What nitrogen practice changes qualify for carbon credits

Plants require a certain amount of nitrogen. Managing nitrogen practices can help effectively ease high input costs and strengthen your operation’s profitability. There is a singular nitrogen practice change that qualifies for the Carbon by Indigo program to earn income with carbon credits.

Practice change: Reduce the number of nitrogen applications greater than 30 days before planting without increasing the total number of applications or increasing total N applied.

Examples of qualifying scenarios:

1. A grower typically applies NH3 ahead of corn in the fall. This year, the grower decides to shift their NH3 application to late April.

Agronomic benefits: The longer any form of N is left in a fallow field, there is an opportunity for leaching and N₂O emissions. Reducing the time between when a fertilizer is applied and when there is a living root in the ground to utilize that fertility will result in combating nutrient leaching and N₂O emissions.

Recommendation: Moving your nitrogen application(s) closer to planting provides the plant with more access to nutrients with less of a chance of leaching. 

Tackle high input costs