“We believe the claim referenced in your email does not have merit and we are defending against it,” said Laura Workman, general counsel and corporate secretary with Farmers Edge in an emailed statement.

“It’s business as usual at Farmers Edge.”

Former investors in Manitoba-based ag tech firm Farmers Edge have asked the B.C. Supreme Court to certify a class action lawsuit against the company, former leaders and its main shareholder.

Vancouver resident Willson Leung and Ottawa resident Philippe Golin, both identified as former shareholders in Farmers Edge, filed the suit on February 22.

Farmers Edge is a digital agronomy firm that offers services such as variable rate nutrition management and FarmCommand, a data management and analytics platform.

Farmers Edge, founder and former CEO Wade Barnes, former chief financial officer David Patrick, Fairfax Financial Holdings and several financial underwriters are named in the suit asking for a combined total of $270 million in damages.

“Defendants misrepresented material facts about the Company’s business. The Plaintiffs bring this action on behalf of FE securityholders who suffered losses as a result of these misrepresentations in the primary and secondary market for FE securities,” says the statement of claim.

None of the allegations have been proven in court. No statements of defense have been filed.

The statement of claim says the company was heavily indebted via debentures owed to Fairfax, its major shareholder, and was unable to secure additional capital at the time it launched its initial public offering in March 2021.

It also alleges that it overstated the number of partnerships and the nature of the relationships it had with companies that it said would assist in marketing or promoting the company’s products to farmers.

It further alleges that Farmers Edge misrepresented its income from farmer subscriptions to its products.

Barnes declined to comment on the statement of claim. David Patrick and Fairfax Financial have not responded to requests.

In its IPO, Farmers Edge sold nearly 7.4 million shares at $17 per share for total gross proceeds of about $125 million, according to a company news release.

On the day the company went public in March 2021, Barnes told media the company would use the new funding — totalling a little over $125 million — to build on its vision of digital farming.

“We’ll be scaling up our teams to grow the business,” he said. “We’ll also be developing new products.”

However, share prices dropped steadily and the company was beset by financial woes. Barnes left the company in early 2022. In August 2023, it announced it was laying off 20 per cent of its workforce and consolidating operations in North America.

At the beginning of 2024, Farmers Edge inked a deal with Fairfax to sell all common shares for 35 cents apiece — at the time, Fairfax owned 61 per cent of the company’s shares — and to take the company private again.

The post Farmers Edge disputes merits of claim made by former investors appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

Vancouver resident Willson Leung and Ottawa resident Philippe Golin, both identified as former shareholders in Farmers Edge, filed the suit on February 22.

Farmers Edge is a digital agronomy firm that offers services such as variable rate nutrition management and FarmCommand, a data management and analytics platform.

Farmers Edge, founder and former CEO Wade Barnes, former chief financial officer David Patrick, Fairfax Financial Holdings and several financial underwriters are named in the suit asking for a combined total of $270 million in damages.

“Defendants misrepresented material facts about the Company’s business. The Plaintiffs bring this action on behalf of FE securityholders who suffered losses as a result of these misrepresentations in the primary and secondary market for FE securities,” says the statement of claim.

None of the allegations have been proven in court. No statements of defense have been filed.

The statement of claim says the company was heavily indebted via debentures owed to Fairfax, its major shareholder, and was unable to secure additional capital at the time it launched its initial public offering in March 2021.

It also alleges that it overstated the number of partnerships and the nature of the relationships it had with companies that it said would assist in marketing or promoting the company’s products to farmers.

It further alleges that Farmers Edge misrepresented its income from farmer subscriptions to its products.

In its IPO, Farmers Edge sold nearly 7.4 million shares at $17 per share for total gross proceeds of about $125 million, according to a company news release.

On the day the company went public in March 2021, Barnes told media the company would use the new funding — totalling a little over $125 million — to build on its vision of digital farming.

“We’ll be scaling up our teams to grow the business,” he said. “We’ll also be developing new products.”

However, share prices dropped steadily and the company was beset by financial woes. Barnes left the company in early 2022. In August 2023, it announced it was laying off 20 per cent of its workforce and consolidating operations in North America.

At the beginning of 2024, Farmers Edge inked a deal with Fairfax to sell all common shares for 35 cents apiece — at the time, Fairfax owned 61 per cent of the company’s shares — and to take the company private again.

The post Former investors seek class action lawsuit against Farmers Edge appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

A newly-formed Fairfax subsidiary inked a deal this January to purchase in cash all common shares of Manitoba-based digital agronomy firm Farmers Edge, taking the company private again. Fairfax already owned more than 61 per cent of the company’s shares.

