Agriculture
Sustainability
Climate-Smart Agriculture
Carbon Farming
What is carbon farming? 

Agriculture

What Is Carbon Farming?

Person in red plaid shirt using tablet in wheat field at sunset, representing digital farming technology.

Understanding carbon farming

You may be asking a simple question: What is carbon farming? Carbon farming is an agricultural approach that sequesters carbon from the atmosphere into the soil, reduces greenhouse gas emissions during production, and potentially provides farmers with an additional revenue stream.  

Through our Carbon Farming Program, we support farmers worldwide in mitigating climate change, enabling them to become a constructive force in a market already experiencing increased pressures. We connect farmers with food value chain players to measure, monitor and report reduced field emissions that allows for certification to the highest global standards. 

Close-up of farmer’s hands touching soil in field.

Why is carbon farming important?

Farmers play an important role in helping to achieve a significant lowering of CO2e emissions in production and have the capability to sequester carbon into their soils – two important levers in a world that is striving to achieve net zero targets. 

Sequestering carbon in soil 

  • Soil carbon and the resilience of food supply are strongly interconnected 
  • Carbon is the organic matter stored in the soil, playing a crucial role in maintaining soil health and fertility 
  • Healthy soils rich in carbon, can contribute to a resilient food supply by providing essential nutrients and water for plant growth, reducing erosion, and improving soil structure 

Our Carbon Farming Program embeds carbon reduction practices as an integral part of sustainable agriculture while also enhances biodiversity and water management 
 

Lowering emissions in production 

  • Carbon dioxide emissions can be lowered in a number of ways 
  • Precision agriculture, or the precise use of fertilizer, can enhance yields from the same farming inputs  
  • Reducing N2O emissions can also be improved within farming practices in order to improve a farm’s environmental impact 
Marko Grozdanovic, Andy Beadle and moderator Stella Kontzidou during the LinkedIn Live session

Grounded in Soil: Carbon Farming Explained

Watch a summary of our LinkedIn Live session on carbon farming with Marko Grozdanovic, Andy Beadle and moderator Stella Kontzidou. The discussion looks at carbon farming in practice, its business perspective, and how it can add value across the agricultural value chain — including a “Myth or Fact” exchange with Marko and Andy.
Recorded in November 6, 2025

Two farmers examining crops in a green field under a cloudy sky.

Why BASF?

With over 100 years of agricultural expertise, we support farmers to become more carbon efficient. Our goal is to reduce carbon emissions and production by 30% per ton of crop produced for key crops like wheat, soy, rice, canola, and corn by 2030. Our Global Carbon Farming Program is scientifically driven, independently validated, creating shared value for all participants involved. 

​BASF is in the best position to bring together farmers, value chain partners, and internationally recognized certifiers to decarbonize agricultural value chains and drive a long-term sustainable future for agriculture and society.

Farmers can expect BASF to serve as a one-stop shop for maximizing decarbonization efforts in agriculture by: 

  • Providing guidance and sharing knowledge

  • Reducing complexity 

  • Providing a digital platform to collect data

  • Our connected offer for carbon efficiency

  • Reputable carbon certification

How does it work?

Carbon Farming requires the adoption of a range of agricultural practices by the farmer that reduce CO2e emissions on farms and / or sequester carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it within soil. That reduced and sequestered CO2e feeds into the voluntary carbon market, allowing farmers to benefit from their sustainable efforts. Simultaneously, companies investing in carbon reduction projects – whether within their own value chains or outside their organization – can have that benefit recognized by certification bodies. 

We support farmers to participate in the voluntary carbon market, by turning carbon removal and reduction activities into new sources of revenue. We also help connect on-farm practices to the value chain’s requirements – recognizing that chain comes throughout the entire value and production chain​. Simultaneously, we offer a “one-stop-shop” for partners to validate their decarbonization efforts by leveraging our scientific expertise and working with credible high-quality certifiers​. 

Changing your practice on the field

Change can come in many forms. You can pick and choose as many of these to deliver more sustainable practices. 

Tractor spraying crops with herbicide on green field at sunrise.

Conservation tillage

Herbicide products facilitate conservation tillage, reducing both carbon emissions and diesel use and resulting in improved soil quality through fewer soil disturbances. 
Two agricultural vehicles harvesting crops in field with birds flying under blue sky.

Minimizing fuel usage 

One of the major contributors to climate change is the burning of fossil fuels – thereby protecting farmland from erosion and improving soil health. 
Wind turbine in rural landscape with fields and trees under blue sky.

Transitioning to renewable energy sources 

Finding cleaner sources of energy to use on farms can reduce emissions associated with agriculture, reducing the reliance on abundant fossil fuels.

