NASHVILLE, TN – Rice farmers across the mid-South have a new opportunity to earn additional income by adopting sustainable practices that reduce methane emissions and water use in rice fields.
AgriCapture recently announced a collaboration with Regrow and Amazon (including Whole Foods Market) to expand climate-smart rice production. The program focuses on supporting farmers who implement water management practices such as Alternate Wetting and Drying (AWD) and Furrow-Irrigated Rice (FIR) for the first time.
Under the program, Amazon has committed funding to support the expansion of these practices on additional rice acres across Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas, Missouri, and Mississippi. The goal is to reduce emissions in the company’s supply chain, specifically at the farm level.
For growers to qualify for the program, they must be transitioning from conventionally flooded fields to AWD or FIR for the first time and be located in the mid-South. AgriCapture will contract directly with farmers, retrieve field maps, and enroll farmers via their platform. Throughout the growing season, AgriCapture will monitor fields to verify practices and collect data to calculate carbon and water outcomes for Amazon Grocery.
Once the outcomes have been quantified, participating farmers are paid based on the amount of methane reduced. These "insets," as they are called, are a way to compensate farmers for the additional value they are creating in the form of environmental benefits from improved irrigation water management.
Programs like this reflect a growing interest from food companies in investing directly in farmers’ operations to reduce emissions within their supply chains. Companies are increasingly investing in practices that can be implemented on the farm and within their own value chains to reduce their emissions as they work toward achieving sustainability goals.
The collaboration between AgriCapture, Regrow, and Amazon Grocery is one example of how farmers can be part of those solutions—while continuing to produce the rice that feeds consumers around the world.
If you have interest in this program and want to learn more about specific payment amounts, enrollment criteria, and timelines, reach out to AgriCapture:
enroll@agricapture.com.