Ranch owners might have a big role to play in the future of carbon credits. And now, they have a brand new partner: Microsoft.

‍What’s happening:‍

• Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) has entered into a new purchase agreement with carbon credits company Grassroots Carbon to buy high quality carbon removal credits generated by ranchers
  

The big idea:‍

• Grassroots Carbon partners with ranch owners in the United States to implement regenerative farming practices for carbon removal
  
• Farmland has enormous potential to sequester carbon, however most farmland is managed conventionally and depletes soil carbon
  
• Carbon that is sequestered into deep root systems has the potential to stay in the soil for thousands of years, acting as a great option for carbon removal from the atmosphere
  
• By implementing regenerative farmland practices-such as rotating cattle more frequently to allow the forage on the grazed ground to recover faster and accelerate the process of photosynthesis- ranchers are able to actually capture carbon and draw it deep underground for permanent removal
  

By the numbers:‍

• Grassroots Carbon has over 200,000 acres of land owned by individual ranchers participating in generating carbon credits
  
• To date, Grassroots Carbon has paid out over $2M USD to ranch owners for generating high quality carbon removal credits
  

Going deeper:‍

• Shopify, Marathon Oil, Nestle and other companies currently have carbon credit purchase agreements with Grassroots Carbon
  

The intrigue:‍

• This is the first time Microsoft has ever purchased carbon credits that are generated from regeneratively managed grasslands

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