Skip to content

Grower Spotlight: How one farmer reduced his inputs by 30% with carbon farming

, ,

Summary:  With high input costs, it’s increasingly more important to find alternative ways to lower costs. Learn how carbon farming can help lower costs and boost your operation’s profitability.

Ben Butcher, a corn, soybean and oats grower in Ohio, talked with Indigo agronomists about the changes he has seen on his farm, Butcher Farms, after enrolling in Carbon by Indigo and why he chose to make these changes. With the carbon program, farmers implement practices such as reduced tillage and cover crops to increase carbon sequestration, enrich their soil, and receive top dollar for registry-issued carbon credits that are increasingly in demand by large corporations.

Calculate your carbon earnings

Butcher admits that one of the hesitations he had when making the decision to use carbon farming practices with Indigo’s program was wondering, “Is this going to make money?” But as he explains, in order to profit financially and keep the farm thriving for future generations he has to be open to new ways to profit and stay on top of the market. 

Butcher didn’t change every field immediately over to carbon farming practices, as he says he wanted to fine tune the execution before implementing them on more of his operation. He switched over some of his corn acres from 30 to 60-inch rows. He found that his profit per acre was better with his 60-inch corn using carbon farming practices.

Butcher was able to reduce his inputs by roughly 30%:

  • He no-tilled the corn, so there was reduced tillage equipment cost, and reduced cost for labor/time and fuel.
  • He reduced his chemical cost because he didn’t spray any post chemicals - he interseeded cover crops in the field, so post-planting applications were unnecessary as the cover crops out-competed weeds.  
  • He didn’t side dress the corn because he had legumes included in the cover crop, so he didn’t need additional nitrogen applications
  • He didn’t see many harmful insects, so he didn’t spray insecticide, and he even saw an increase in beneficial insects.

Overall, Butcher increased profit by decreasing his costs, even before receiving payment for carbon credits. By using carbon farming practices, Butcher Farms was able to reduce labor, chemical, fuel, and tillage costs. The total profit for farming his 60-inch corn with carbon farming practices was significantly more than his conventionally farmed 30-inch corn.

“I want my next generation to say that I was doing the best way that I knew how - hopefully the next generation too has that mindset to think differently… and to continually be improving,” says Butcher.

Not only can growers reduce their costs through carbon farming practices, they can also make money by generating carbon credits that are sold to companies and corporations looking to negate their own carbon emissions into the atmosphere.

“I believe that farmers can get stuck in a short-term mindset,” Butcher explains. “But when you're in a short-term mindset, every year goes by, and you might not change anything for the long term. Having that long-term mindset in mind when you make decisions- like ‘How is this going to impact 5, 10, 50 years from now?’ is how I am trying to reshape my mind in how I make decisions.”

Want to learn more about setting up your operation for long-term success? The Carbon by Indigo program can help increase profitability on your operation. Simply put, carbon farming practices have not only agronomic benefits that solve challenges, but long-term benefits to farmland value.

Related Post