Patrick Wood, general manager of Ag Methane Advisors, believes financial incentives are necessary for dairy farms to implement new advanced technologies and best management practices to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
“Our mission is to help farmers get paid for reducing their greenhouse gas emissions and improving their environmental performance,” Wood said during a Professional Dairy Producers webinar about participating in carbon markets. “We think carbon markets have been and will continue to be a great way to do that.”
Wood said he is concerned about climate change. “I think one of the most viable solutions to mitigating the worst impacts of climate change is using markets to do that,” he explained. “Companies haven’t had to pay for their pollution over the years. By creating carbon markets, it creates a financial mechanism to reduce the impacts of climate change.”
Wood said dairy farms produce a lot of carbon emissions, but they can reduce a lot of emissions.
“So, it can be a win-win for them,” he said.
He said he likes to use carbon markets to help farms diversify their revenue stream and their business, improve their environmental performance, and often, create benefits for their operation, as well.
What are carbon credits?
Wood explained that dairy farms, and animal agriculture in general, produce a lot of greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change.
There are three primary types of gas emissions: methane, carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide. “Methane is the main one involving animals,” he said.
According to Wood, lots of companies, farms, governments and individuals around the world want to reduce their carbon emissions because they see climate change as an urgent threat.