Shares of Fairfax, a property and casualty insurer, sank 12 per cent on Thursday, and set for their worst drop since Sept. 2008.

Fairfax currently has a short interest of 0.65 per cent of free float worth C$203.81 million ($151.36 million), with short sellers having made over C$21 million in paper profits so far today, according to data from Ortex.

The Canadian company’s insurance business has struggled to remain profitable even after the hurricane-related catastrophes in 2017, Muddy Waters wrote in a research note.

“This underperformance pressured Fairfax into becoming aggressive in pulling accounting levers starting in 2018,” the short seller said.

“We find that Fairfax has consistently manipulated asset values and income by engaging in often value destructive transactions to produce accounting gains,” it added.

Fairfax disagreed with the report, while assuring shareholders it “has prepared its financial statements and reporting in accordance with all applicable accounting principles”.

Reuters was not immediately able to verify the allegations made in the report. Short sellers make money by betting that the price of a security (such as a stock) will decrease.

Fairfax was founded in 1985 by Canadian-Indian billionaire Prem Watsa, who is also its chairman and CEO. He is also known as ‘Canada’s Warren Buffett’.

“We see Fairfax as far more akin to GE than to Berkshire Hathaway,” the hedge fund said.

It also alleged Fairfax carried several of its investments at “unrealistic” carrying values. According to the hedge fund, the market value of its shares in Indian outsourcing provider Quess Corp was $477.2 million, while Fairfax continued to carry it at about $1 billion.

In 2019, Fairfax raised its stake in Quess to more than 32 per cent after acquiring over 256,000 shares. As of Sept. 30, it carries the Indian company at a 87 per cent premium to its market value, Muddy Waters said.

Last year, Muddy Waters bet against the credit of the Luxembourg-based commercial landlord CPI Property GroupO5G.DE in November and Blackstone’s real estate investment trust in December.

Fairfax becoming the latest short-seller target comes nearly a year after hedge fund bets against Canada’s TD Bank Group hit $4.2 billion, making it the world’s most-shorted banking stock, according to data provider ORTEX’s calculations.

In its most recent third-quarter earnings report, Fairfax reported a profit that more than doubled to C$1.19 billion, compared with C$582.7 million a year earlier.

Net premiums written also grew 4.8 per cent, while gross premiums written also rose 5 per cent in the quarter.

“The MW report does NOT raise concerns with the earnings power of the business,” National Bank of Canada wrote in a research note on Thursday.

“The MW report does not describe any fraudulent or nefarious accounting tactics, but only potentially aggressive valuation marks,” it added.

–Reporting for Reuters by Mehnaz Yasmin, Manya Saini and Shashwat Chauhan in Bengaluru, with Glacier FarmMedia files.

The post Farmers Edge owner Fairfax Financial shorted on alleged asset manipulation appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

The move to go private comes nearly three years after Farmers Edge’s initial public offering (IPO) when shares started at $17.

A newly-formed Fairfax subsidiary intends to purchase in cash all common shares Fairfax and its affiliates don’t already own, Farmers Edge said in a news release. Fairfax currently owns more than 61 per cent of the company’s shares.

Farmers Edge announced it was considering a proposal from Fairfax in November with an offer of $0.25 per share.

The transaction is expected to be closed in the first quarter of this year following approval by shareholders, the release said.

Farmers Edge, founded in 2005 in Pilot Mound, Man. by agronomists Wade Barnes and Curtis MacKinnon. Barnes left the company in March, 2022.

On the day the company went public in March 2021, Barnes told media the company would use the new funding — totaling a little over $125 million–to build on its vision of digital farming.

“We’ll be scaling up our teams to grow the business,” he said. “We’ll also be developing new products.”

However, the digital agronomy firm was beset by financial problems. In August, it announced layoffs of 20 per cent of its workforce and consolidation of operations in North America. It also shuttered its Australian operation.

–Geralyn Wichers is associate editor of AgCanada. She writes from southeast Manitoba.

The post Farmers Edge to go private three years after IPO appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

Farmers Edge made the announcement via a media release on Nov. 16.

It said it had a received a non-binding proposal from its majority shareholder, Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited, which would see Fairfax acquire all common shares the company doesn’t already own at 25 cents per share.

When the company made its initial public offering (IPO) in March 2021, it did so at $17 per share.

Fairfax owns more than 61 per cent of Farmers Edge’s shares.

