Stabilizing Farm Economics Through Market-Driven Environmental Outcomes 

 By Doug Adams, Manager of Social Impact 

Today’s Reality for Farmers: Unpredictable Markets, Real Financial Stress 

For many of America’s row crop producers, the 2025 marketing year has made it painfully clear how fragile export-dependent income can be. Midway through the peak season, Chinese soybean demand shifted heavily toward South American suppliers, leaving U.S. farmers watching from the sidelines as billions in potential sales went elsewhere. Softer export sales and added global competition have put pressure on futures prices, squeezed margins, and made it even harder to plan. 

In response, the federal government announced a new $12 billion aid package for farmers hit by trade-driven losses and rising costs of seed, fertilizer, and equipment. Funded through the Commodity Credit Corporation, the program is designed to get cash out the door ahead of the 2026 planting season, so producers can keep operating while policymakers continue to debate broader solutions. 

This kind of support matters. It pays overhead expenses which ensures fields get planted. But producers know better than anyone that stopgap measures are not a reliable business model. In response to the aid package, many producers are responding with a shared sentiment: as welcome as the new aid is, it will not fully cover the financial hit from lost export revenue and sustained cost pressures. 

America’s farmers need predictable income that is not tied to election cycles, sudden trade decisions, or global politics. 

That is exactly where EcoHarvest is designed to help. 

EcoHarvest: Paying Farmers for Outcomes, Not Just Outputs

EcoHarvest is a farmer-first marketplace that turns verified environmental outcomes into predictable, repeatable income for working lands. EcoHarvest enables farmers to earn new, market-funded revenue streams based on the environmental outcomes they deliver on their land. 

Instead of a one-time payment tied to a crisis, enrolled farmers benefit from repeatable, multi-year income by: 

• Quantifying greenhouse gas emissions reductions and soil carbon sequestration 

• Measuring improvements in water quality and water use efficiency 

• Recognizing additional ecosystem benefits such as improved soil health and habitat 

Through rigorous measurement, reporting, and verification (MRV), these outcomes are converted into high-integrity environmental assets – Impact Units – that corporate buyers purchase to meet their Scope 3, water stewardship, and broader sustainability goals. 

For farmers, that means: 

• A new revenue stream that is not tied to commodity prices or export flows 

• No program participation fees and no requirement to purchase specific inputs 

• Flexibility to choose the practices that make sense for their operation 

• A path to earn more as they build healthier soils and more resilient systems over time 

For companies, it means they can invest directly in U.S. farmers, supporting livelihoods while funding measurable climate and water outcomes in the very supply chains they depend on.  

A Farmer-First Path Forward 

In this moment of heightened geopolitical uncertainty, it is understandable that attention is focused on the latest policy announcement or emergency aid package. But the farmers we work with are looking beyond the next payment. They are focused on whether their operations will be viable and thriving ten or twenty years from now. 

For these reasons, we designed EcoHarvest as a program with: 

• Transparent MRV and data protections that respect producer ownership 

• Revenue that flows directly back to the farmers delivering outcomes 

• Collaborative partnerships with corporate buyers and supply chain stakeholders committed to long-term impact 

As global markets become more volatile and domestic demand for verified environmental outcomes grows, now is the moment to build predictable revenue systems that strengthen farm resilience. ESMC’s goal is to build predictable, market-driven income streams that reward stewardship, enhance environmental and community resilience, and strengthen the U.S. agricultural supply base. 

If you are a farmer interested in diversifying your revenue, or a company seeking credible, U.S.-based environmental outcomes that support your climate and supply chain goals, we invite you to learn more. 

ESMC is advancing a future where farmers & soil health thrive, ecosystems recover, and supply chains become more resilient – acre by acre, season by season. 

Get in touch with us to learn more about EcoHarvest and ESMC’s social impact work and explore how to get involved at ecosystemservicesmarket.org and ecoharvest.ag.