CHS Carbon Program
What is Growcentive™?
Growcentive, a new CHS Carbon Program, rewards growers for adopting climate-smart practices, leaving healthier soil for future generations.
The program, in collaboration with ForGround by Bayer, rewards growers for implementing and maintaining cover crops and conservation tillage practices on a per-acre and per-practice basis after verification. As a global agribusiness that’s farmer owned, CHS is uniquely positioned to help growers be compensated for sustainability practices like sequestering and storing carbon in the soil.
What makes this program different?
Certainty
Growers are rewarded for verified and validated practices. There’s no need to worry about how many tons of carbon are generated.
Simplicity
The program uses a simple payment structure, without hidden costs. Bayer pays for validation and verification.
Flexible, easy enrollment
Growers can choose which fields to enroll and which practices to implement.
Transparency
Growers receive regular carbon market updates, tailored data (such as soil sampling results), agronomic support and an annual meeting.
Shared rewards
If the carbon market expands and values increase, growers will share in the upside. There’s no enrollment cap.
Grower value
Most of the value of each carbon credit generated goes to growers. A small portion of each carbon credit is split among key groups who help drive scale and keep costs down.
How are incentives structured?
Participating growers can earn up to
$3
per acre, per year
no-till/strip-till
Participating growers can earn up to
$6
per acre, per year
cover crops
Participating growers can earn up to
$9
per acre, per year
no-till/strip-till + cover crops
Participating growers can earn up to
$12
per acre, per year
for no-till/strip-till + cover crops + Levesol® DFC Zn or Trivar® and N-Edge® Pro
Which fields are eligible?
| Start date of continuous practices1,2 | Qualifies for 2023 CHS Growcentive™ carbon program? | Qualifies for historical payment4? | Qualifies for future payment4? |
| Started prior to October 1, 2014 | No | No | No |
| Started on or after October 1, 2014 | Yes | Potentially qualifies for up to 5 years of historical payment3 | Yes |
| Started after October 1, 2014 | Yes | No | Yes |
1 Continuous practices are agronomic practices that are maintained on a field regardless of crop rotation. The practices considered for this year’s program are no-till/strip-till and cover crop.
2 For combinations of practices implemented on the same field but different years, refer to above rules to determine eligibility for payment on a by-practice basis.
3 Assessed on a case-by-case basis upon verification of historical practices (will require additional data).
4 Assuming other eligibility criteria are met (e.g., in an eligible state) and subject to verification that practices have been performed.
Eligibility examples
- Fields that have been no-till since before 2014 and adopted cover crops in 2017 are eligible for cover crop rewards.
- Fields that have not yet adopted no-till/strip-till or cover crop practices are eligible for both cover crop and no-till/strip-till rewards.
- Fields that have been no-till since 2018 and adopted cover crops in 2016 are eligible for both no-till and cover crop rewards.
- Fields that have used both no-till/strip-till and cover crops since 2013 are not eligible at this time.
Eligible states
Arkansas
Colorado
Delaware
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Louisiana
Maryland
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
South Dakota
Texas
Wisconsin
What you can expect from us
- CHS and Bayer provide agronomic support to help you implement qualifying practices.
- We collaborate with certifiers and other stakeholders to ensure our program is aligned with industry standards and all reporting requirements for use of sequestered carbon.
- We take care of practice validation and soil sampling, then authorize your payment.
- We work with carbon registries like Verra to issue carbon credits generated by your practices.
Questions?
Contact your local CHS Agronomy sales representative