Farm406

farm406 52 scenarios, throughout the 21st century. By mid-century and end-of-century, respectively, Montana temperatures are projected to increase by roughly 4.5-6.0°F and 5.6- 9.8°F, depending on emission scenarios. ese projected temperature increases are larger than the average changes projected globally and nationally. Montana is expected to have drier, hoer, summers which could mean less grass and more stressed landscapes. Combined with the fact that many businesses around the U.S. are worried about their impact on climate emissions and are looking for ways to reduce their carbon footprint as much as possible, Montana ranchers may have opportunities to diversify their income and increase the productivity and resiliency of their land. Some of these companies, like Ben and Jerry's, Clif Bar, eBay, Patgonia, Disney and many others, turn to Native Energy, a national non-profit, which sells them carbon credits. ose carbon credits are used to pay someone else, in this case, Montana ranchers, to take carbon out of the atmosphere and store it in the ground. According to the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), approximately 70 percent of Montana is made up of rangeland and pastureland which makes them Montana's largest natural resource. In Montana alone, there are more than 40 million acres of privately-owned grazing lands. Because of the large area, these lands have the potential to sequester a significant amount of additional carbon from the atmosphere. Recent research indicates that grasslands may be even more effective than forests at sequestering carbon. "We see this as an investment in producers to accelerate the transition to beer grazing practices," Mehus said. "If we can incentivize higher stocking densities on pastures, shorter grazing periods, longer rest periods, it's going to equate to healthier and more plants which will mean more roots in the soil which leads to more carbon sequestered." Properly managed rangelands of the United States are estimated to have the capacity to store 19 million metric tons of CO2 per year. erefore, rangelands can have a major impact in mitigating the effects of elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide levels on global climate change. In the pilot stage of the program, ranchers sign a 30-year contract with Native Energy and agree to implement science- based, sustainable management practices; in particular, they turn to high-intensity, rapid rotational grazing, cover cropping and other regenerative agricultural practices. In approximately five years, Native Energy will have an independent, third-party measure the amount of carbon sequestered in the soil. Ranchers are paid based on the amount of carbon that has been sequestered in their soil from the baseline measurements. WSE hopes to enroll around 100,000 additional acres by this time next year. A honey bee lands on a sweet clover plant on the Indreland Ranch.

• Cover