Native's Improved Grazing Carbon Program
For Ranchers in Montana and surrounding states
Native's Improved Grazing Carbon Program
Native's grazing carbon program for Montana ranchers and surrounding regions, in partnership with Western Sustainability Exchange, provides upfront funding to help ranchers implement sustainable land management practices that enhance soil carbon sequestration. This program enables ranchers to invest in infrastructure and grazing improvements while gaining access to verified and credible carbon markets. By participating in this grazing program for ranchers, ranchers benefit from:
- Increased forage and land productivity
- Greater drought resilience
- Enhanced carrying capacity for livestock and wildlife
- Capital support for infrastructure improvements
- Diversified income through carbon credit revenue for up to forty years.
The carbon program supports ranchers in adopting improved grazing techniques such as:
- Increasing pasture splits to boost stocking density and livestock movement movement,
- Reducing grazing days per pasture to prevent overgrazing
- Prioritizing land rest in all pastures.
Native provides financial and technical support to Montana ranchers and those in surrounding states to deploy these practices and brings them access to carbon markets for forty years. Native measures, reports, and verifies the carbon sequestered in the soil to develop and transact carbon credits in voluntary markets.
Since launching in 2015 in partnership with Western Sustainability Exchange, the program has helped overcome adoption barriers for improved grazing practices. As it expands, Native collaborates with industry leaders to maximize benefits for ranchers. Native's grazing carbon program is the first validated and verified carbon project to a leading carbon standard, undergoing third-party audits to the Verified Carbon Standard.
Explore our FAQ to discover how our grazing carbon program supports ranchers in improving productivity and long-term financial resilience. Click here to learn About Native.
Apply to Native's Improved Grazing Carbon Program
The first step for ranchers interested in participating in Native's Improved Grazing Carbon program is to submit an application of interest. Here's what you can expect from the process.
- Native will reach out to you to schedule an initial phone/video call or ranch visit.
- Native will request some information about your ranch: baseline records and maps (shapefiles), ranch improvement plan, easement contracts (if applicable), written leases (if applicable).
- Native will confirm your eligibility and provide terms.
- You can then sign the contract, and
- Get paid to start project activity and continue to receive carbon credit payments for 40 years.
Is my ranch eligible to participate?
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 program goals are to use carbon credit funding and technical support to have the biggest potential impact on rangeland regeneration. 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, we can assess management at the pasture level and exclude pastures that may not be eligible without the ranch being completely ineligible.
- Located in the validated project region. The project is validated for the region shown on the map. If you fall outside this region but are still interested, please reach out to [email protected] or fill out an application of interest and we will be in touch.
- 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. As such, Native is looking to build long term partnerships and to work with ranchers who have an equally long term commitment to the carbon management goals and improving their land.
- Greater than 2,500 grazable acres under livestock management. We are working to improved efficiency in ranch data management and carbon verification to include ranches at small marginal costs. At this time, our minimum is 2,500 acres.
- Willingness to work and grow in uncertainty. The science behind soil carbon sequestration, the dynamic nature of soil, best land management practices, and carbon markets are a lot of moving variables that mix together to create the challenge and opportunity we have right now. Native hopes to find willing partners to enjoy the ride with us.
Project Supporters
The Native's Improved Grazing project is supported by these brands and others who partner with Native to activate their sustainability goals and support catalytic climate action projects.
Questions?
Contact the Northern Great Plains Program Manager, Tara Povalish at [email protected] or Chris Mehus, Executive Director, Western Sustainability Exchange at [email protected].
For ranchers or land owners outside the project region, contact Kirsten McKnight at [email protected] or fill out an application of interest for a new region.
Who is Native?
Native is a Certified Benefit Corporation headquartered in Burlington, VT. We’ve been bringing upfront capital through the sale of carbon credits to any kind of good project that also reduces or removes carbon emissions. In the beginning, it was more renewable energy or dairy farm manure management projects and now our team is growing to support agricultural soil carbon projects. Our clients are carbon credit buyers wanting to make a positive change that wouldn’t happen otherwise.
