Grassroots Carbon Soil Carbon Program

Grassroots Carbon pays US cattle and bison ranchers annually for carbon stored in their soils through regenerative grazing. Ranchers join at no cost — there are no out-of-pocket enrollment expenses — and receive payments based on the carbon actually measured in their soil, at the credit price current in that year, so they are never locked into a set rate and keep the upside when credit prices rise.

The company reports partnering with ranchers across roughly 2 million acres in 22 states, and in January 2026 announced it had become the first US company to deliver 1.9 million tons of carbon removals through regenerative ranching.

Grassroots provides its PastureMap grazing software to track herd moves, grazing periods, rest days, and pasture history, and runs workshops and field events. It also partners with Audubon on its certification program. Beyond carbon, Grassroots describes developing other natural capital value for ranchers, such as water and biodiversity.

The program is built for ranchers who:

• Run grazing operations, from family ranches to large-scale herds — Grassroots reports working with ranches from 180 acres to 130,000 acres.

• Manage substantial grasslands within eligible US regions.

• Are willing to implement and commit to regenerative grazing practices that improve soil health, forage availability, water retention, and biodiversity.

Additionality is required: without a change from current practice, ranchers cannot generate carbon credits. That may mean reducing synthetic fertilizers or pesticides, implementing adaptive multi-paddock (AMP) grazing, or other changes, and the rancher must be able to document the change. Practices are tracked in the PastureMap app.

Two program structures. Grassroots offers a 15-year program on the Regenerative Standard — five years of managed grazing followed by soil sampling to measure carbon, with the only commitment for the following ten years being not to till and release the carbon — and a 30-year Climate Action Reserve (CAR) or Verra program, where the first ten years are grazing practice changes and the producer may then continue with managed grazing and crediting. Payments run in 10-year crediting periods with measurements every five years.

How payment works. Producers are paid for every ton of carbon stored between measurements at the current credit price that year — never locked into a set rate, always keeping the upside. On a Western Sustainability Exchange rancher panel in April 2025, Grassroots described the rancher's share after costs ranging from about $3 per acre in arid environments to $18-20 per acre in areas like Virginia.

Cost. There are no out-of-pocket costs to enroll.

1. Apply to become a carbon credit rancher through the form on the ranchers page.

2. Meet with the Grassroots team to discuss your location, land management practices, and openness to changing those practices.

3. If it's a fit, a measurement team takes baseline soil samples, and payments follow the carbon stored between measurements.

Contacts: Taylor Coit (taylor.coit@buildgrassroots.com, (210) 953-4496) or Hunter Jones (hunter.jones@buildgrassroots.com).

• Five Carbon Companies Answer Ranchers' Top Questions (3.39 MB) — WSE rancher panel featuring Grassroots Carbon