Farmers Edge said it has formed a committee of independent directors to evaluate the proposal and to “explore potential alternatives, including maintaining the status quo,” the news release said.

There is no timetable set for the committee to complete its review.

The digital agronomy firm has been beset by financial problems for some time. In August, it announced layoffs of 20 per cent of its workforce and consolidation of operations in North America. It also shuttered its Australian operation.

The post Farmers Edge considering privatization appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

In an Aug. 10 news release, the Manitoba-based digital agriculture firm said it had “delivered on its previously commenced plan in the fall of 2022 to achieve $20 million in annualized cost savings.”

This involved “realignment” of its North American workforce, consolidation of operations, and moving to a “self-delivery model.”

In its second-quarter business update, the company refers to a “virtual delivery model” that will apply in specific regions of North America. That new model “aims to enhance customer experience, reduce customer acquisition costs, and drive significant free cash flow savings,” the report said.

Farmers Edge has seen its revenue slide compared to two years ago, along with a decline in enrolment for its digital agronomy program. Over the second quarter of 2023, Farmers Edge added about 100,000 acres, but lost nine times that amount, “most of which are low valued,” the Aug. 10 release said.

This “includes the impact of conversion rate adjustments, cancellation of the Progressive Growing Program, and a lack of market for agriculture carbon offsets,” the business update said.

Total enrolled acres are now about 6.6 million, down from 9.8 million at the end of 2022.

“Our restructured sales team and new market strategy should help us add significant new acres over the remainder of the year as a solid foundation for growth has been laid,” the company said Aug. 10.

In the second quarter of 2023, Farmers Edge posted a net loss of about $18.5 million, bringing its total net loss for the year to about $37.2 million. This is an improvement from 2022. At the end of June 2022, the company was down about $45.7 million, the news release shows.

Revenue loss was, in part, attributed to “weakness in new acres in North America, discontinued low value acres in Brazil, and the closure of Australian operations,” it said in its business update.

The post Farmers Edge announces workforce cuts appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

“I believe that you’re going to see a significant move towards this in agriculture in the next one to three years,” Barnes said.

Why it matters: Wade Barnes has started another company after stepping down as the CEO of Farmers Edge in 2022.

Ronin Agronomy is the name of Barnes’s new firm, founded by a group he said is composed of former executives and other associates from his previous company.

The move comes a bit over a year after Barnes stepped down as CEO of Farmers Edge, the Manitoba-based agronomy and ag technology company that he co-founded in 2005. His resignation followed poor financial performance by the company, which went public in 2021.

Since 2021, Farmers Edge has seen its revenue slide, and a decrease in acres enrolled in its digital agronomy program, financial reports show.

The company was also the subject of complaints around its Smart Carbon program, which recruited farmers to use their digital farm data to generate carbon credits. This year, several farmers told the Co-operator they were not being paid for the credits they’d generated. Farmers Edge representatives said this was because they’d been unable to sell the credits and blamed the issue on weak demand in the carbon credit market.

Ronin Agronomy will head in a different direction, Barnes said. It won’t develop its own technology, opting rather to “stitch things together” from existing technology.

This will include partnerships with a European sensor company. Barnes said they will be announcing that relationship in coming weeks, as well as another partnership that focuses on carbon intensity.

They’re also looking at soil scanning technology, which can give insights on field metrics like salinity, texture and soil compaction, he said.

Growing demand

Barnes predicted that demand for intensive, precision nutrient management (and, therefore, agronomic help in that category) will rise in coming years. Ottawa is pressuring farmers to reduce emissions from fertilizer, but grain and food companies are also concerned with emissions intensity.

He drew attention to a partnership between Bunge and Nutrien Ag Solutions.

The companies pledged to “support U.S. farmers in the implementation of sustainable farming practices that will help increase the development of lower carbon products,” according to a May news release.

“It’s kind of happening everywhere,” Barnes said. “It’s not just the government pushing. It’s the buyers of the grain that’s pushing this too.”

Ronin Agronomy is officially open for business, with new clients being taken on for fall. Those clients are being sold on the company’s current offerings: zone management services, zone soil sampling and prescription maps.

Barnes also said he plans to launch a second company “down the road,” focusing on developing a platform to turn farm data into a carbon intensity ‘score,’ that he says could add a premium to a farmer’s harvest.

Carbon intensity refers to the amount of carbon dioxide emitted to produce a unit of product.

