USDA on last sent a report to Congress examining the role of agriculture and forestry in U.S. carbon markets. The 83-page report offers a primer on carbon registries and the various markets developing in this area. The report looks at compliance markets such as California as well as voluntary carbon markets. The report was required as part of the Growing Climate Solutions Act, which was added to a government funding bill in the last Congress.
 
The report found that carbon credits can be a tool to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and generate revenue for farmers that adopt practices that reduce emissions or sequester carbon. USDA found there were eighteen protocols that have successfully generated carbon credits in the U.S., but there are more than forty-one active protocols that could include agriculture, forestry, or land use. Over the past decade, different compliance markets have generated more than 176.7 million metric tons of compliance carbon credits while voluntary markets have generated 24.5 million metric tons of credits.
 
The report points to a study by Trust in Foods showing 93% of livestock and crop managers are aware of carbon markets, but only about 3% right now participate in them.