density and livestock movement, reducing grazing days per pasture to prevent overgrazing, and prioritizing land rest in all pastures.


Launched in 2015 in partnership with Western Sustainability Exchange, it is the first validated and verified carbon project to a leading carbon standard, undergoing third-party audits to the Verified Carbon Standard. Native and Western Sustainability Exchange also publish the program under the name Northern Great Plains Improved Grazing Carbon Program.


Native's Help Build™ program provides up-front capital and financial security to improve soil health before the income from soil carbon benefits has been realized. Help Build™ offsets provide funding for fencing and water infrastructure that allows ranchers to increase their number of pastures, decrease the pastures' size, and increase the speed and number of livestock rotations, prolonging rest and recovery on more acres of grassland.



Native's improved grazing carbon program provides ranchers with upfront financial and technical support to sequester carbon in soils. In partnership with Western Sustainability Exchange, the program provides upfront funding to help ranchers implement sustainable land management practices that enhance soil carbon sequestration, enabling ranchers to invest in infrastructure and grazing improvements while gaining access to verified and credible carbon markets.

Participating ranchers benefit from increased forage and land productivity, greater drought resilience, enhanced carrying capacity for livestock and wildlife, capital support for infrastructure improvements, and diversified income through carbon credit revenue for up to forty years.

The program supports ranchers in adopting improved grazing techniques such as increasing pasture splits to boost stocking density and livestock movement, reducing grazing days per pasture to prevent overgrazing, and prioritizing land rest in all pastures.

Launched in 2015 in partnership with Western Sustainability Exchange, it is the first validated and verified carbon project to a leading carbon standard, undergoing third-party audits to the Verified Carbon Standard. Native and Western Sustainability Exchange also publish the program under the name Northern Great Plains Improved Grazing Carbon Program.

Native's Help Build™ program provides up-front capital and financial security to improve soil health before the income from soil carbon benefits has been realized. Help Build™ offsets provide funding for fencing and water infrastructure that allows ranchers to increase their number of pastures, decrease the pastures' size, and increase the speed and number of livestock rotations, prolonging rest and recovery on more acres of grassland.

Eligibility for the program depends on both the core requirements from the project methodology and Native's own criteria. This includes:

- Current management is either continuous grazing or limited and moderate previous history of regenerative management. The best candidates will be those with limited experience with improved grazing. If the ranch has been working on rotations and more intensive management in the past, management can be assessed at the pasture level and pastures that may not be eligible excluded, without the ranch being completely ineligible.
- Located in the validated project region. The project is validated for a defined region shown on a map on the program page — Montana and surrounding states. Ranchers outside the region are invited to reach out.
- Commitment to the land and ranch operations. Native signs 40 year contracts with participating ranches and guarantees to pay a minimum payment per metric tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent accrued in the soil.
- Greater than 2,500 grazable acres under livestock management. Native states its minimum is 2,500 acres at this time.
- Willingness to work and grow in uncertainty, given the evolving science of soil carbon sequestration and carbon markets.

Prescribed Grazing

Livestock

Cattle

Pigs

Poultry

Sheep

Specialty Livestock

Beef Cattle

Dairy Cattle

Feeder Cattle

Slaughter Cattle

Calves

Heifers

Steers

Bulls

Barrows

Boars

Feeder Pigs

Hogs

Sows

Chickens

Cornish Hens

Ducks

Geese

Turkey

Ewes

Lambs

Rams

Alpacas

Beefalo

Bison

Buffalo

Caribou

Deer

Emus

Goats

Guinea Pigs

Llamas

Mink

Mohair

Ostrich

Pheasants

Quail

Rabbits

Reindeer

Water Buffalo

Beef Bottom Round

Beef Brisket

Beef Chuck Roast

Beef Eye Round

Beef Flank Steak

Beef Flat Iron Steak

Beef Heart

Beef Liver

Beef London Broil

Beef NY Strip Steak

Beef Oxtail

Beef Rib Steak

Beef Rump Roast

Beef Short Ribs

Beef Sirloin

Beef Sirloin Tip Roast

Beef Skirt Steak

Beef Soup Bones

Beef Stew Meat

Beef Tongue

Beef Top Round

Beef Whole Filet

Ground Beef

Broilers

Chicks

Fryers

Layers

Pullets

Roasters

Ducklings

Goslings

Poults

Toms

Ground Lamb

Lamb Chops

Lamb Heart

Lamb Leg

Lamb Liver

Lamb Shank

Lamb Shoulder

Lamb Stew Meat

Bison Calf

Bison Meat

Bucks

Nannies

Slaughter Goats

- Program Overview (263.69 KB)
- Program Flyer (737.55 KB)
- Carbon Companies Comparison (3.39 MB)

Native signs 40 year contracts with participating ranches and guarantees a floor payment regardless of where the carbon market moves. Native has described outcome-based payments as running $3 to $8 per acre per year, with Help Build upfront funding at $3 to $5 per acre, on a five-company rancher panel hosted by Western Sustainability Exchange in April 2025. The rate depends on infrastructure, grazing plan, and environmental factors, and Native adjusts it every three years to stay market competitive. Native publishes no per-tonne figure.