Barnes predicted that, as companies become more concerned about the environmental impact of products in their supply chain, they may want to know the carbon intensity score of materials like grain and may even purchase based on intensity score.

The post Ousted Farmers Edge founder launches new company appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

On a more emotional level, it’s nice to be treated like heroes in times when farmers are sometimes painted as environmental villains.

The public is increasingly focused on climate change and the tone of government ag policies centres more on sustainability, so those in agriculture want the carbon credit market to work.

It hasn’t happened.

As Geralyn Wichers reported in our last two issues (see links below), Farmers Edge has taken flak from producers who signed on to its Smart Carbon offset program. Those farmers say the returns they expected from their carbon credits did not materialize.

READ MORE: Tough carbon markets to blame for payment delays
READ MORE: Farmers urge caution on carbon credits

In fact, they say they have been charged thousands of dollars for services they thought would be covered by revenue from those carbon credits.

For the program to function as promised, those credits had to be worth a certain amount on the market. An income estimate provided to one producer — and later shared with Wichers — showed promising numbers, but only if carbon was selling for $20 a tonne.

It wasn’t.

Last week, Wichers reported on the volatility of the carbon market, which expert Kate Ervine said is unregulated. She noted questionable practices have been uncovered at some carbon credit standards bodies.

Farmers Edge has blamed the issues on unfriendly carbon markets. It’s having difficulty finding buyers for farmers’ carbon credits. Until they sell, farmers can’t get paid.

This is not the first time that a well-intentioned (and well-hyped) new market has run into roadblocks.

In 2019, it seemed like everyone in the hemp industry was talking about CBD. Canada had just legalized cannabis and overhauled hemp regulations the year before. Suddenly, the sector could capitalize on the leaves and flowers that older rules did not allow them to harvest, and from which the nutraceutical CBD was derived.

It seemed like good news for an industry in recovery. Hemp grain had taken a hit in 2017, after the lucrative South Korean market evaporated.

Like the recent issues with carbon credits, however, there were problems when the rubber hit the road.

The hype around CBD led to a rash of investment money. Companies tried to set up facilities and farmers were contracted to grow hemp for CBD. But harvest for CBD use or CBD extraction was challenging. In the process, a lot of farmers didn’t get paid, Lyall Bates of Manitoba company Hemp Sense told the Co-operator in 2021.

“It just went from the hottest market to you hardly even hear about it now,” he said at the time.

Once an initial effort has run into growing pains, it’s harder for future efforts to gain traction.

However, there are differences between the CBD and carbon credits situations.

For one thing, carbon credits can get momentum from the cross-societal pressure toward sustainability, perhaps enough to carry them over speed bumps as the market develops.

Current ag funding and programming shows a preference toward grazing projects or 4R nutrient management. Carbon credits fit that theme.

The scope of application is also bigger. On-farm practices potentially eligible for carbon credits span production systems rather than being limited to a single commodity.

With all of that comes more attention, more money and more appetite for research. Extra resources could be used to work out the kinks of the carbon market.

Regulation, currently lacking in carbon markets, could lead to standardization, develop buyer trust and keep market volatility in check.

It also comes down to education.

The carbon credit market is unexplored territory. Not everyone is going to understand how the system works or, as our recent stories illustrate, the underlying risks. Those who play in the market must understand the rules.

Carbon credits are new and shifting ground for agriculture. That makes it twice as important to check the footing before taking strides.

The post Editorial: Carbon hype is not market reality appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

“We have done a good job at serializing these offsets. Where we have not done a good job is selling them,” said Amit Pradhan, vice-president of strategy with Farmers Edge. “The reason we have not been able to sell them is because the market itself is very, very soft.”

Why it matters: A functioning carbon market could pay farmers for the carbon they sequester through on-farm practices, but the market is challenging.

Earlier this spring, Arborg farmer Barclay Uruski told the Co-operator he was out thousands of dollars after signing on to Farmers Edge’s Smart Carbon program, which promised to use his farm data to create and sell carbon offsets.

Uruski said he’d been given the impression the credits would pay for the digital agriculture products he was using from the company and give him some profit. Instead, he says he’s only seen invoices.

At the time, the Co-operator spoke with two other farmers who had similar experiences and has since spoken to one more. Another farmer reported a positive experience with the program.

Pradhan and Laura Workman, general counsel and corporate secretary with Farmers Edge, said farmers may have been given or heard messaging that gave them the wrong impression of the program.

“There was a lot of optimism around the carbon offsets market,” said Workman.

