Cases / Law, regulation and treaties · United States · 2024
Bayer's carbon program pays farmers per practice, not per tonne
Short record: the main facts, with sources. A full case file has not been prepared.
Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
Not on record
- The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.
Bayer pays farmers in 28 states for practices such as cover crops and reduced tillage, and Bayer measures the results and keeps the carbon assets. The sources reviewed do not measure whether the payments add carbon removal beyond what farmers already do.
What?
Bayer pays farmers in 28 states per practice, not per tonne of carbon, and has issued more than 125,000 tonnes of credits through Nori.
Where?
28 states; the sources reviewed do not name them
When?
Payment terms announced February 2024; the date of the credit total is not stated
Who?
Gained
- Participating farmers — Receive per-practice payments; base rate US$6 per acre
- Bayer — Measures and verifies the practices and holds the carbon assets (Keystone, 2025) Keystone
Lost
None on recordHarmed
None on recordWhy?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
How?
Per-practice payments to farmers; Bayer measures and verifies; credits issued through Nori; FieldView account required Keystone
6 of 6 questions answered from the record
What happened
The record, in order.
Bayer pays US$6 per acre for each practice, up to US$12 for reduced tillage with a cover crop and up to US$16 with a nitrogen add-on, plus a one-time maximum of US$48 (farm press, February 2024).
Payments are made per practice rather than per tonne of carbon, and farm press reported that the programme operates in 28 states.
More than 125,000 tonnes of credits were issued through Nori; the verifier and the buyers are not disclosed (farm press, 2024).
Keystone's 2025 compliance check says Bayer does the measurement and verification and holds the carbon assets, and that a FieldView account is required.
In court and with insurers
Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.
Lawsuits and rulings
No court case on record. No court has ruled on this case.
Insurers
No insurer decision on record.
What we don't know
Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.
Nature
- Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.
Record
- Insufficient Reported but not verified: Bayer's 2030 goals, reportedly a 30% cut in the environmental impact of crop-protection products, a 30% cut in on-farm greenhouse-gas intensity, and reaching 100 million smallholder farmers; no source link is given.
- Insufficient Reported but not verified: a secondary summary of Carbon Pulse reporting (January–May 2026) gives the same payment terms; the article itself could not be checked.
- Insufficient Reported but not verified: a forecast that paying farmers already using these practices adds no extra reduction.
- None on record The sources reviewed do not measure carbon removed beyond the practices farmers already use, and do not name the 28 states or the verifier.
Did the harm stop?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
Who paid?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
Sources
Voices on record: — Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts— Press and investigations✓ Communities and civil society— Researchers
Communities and civil society
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