All About Truterra® Carbon Programs

Landon Van Dyke
Sales Agronomist

TRUTERRA (a division of Land O’Lakes) offers a wide variety of programs for growers who want to begin or advance their land stewardship journey. The three main programs are currently:

1. Soil Health Assessment
2. Market Access
3. Carbon

With these diverse programs, no one should feel left out. There’s a fit for every farmer in at least one of these areas. Soil Health Assessment encompasses the most potential for farmers. For growers in Iowa, eligibility is simple:

• Are you growing corn or soybeans?
• Are you willing to have soil sampling conducted?
• Is your field in a qualified county?

After compiling a few basic field information points and a spring soil sampling, a comprehensive soil report is available from Truterra in August. This report evaluates six soil health metrics for each field. Highlights include mineralization potential, organic carbon and compaction. The results are then used to prescribe a game plan for the upcoming crop year.

The Market Access program builds upon the Soil Health Assessment. Enrollment in this program occurs the same year you are making a new change in the field. For example, you would qualify if you were seeding a cover crop in the fall, reducing the number of tillage passes or reducing the depth of a tillage pass. Involvement in Market Access will get you familiar with the Truterra platform. Selling carbon credits will be an easy process the following fall.

The final Truterra program is focused on Carbon. This is the program where you sell the carbon credits you’ve generated. The more changes (cover crops, tillage reduction) you’ve made in combination, the more carbon credits are sequestered and the higher payment you receive. This program has potential to bring in a consistent revenue stream!

Options continue to expand, but these are the current programs Truterra offers in our geography. You may have heard of another program utilizing nitrogen and stabilizers. This program has been in the “pilot” phase, but it has a good likelihood of expanding.