“It’s unfortunate that any grower would have felt that it was a slam-dunk revenue stream,” Pradhan said. “That was never the case.”

Few buyers

Agriculture-based carbon trading is still in its early days, comprising less than one per cent of the voluntary carbon offset market, Pradhan said. Potential buyers need to be aware that such offsets are an option, and it’s on companies like Farmers Edge to provide that education, he added.

Farmers Edge has spoken with most large players in the Canadian carbon offset market and has looked internationally for buyers, Pradhan said, but “the interest level is low.”

He indicated buyers are not interested in the credits at the prices Farmers Edge wants to sell them. Prices are soft, Pradhan said, and in Canada they also have few protocols or registries by which to sell offsets.

This is likely a reference to the government carbon offset system, said Kate Ervine, an associate professor at Saint Mary’s University in Nova Scotia. Her research has centred on carbon markets.

In Canada, some provinces have carbon pricing systems. If they don’t (such as in Manitoba), the federal, output-based carbon pricing system takes effect. Industrial emitters can use offsets to reduce their emissions, but those emissions must be qualified under federal or provincial systems.

The federal government has been developing an approved offset system, but some have complained it has taken too long, according to Ervine. The system has two protocols by which offsets can be approved and “agriculture soil carbon is not one of them,” she said.

Two agriculture-based protocols are in the works. Even so, demand for federal carbon offsets is low, she noted. The federal system is designed to exempt many industrial emitters from paying the carbon price so they aren’t at a competitive disadvantage in global trade.

Provinces such as Alberta, where a pricing system is in place, may allow agriculture-based credits. However, Farmers Edge would have to get credits approved through that province’s protocols, Ervine said.

This leaves few options outside the voluntary carbon offset market, which has seen nature-based carbon offset prices fall due to increased stock and decreased trust in seller credibility.

An August 2022 report from Ecosystem Marketplace showed the average price of agriculture-related carbon credits was US$8.81 per ton. A document Uruski provided to the Co-operator showed he’d been quoted returns based on $20 per tonne.

Some agriculture-based credits have sold for $20 per tonne or more in the last couple of years, Pradhan said, but those are few.

Over time, carbon markets have shown that “you can’t necessarily rely on [hype] translating into solid, guaranteed, stable returns,” Ervine said.

There is optimism that prices will stabilize as measures like integrity standards initiatives come online.

Where to go from here

Farmers Edge says it has trained its sales representatives on the realities of the carbon market and it has contacted the affected growers. The firm is also preparing more communication to farmers to provide a better understanding of what Farmers Edge is doing to sell their offsets, Pradhan said.

Ervine encouraged farmers to do their due diligence and understand the market before getting into carbon credits. However, she said carbon offsets aren’t a good strategy to reduce emissions.

Philosophies like regenerative ag are good, she said, and it makes sense to pay farmers for the extra costs associated with emission-reducing practices. However, allowing that to be a licence for others to keep polluting is “super problematic.”

“We need real solutions,” she said.

The post Tough carbon markets to blame for payment delays: Farmers Edge appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

“We have not seen a dime,” said Barclay Uruski, who farms near Arborg, Man.

Why it matters: Carbon credits have been touted as a way for farmers to be paid for the ecological services their operations provide.

Farmers Edge is a Manitoba-based firm that provides digital farm management tools. It launched its Smart Carbon program in 2021, which it said would allow farmers to turn current and new agronomic practices into sellable carbon credits.

According to the Farmers Edge’s website, the program involves simplified and automated data collection through on-farm hardware and sensors. Data is “aggregated on behalf of all farmers in the program to calculate the carbon credits generated.”

It also touts an “aggregated approach for maximum returns.”

Uruski said he has used Farmers Edge’s products for four years. He had decided to unsubscribe, when a Farmers Edge representative asked him to consider joining the Smart Carbon program instead.

“Basically, you will profit and Farmers Edge won’t cost you anything,” Uruski said he was told. “[Farmers Edge] will sell your carbon credits and your nitrogen management.”

The representative sent the farm a proposal. The document, which Uruski provided to the Co-operator, shows a projected income of just over $6,600 for “historical smart carbon revenue” and nearly $6,800 in “total combined yearly smart carbon revenue.”

The document said figures were an “estimated amount, subject to qualification and if carbon credits are selling at $20/tonne.”

Uruski was under the impression that he could expect a cheque at the end of the year, so he agreed to try the program. He expected that he wouldn’t have to pay for his subscription, though he noted this wasn’t communicated clearly.