Discover more about carbon farming

Meet our experts

To learn more about the Global Carbon Farming Program, get in touch with us. 

Andy Beadle
Global Carbon Farming Lead
Jessica Monserrate
Head of Sustainability North America
Gabor Mehn
New Business Development, Sustainability & Digital Solutions, EMEA

Take a look at further examples of carbon farming

Close-up of Marko Grozdanovic, SVP for Global Strategic Marketing & Sustainability for BASF Agricultural Solutions.
Interview with Marko Grozdanovic
The momentum is real for carbon farming: more countries, more crops, more value chains. But we do it thoughtfully, tailoring each project to local needs.
  1. Read more (Chemical Week)
Combine harvester at work
Press Release
BASF and Boortmalt partner to generate first carbon insetting Verified Impact Units in Europe.
  1. Read more
A man selecting fresh tomatoes in a grocery store.
Carbon Conscious Cooking for the Future
In this episode of the Science Behind Your Salad, Jane Craigie explores the world of carbon farming: how can we grow better?
  1. Listen to our episode

FAQs

What does carbon farming mean for greenhouse gas reductions?

Carbon farming is an approach to agriculture that involves managing land in a way that sequesters carbon from the atmosphere, stores it in the soil and vegetation and reduces the amount of CO2e* that are released into the atmosphere during production.

*CO₂-equivalents (CO₂e) are a unit of measurement used to standardize the climate impact of different greenhouse gases.

What requirements does BASF meet for high-integrity nature-based carbon credits?

BASF enables rigorous certified carbon insetting and offsetting through a seamless digital framework created in its program. The platform collects data required for verification and certification from scientifically driven certification bodies such as The Gold Standard and Verra. It then monetizes carbon emissions reductions and removals obtained through implementing specific agricultural interventions by having these officially converted to internationally recognized carbon offset or inset certificates. Methodologies (protocols) are essential to quantify greenhouse gas emissions and savings accurately and consistently. BASF’s program fulfills all requirements of Verra’s VM0042 (“Methodology for Improved Agricultural Land Management”). 

VM0042 underlies Verra’s and The Gold Standard’s certification processes for offset and inset certificates. 

What is carbon insetting? 

Carbon insetting is when a company reduces its carbon footprint by investing in carbon efficiency projects within its supply chain. This contrasts with “offsetting” emissions through external projects unrelated to their emission scopes. 

Emitters thereby invest in actions to increase the carbon efficiency within their value chain, reducing their scope 3 emissions. This is typically done by collaborating with suppliers to reduce emissions, implementing renewable energy solutions, and reducing waste. 

What is carbon offsetting?

Carbon offsetting is a mechanism that allows individuals or companies – most commonly large emitters – to compensate for their residual carbon emissions by financing or investing in projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions elsewhere. While these entities often focus on reducing their emissions through carbon insetting first, they may have to resort to offsetting credits for emissions, which cannot be more readily abated.  

In the brief history of carbon offset markets, projects have mostly pertained to renewable energy and reforestation domains. The emissions reductions achieved by these projects are then measured, verified, and sold as carbon credits to the buyers, who can use them to balance their residual emissions. 

What is a voluntary carbon market? 

Voluntary carbon market (VCM) refers to carbon markets where companies or individuals voluntarily choose to offset their carbon emissions by purchasing offset credits (i.e., participation is not required, therefore members opt in to either selling or buying carbon credits) or where companies seek to reduce the overall carbon intensity of their value chain. Soil carbon projects operate in the VCM. These credits are typically generated by projects that are not regulated by governments but have been certified by recognized third-party registries. Through voluntary carbon markets, companies can take additional steps to reduce their carbon footprint beyond regulatory requirements, while those in unregulated sectors (such as agriculture) can demonstrate their commitment to sustainability by compensating for their emissions.  

There are many VCMs, regional and international, and no one trading platform for voluntary carbon credits. Voluntary markets are self-regulated through carbon standards (such as VERRA or The Gold Standard), to which projects wishing to sell carbon credits must have projects audited and registered. The carbon price in voluntary markets can be hugely variable and linked to numerous factors, including quality, assurance, origin, other social or environmental benefits for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Environmental Social Governance (ESG) purposes, supply and demand, cost of production, etc. VCMs represent a fast-growing market, particularly as sustainability goals become more important for companies' ESG strategies, driven by sectoral climate targets, regulation from governments, and consumer demand.  

Agriculture has an immense potential to provide carbon credits to the voluntary carbon market, helping to offset emissions (by reduction and sequestration). Carbon savings must comply with different standards as a basis for global trading, setting a high bar for agriculture.