Two payment structures. Under Help Build, Native funds fencing and water infrastructure upfront in exchange for the rights to the credits for a period or a fixed quantity. Under outcome-based payments, used where the rancher already has capital for the infrastructure, Native pays per credit as it is verified onto the registry.

Ranchers are paid to start project activity and continue to receive carbon credit payments for 40 years. Native measures, reports, and verifies the carbon sequestered in the soil to develop and transact carbon credits in voluntary markets.

The project is validated and verified to the Verified Carbon Standard under Verra methodology VM0026, and undergoes third-party audits. Verra inactivated VM0026 in 2024 while consolidating its grassland methodologies; validated projects continue under the version they were validated against, and crediting is unaffected.

Start with Loam's grower interest survey on the SecondCrop program page. Loam's agronomic team then works with the grower on which practices and fields make sense before a contract is signed.

Enquiries can go to Terry Hansen (Director of North America Sales), Jason Horne (Senior District Sales Manager), or Josh Shaeffer (Global Head of Carbon Markets); general enquiries to info@loambio.com.

Terry Hansen

Director of North America Sales, Loam Bio

Jason Horne

Senior District Sales Manager, United States, Loam Bio

Josh Shaeffer

Global Head of Carbon Markets, Loam Bio

SecondCrop is Loam Bio's soil carbon program for row crop farmers. Unlike carbon programs that pay for practice change, SecondCrop is built around a product: farmers apply&#x2004;Loam's CarbonBuilder microbial seed treatment at planting and build stable soil carbon without introducing new practices.


CarbonBuilder uses naturally occurring endophytic fungi to boost the plant's ability to draw down carbon. Loam states farmers can store 1-2.5 tonnes CO2e per acre per year, with statistically significant increases in soil organic carbon starting in year one, alongside improved soil structure, nutrient retention, and water infiltration.


The distinguishing feature is credit ownership: Loam's factsheet states growers retain 70% of the credits generated on their fields and choose when and at what price to sell, with the option to bank them or work with Loam to find buyers. Loam says it helps growers secure above-market pricing for premium credits. Credits are certified by Gold Standard and tracked on the registry until retired or sold at the farmer's request.


SecondCrop is open to all row crop farmers, whether they farm conventionally or introduced regenerative practices years ago.



SecondCrop is Loam Bio's soil carbon program for row crop farmers. Unlike carbon programs that pay for practice change, SecondCrop is built around a product: farmers apply Loam's CarbonBuilder microbial seed treatment at planting and build stable soil carbon without introducing new practices.

CarbonBuilder uses naturally occurring endophytic fungi to boost the plant's ability to draw down carbon. Loam states farmers can store 1-2.5 tonnes CO2e per acre per year, with statistically significant increases in soil organic carbon starting in year one, alongside improved soil structure, nutrient retention, and water infiltration.

The distinguishing feature is credit ownership: Loam's factsheet states growers retain 70% of the credits generated on their fields and choose when and at what price to sell, with the option to bank them or work with Loam to find buyers. Loam says it helps growers secure above-market pricing for premium credits. Credits are certified by Gold Standard and tracked on the registry until retired or sold at the farmer's request.

SecondCrop is open to all row crop farmers, whether they farm conventionally or introduced regenerative practices years ago.

Applying CarbonBuilder is the participation requirement. Loam states: "No. Simply using our CarbonBuilder microbial seed treatment at planting satisfies the additionality clause (i.e., requiring new practices that increase soil organic carbon and/or abate GHG emissions)." No other practice change is required.

- Open to row crop farmers, conventional or regenerative, regardless of when practices were introduced.
- Two years of historical data are required.
- CarbonBuilder must be applied on enrolled fields.

Note that participation carries an upfront cost to the farmer that most funding-library programs do not: CarbonBuilder is a purchased product.

- SecondCrop Fact Sheet (284.43 KB)
- CarbonBuilder Corn and Soy Fact Sheet (1.63 MB)

Contract term. Loam states: "Your initial commitment is 5 years and ongoing participation is renewed in 5-year increments." Loam separately advertises the option to leave in the first two years, and at years six and ten. Loam's SecondCrop factsheet describes the same arrangement as a "5 + 5 year format" with "no 10+ year lock-in term."

Cost. Loam states: "There are no direct program fees to participate outside the purchase of CarbonBuilder. SecondCrop retains a small percentage of your total credit volume to meet buffer pool allocations, cover reversals, and offset program costs. If no credits are generated, Loam bears this cost, not the farmer."

Credit share. Loam's SecondCrop factsheet states growers "retain 70% of the credits generated," which puts Loam's share at 30% — larger than the "small percentage" the FAQ describes. The two figures come from different Loam sources and are not reconciled on either.

How payment works. Loam states: "You earn credits based on the amount of carbon captured in your soil (1 metric ton/CO2e sequestered = 1 carbon credit). You own your carbon credits and have the option to bank them or to work with Loam to sell your credits to buyers. They will be tracked on a third-party registry until they are retired/sold at your request." The factsheet names that registry as Gold Standard.

No per-credit price is published. The factsheet states growers sell "at the price you decide, based on buying offers," so there is no program rate to quote.

List of Agricultural Funding for Carbon Credits