The cheque didn’t come. Uruski said Farmers Edge told him, “it’s coming. It’s getting better. You’re going to get more money.”

He was surprised when he received a bill for his subscription. He paid for half and said he wouldn’t pay the rest until he saw the expected cheque.

Two years later, Uruski says he has not received a cheque and Farmers Edge has threatened to take him to a collection agency over the remaining half of his subscription. He said he’s received no explanation for why he hasn’t been paid for his credits.

Uruski posted to farmers’ forums on Facebook, and realized he wasn’t the only one in this situation.

Nathan Allard-Bean, who farms near Rouleau, Sask., told the Co-operator that he enrolled in the Smart Carbon program in 2022. He expected to get Farmers Edge services for free in exchange for the credits.

“We had no skin in the game,” Allard-Bean said.

He said he was told Farmers Edge could give him credits for the past four years. The firm suggested he would get $1.50 to $2 per acre on his 12,000-acre farm and he was under the impression that it would give him a cheque for those credits.

“It was promised at a certain time, then another time, and then another time and then no answer,” Allard-Bean said.

He said he hasn’t been able to reach any of his eight Farmers Edge contacts since February and he’s not sure if those employees work there anymore.

Phil Greenwood, who farms near Kisbey, Sask., said he enrolled in the carbon credit program in spring 2022. In a conversation via text message, Greenwood said he signed on with the understanding that credits would pay for the use of weather stations, soil sampling and variable-rate services.

Greenwood said it was his understanding that “we would still be receiving thousands of dollars in net credits after paying for these services.” He was surprised when he received several invoices.

He phoned Farmers Edge and was told to “ignore it for now,” he told the Co-operator. Verbally, he was told he would pay after Farmers Edge paid him for the credits, Greenwood said.

“A few months later, another bill — I believe over $100,000,” he said. “They said I could ignore the $35,000-part as long as I paid the $70,000.”

An email shared with the Co-operator shows Greenwood had more than 19,000 acres contracted to Farmers Edge. When Greenwood asked why his credits wouldn’t pay for his services, he was told “they won’t sell the carbon credits at this time due to current values.”

Greenwood wanted out of the program but was told he couldn’t exit without paying what he describes as “a huge penalty.”

Positive stories

Not all farmers have had bad experiences, however. Korey Peters, who farms near Steinbach, said his only complaint is the reams of paperwork. The Farmers Edge employee his farm dealt with was “very helpful,” he said.

Peters said his farm paid up front for the weather station services it received and expected to be reimbursed when the carbon credits sold. The Farmers Edge representative has kept in touch with him, and though he doesn’t believe the farm been paid yet (another family member deals with Farmers Edge), he said he’s not worried.

The credit system

It’s not clear why unhappy farmers have not seen the returns they expected. Farmers Edge did not respond to questions sent by the Manitoba Co-operator.

The carbon credit market is unregulated, and prices have been volatile. The average price of credits on the global voluntary carbon market climbed nearly 60 per cent throughout 2021, according to an August 2022 report from Ecosystem Marketplace. The average price of agriculture-related credits was US$8.81 per ton, the highest price across all categories, though actually a 10 per cent decrease from 2020 prices.

Nature-based credits (of which agricultural credits count), have seen a drop in price over the past year, said Kate Ervine, an associate professor at Saint Mary’s University in Nova Scotia. Ervine has studied carbon markets extensively.

Several reports showed that some carbon credit standards bodies approved inappropriate projects, or those that were not actually providing promised benefits, Ervine said. That, in turn, lowered demand for nature-based credits, affecting price.

None of the farmers interviewed by the Co-operator were aware of a contractual deadline by which their credits were meant to be sold, though some weren’t sure. The company is not legally obligated to include a deadline in its contracts.

“It’s not regulated,” Ervine said. “People who don’t really know about the market, they’re in a vulnerable position.”

There’s a lot of chatter in the voluntary carbon space on how to tackle this issue, she added said.

For those interested in the voluntary carbon market, Ervine advised spending extra time to understand the system or speaking with verification bodies, though she acknowledged these bodies might have a vested interest. She suggested local academics might offer unbiased opinions.

“That’s just ad hoc, so I don’t think that’s the solution,” she said. “Project developers can promise a lot, and if you don’t know the market or understand it, then it sounds really good. Then you find out after that you didn’t have any guarantees.”

*Update: The sentence about Korey Peters’ payment to Farmers Edge was updated for clarity.

The post Farmers urge caution on carbon credits  appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.