SAN ANTONIO — A start-up in San Antonio has Texas ranchers getting paid to capture carbon. It is happening through what is called regenerative grazing practices.
Grassroots Carbon is a soil carbon credit company. According to the company, it connects ranchers who are reducing their carbon footprint to other companies. Recently, Grassroots Carbon paid $200,000 to ranchers in the Lone Star State for soil carbon credits.
Lauren Miller is the Vice President of Carbon Footprint Solutions with Grassroots Carbon. She spoke with us at length about the program and incentives on KENS 5 Eyewitness News Sunday Morning – explaining all about the process of what regenerative grazing involves.
"Instead of cattle just continuously grazing over a property, ranchers are managing their herds through higher density and then rotating them frequently through pastures in order to give land time to rest and to heal," she said.
Miller said there are major benefits to using regenerative grazing.
"It creates profitability," she said. "They can reduce their input by not needing fertilizer, not needing herbicide or pesticide while increasing their stocking density. As one soil scientist put it, 'It is the easiest way to increase your acreage' – because you can have two to three times as many cattle on the same acreage without buying more land."
Miller said this also benefits the animals, too.
The company also said the first group of ranchers paid by Grassroots Carbon can look forward to a much higher payment at the end of this year.
For more information on the program, click here.