What are the project practices?
Participating ranchers split their pastures more, move their cattle more frequently, increase stocking density per unit area, and prioritize rest on all land included in the project.
How is soil carbon measured?
For our operational projects, soil carbon is measured on each ranch on approximately 20 randomly selected sites that are sub-stratified by environmental, land use, or topographical characteristics. The samples are to a depth of 30 centimeters and test for soil bulk density and percent that is soil organic carbon. The same sites will be re-measured at a defined interval (once every 5-10 years). If you are participating in a new project, specific monitoring protocols may be adapted to your project.
How is soil carbon change quantified over time and how does that relate to credit issuance?
The percent of soil carbon in soil changes very slowly over time. It is expected to take at least 5 years to be able to measure any change in soil carbon with the change in practices on participating ranches. Instead of waiting to measure the changes in soil carbon to verify and issue carbon credits that can be sold, Native uses a peer-reviewed soil carbon model to estimate the changes in soil carbon with improved practices. We use these estimates to issue carbon credits before soil carbon changes can be measured. Soil sampling every 5-10 years at the same sites will allow us to true-up our estimates.
All issued carbon credits are based on an extremely conservative estimate of soil carbon accruals. There are additional buffers and discounts to reduce the likelihood that carbon credits sold have not actually been sequestered in the soil. Ranchers participating in the project with Native are not liable to return/replace and carbon that does not get sequestered.
What costs does Native cover?
Soil sampling, third party audit costs, technical advisory and grazing workshops, carbon monitoring, data management, registration costs, registry fees, sales and marketing.
Do I have to pay for soil sampling or any verification costs?
No, Native covers soil sampling, registration and issuance fees, third party auditor costs, and any other costs related to creating the carbon credits generated through the improved practices on your ranch.
What if we have bison and we can’t use temporary fencing or conventional splits?
The goal of the project remains the same, to increase the animal impact per unit area on all acres that your animals graze and to prioritize rest. Structural improvements aren’t the only way to manipulate animal grazing behavior and affect positive change over time. How we account for baseline practices and track success of the project activity will have more of a custom fit for your operation and we can work together to determine what tools you currently use and what we can improve upon to ensure success and accountability.
What if I don’t think there is more improved management I can do?
Unless you have split all your pastures, are conducting daily moves, and prioritizing rest across your whole ranch, there’s probably more you can do. We want to work with you, and rangeland experts, to develop the plan that will enable eligibility into this program.
If I generate and sell these carbon credits, aren’t I just giving some bad actor permission to pollute?
No, these carbon credits are generated for a voluntary carbon market, which means any entity purchasing them is not required to do anything to reduce their carbon emissions - they can keep polluting whether or not they buy carbon credits. Typically buyers have done what they can to reduce or remove emissions they are directly able to reduce, but need more strategies to contribute to reducing global carbon emissions. If you are interested in learning more about who is or might be buying these credits, we welcome the opportunity to make the connection as we have in the past at the beginning of the project. Just say so! Also check out our project supporter page.
What does it mean to have a carbon project validated and verified?
Independent entities called “Validation and Verification Bodies” or “VVBs” are accredited under ISO 14064 and under the applicable voluntary carbon standard (the Verified Carbon Standard of Verra, in this case) and are able to make formal determinations after review that a project is structured in accordance with and meets the standard’s requirements. These determinations are then reviewed by the standard and if concurred with, the standard agrees that it will issue carbon credits for the greenhouse gas reductions or removals it will create. That is “Validation.”
Then, when the project monitors and documents the amount of reductions or removals that have occurred over a period of time, a VVB reviews the documentation, including a site visit, and makes a formal determination, to a “reasonable level of assurance,” that indeed the claimed reductions or removals have occurred over that period of time. These determinations are then reviewed by the standard and if concurred with, the standard issues credits for the number of tonnes of greenhouse gas reductions or removals verified by the VVB as having occurred over that period of time. That is “Verification” (and issuance of the carbon credits to the project’s account on the standard’s registry).