Short answers, pulled from the story.
Carbon farming is a set of agricultural and forestry methods that store carbon in soil and plant biomass, reducing atmospheric carbon dioxide. Practices include no-till farming, rotational grazing, composting, biochar application, cover crops, and reforestation. Globally, soils hold an estimated 8,580 gigatons of organic carbon, roughly ten times the amount in the atmosphere, making them a significant potential sink.
Carbon farming costs between US$3 and US$130 per tonne of carbon dioxide sequestered, depending on the region, soil quality, and specific methods used. This range reflects differences in transaction costs and externalities such as environmental damage and leakage.
Australia launched a cap-and-trade program in 2011 allowing farmers to sell carbon credits. France leads the international "four per 1,000" initiative, which targets a 0.4% annual increase in soil carbon. Canada committed CAD$885 million for agricultural climate solutions between 2021 and 2031, and California appropriated $7.5 million for its Healthy Soils Program.
Rotational grazing moves herds through multiple paddocks, sometimes as often as daily, giving land time to recover between grazing periods. Over time, shallow-rooted annual grasses give way to perennials with deeper roots. Several peer-reviewed studies have found, however, that excluding livestock completely from semi-arid grasslands produces greater recovery of vegetation and soil carbon than rotational grazing.
A bamboo plantation sequesters carbon faster than a mature forest or conventional tree plantation, provided it is actively managed and selectively harvested. More than half of bamboo's total carbon sequestration is stored underground in rhizomes and roots, persisting after the above-ground material is cut. Bamboo can also be planted on sub-optimal land unsuitable for other crops, with farmers earning carbon credits through emissions trading.
No-till practices, a core carbon farming technique, can increase herbicide use, potentially eliminating the climate benefit. Soil carbon sequestration is reversible: intensive tillage releases stored carbon, and soils become saturated after several decades and stop absorbing more. Critics also warn that without explicit biodiversity goals, carbon farming incentives can inadvertently encourage land clearing and monocultures.