Farm and Forest Carbon Sequestration: Can Producers Employ it to Make Some Money?

©1999–2004 CHOICES. All rights reserved. Articles may be reproduced or electronically distributed as long as attribution to Choices and the American Agricultural Economics Association is maintained. Choices subscriptions are free and can be obtained through http://www.choicesmagazine.org. Carbon sequestration has attracted the interest of researchers, energy industry participants, policy makers, forest producers, and farmers. Forest and farm producers have a special interest in whether such actions will increase their income. This paper explores that prospect in the context of the current and near-term future in the United States. In particular, we address key issues relevant to the question: Can farmers or forest owners make some money from carbon sequestration? These issues include the policy options that could stimulate carbon sequestration, the types of participants in a greenhouse gas (GHG) offsets/carbon market, and the existing status of sequestration-based income prospects.