February 2026 ESMC Newsletter
ESMC Launches Agricultural Carbon and Water Asset Platform
Last month, we announced we are expanding our work in agricultural sustainability with the launch of a new carbon and water asset platform. This marks a formal entry into supplying transferable agricultural carbon and water credits to the corporate market. For years, we’ve worked with producers and companies to advance supply chain reductions through EcoHarvest, helping our members address Scope 3 emissions and water quality impacts within their agricultural value chains. That is not changing. Our new assets platform builds on that foundation by expanding access to high-integrity agricultural environmental assets beyond individual supply chains and making them available to companies across sectors.
While many companies are building long-term insetting strategies within their own supply chains, high-quality agricultural assets remain limited. Our new platform offers a complementary pathway to enable organizations to advance climate and water goals today while they develop the internal systems and partnerships required for sustained programs like EcoHarvest.
As ESMC CEO Ryan Tregaskes explains:
“Corporate climate and water strategies are increasingly constrained by a lack of high-quality, scalable agricultural assets. ESMC was created to connect producers, science, and markets to deliver real, measurable outcomes at scale. These assets benefit corporations pursuing sustainability goals and producers seeking an additional income stream. This launch establishes ESMC as a leading supplier of agricultural carbon and water assets.”
If you would like to speak with our team about how your organization can source these high-integrity agricultural carbon and water assets, please get in touch and we can set up a meeting. To learn more, join a webinar on Wednesday—you can register here.
Understanding Our Shift to Inventory Accounting
In 2025, we announced important updates to the EcoHarvest program designed to deliver more predictable outcomes, stronger financial returns, and a simpler experience for participating farmers. As part of this evolution, we introduced a “pay-for-practice” model that compensates farmers for the adoption or continued maintenance of conservation practices.
This payment model supports a broader and more strategic shift from intervention accounting to inventory accounting.
What Does That Mean?
In the past, like many agricultural climate programs, we used intervention accounting. This approach tracks the adoption of practices—such as cover crops, reduced tillage, or nutrient management—and assigns modeled emissions reductions to those interventions. It is straightforward, efficient to implement, and effective for encouraging early adoption.
However, intervention accounting had limitations. It did not allow for meaningful participation from early adopters, such as farmers who have been implementing conservation practices for years. It also required significant data collection from farmers and provided less predictability around payments.
Moving to inventory accounting addresses these challenges. Inventory accounting measures or models actual changes in carbon stocks and greenhouse gas emissions over time. This shift:
- Creates greater transparency and predictability in farmer payments
- Expands participation to include early adopters
- Simplifies data entry and modeling requirements
- Provides buyers with outcome data that reflects real environmental change
In short, inventory accounting reflects what is happening in the soil, the biomass, and the atmosphere and not just what was attempted through a practice. For farmers, this means their environmental improvements are captured as tangible, quantifiable results. For companies, it provides greater confidence in sustainability reporting and climate commitments.
We recently hosted a webinar and published a February 2026 report explaining this transition in more detail.
Advancing the Conversation: Recent & Upcoming ESMC Webinars
As part of our mission to increase scientific discussion and collaboration in our community, we host webinars designed to bring together experts, practitioners, farmers, and supply chain leaders. Recent webinars have focused on new research around water quality outcomes, accounting methodologies, and EcoHarvest programmatic updates. Our goal is to not only communicate on these topics but foster collaboration on current projects and ask questions on how we can continue to innovate and improve our programming.
Thank you to everyone who has joined our recent events. We have a few more coming up: one this week on Carbon Assets and a focused review on the recently released Greenhouse Gas Protocol.
March 10: Updated GHGP Guidance Review
The EcoHarvest team will host a special webinar providing a detailed walkthrough of the newly released Land Sector and Removals (LSR) Standard from the Greenhouse Gas Protocol—the first global standard for companies to account for GHG emissions and CO₂ removals from agricultural land use and emerging removal technologies.
During this session, we’ll cover:
- Key requirements and recommendations of the GHGP Land Sector and Removals Standard
- How the standard brings greater clarity to traceability and claims for Scope 3 emissions reductions and removals
- Ongoing challenges in agricultural GHG accounting—and how complementary, standards-based workstreams may help address them
Meet ESMC Team Members at Upcoming Events
We’re pleased to share that ESMC leadership and researchers will be attending the following upcoming events. Please let us know if you’ll also attend and wish to set up a time to meet.
Commodity Classic 2026
February 25 – 27, San Antonio, TX
Commodity Classic is America’s largest farmer-led, farmer-focused agricultural event, celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2026. The conference brings together corn, soybean, wheat, and sorghum growers, agribusiness professionals, and farm media for three days of education, networking, and innovation. ESMC’s EcoHarvest Program Manager, Matt Starr, will attend. Learn more and register.
Biological Products Industry Alliance (BPIA) 2026 Annual Meeting
March 4 – 6, Washington, DC
The BPIA 2026 Annual Meeting will deliver high-value insights, timely updates, and meaningful conversations with leaders shaping the future of the biological products industry. ESMC’s EcoHarvest Program Manager, Matt Starr, will attend. Learn more and register.
Recent News in Regenerative Ag
Attend Why Regenerative Event at Expo West
Join Why Regenerative during Expo West for an evening convening leaders in regenerative agriculture, food brands, and retailers. This event takes place Tuesday, March 3 in Orange, CA. Through lightning talks and networking, spark new connections and accelerate regenerative CPGs on the market. Learn more and register.
Honoring Black Farmers: Our Biggest Stories from the Past 6 Years
Civil Eats (February 19)
Civil Eats looks back at their reporting on the systemic challenges that Black farmers face—and the solutions that have emerged from the fight for a fair and just food system. Read the full article.
As Farmers Face a Changing Climate, a USDA Program Designed to Help Is at Risk
Iowa Public Media News (February 17)
In 2014, the U.S. Department of Agriculture created a network of “climate hubs” to understand how climate change affects agriculture and forestry and help farmers adapt to more extreme and unpredictable weather. Now, the future of these hubs is uncertain. Read the full article.
‘Unprecedented’ Emissions Maps Will Hone Mitigation
Cornell University (February 13)
To lower agricultural emissions, policymakers and communities first need to pinpoint the sources. Not just by country but crop by crop, field by field. In other words, they need maps. Detailed maps. In a study published Feb. 13 in Nature Climate Change, researchers have synthesized data from multiple ground sources and models to map global cropland emissions at high resolution – down to about 10 kilometers – while breaking down emissions by crop and source and identifying regions for more precise mitigation. Read the full article.
Ranchers Are Falling into Debt and Selling Land. Carbon Credits Are a Way to Keep Farming.
Wall Street Journal (January 9)
By introducing regenerative agricultural techniques that lock carbon into grazing pastures, Grassroots Carbon is offering a new income source to farmers. Read the full article.
