March 26, 2009

Contacts: Martha Pickard, Adirondack North Country Association, 518-891-6200
Dr. Rachel Gilker, University of Vermont, 802-656-3834
Bernadette Logozar, Cornell Cooperative Extension Franklin County, 518-483-7403

Agriculture Carbon Trading: Learn How It Can Work for Northern NY April 4 in Malone

A free Saturday, April 4, 2009, program from 1:00-3:00pm in Malone will define agriculture carbon trading and how it can work for Northern New York. Dr. Rachel Gilker, program coordinator for the Vermont Pasture Network and Pasture Program at the University of Vermont Center for Sustainable Agriculture in Colchester, VT, is the featured speaker for the event hosted by Northern New York Farmer’s Partnership (NNYFP) in the loft at NCCC Malone campus. This program is co-sponsored by Adirondack North Country Association, Heifer Project International, University of Vermont and Cornell Cooperative Extension Franklin County with support from the Northern New York Agricultural Development Program.

Topics to be covered in the program include:
 What is carbon trading?
 An overview of the sources of greenhouse gases from agriculture
 Natural resource opportunities for carbon trading
 Examples of individual experiences with carbon trading.

Conservation practices on farms can be used for carbon sequestration – capturing and storing CO2 in soil and vegetation. Farmers can then sell the value of that sequestration as “carbon credits,” most often purchased by the industrial sector that needs to offset the amount of CO2 its manufacturing practices are releasing into the air.

The types of practices farms can undertake to build their carbon credits include no-till cropping, erosion control measures, use of buffers and reforestation.

In terms of what carbon trading might mean to local farmers, Dr. Gilker says, “The value of carbon markets is on the rise. Farmers in the Northeast can play a role in the market, adding dollars to their bottom line by farming sustainably.”

Adirondack North Country Association Grazing Program Coordinator Martha Pickard says, “The timing is right to offer this program in light of the increasing interest in environmental stewardship by farmers and the need for dairy farms to develop additional sources of revenue.”

"Carbon credits are being traded globally by all industry; it makes sense for farmers who are stewards and improving the environment through their management practices to know about these practices and how they can benefit from them," Rural and Ag Development Specialist Bernadette Logozar with Cornell Cooperative Extension Franklin County.

Farmers and members of the agriculture and natural resource communities are invited to join NNYFP members for a potluck lunch at 12noon before the program. Bring a dish to pass with serving utensil!

For more information, contact Martha Pickard, Adirondack North Country Association, 518- 891-6200 or anca-pickard@northnet.org. 

Agricultural Environmental Management resources for NNY farmers are found online at www.nnyagdev.org. # # #