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Agriculture and sustainable farming have a central role in the fight against climate change. While farming accounts for about 25% of global greenhouse gas emissions, it also has the potential to be a powerful climate solution. Over the past three years, several companies have stepped up to lead the charge toward sustainable farming. Among them are Paris Creek Farms in Australia, the U.S.-based cooperative Land O’Lakes, and smoothie-maker Innocent Drinks. These businesses are showing how farming can reduce emissions, store carbon, and create healthier ecosystems.
This article looks at how these three companies are leading the way. We’ll explore what strategies they’re using, what progress they’ve made, and what they’re planning next. Along the way, we’ll highlight how carbon credits and emissions tracking are helping farmers and food producers take real action on climate.
Paris Creek Farms is a small organic dairy producer in South Australia. In 2022, it became one of the first companies to source all its dairy from carbon-neutral farms. This was a big milestone for the business—and for the local dairy sector.
The company partners with farms that follow biodynamic practices. These go beyond organic standards, focusing on soil health and ecosystem balance. The cows are 100% grass-fed and roam free on lush pastures. This grazing style helps trap carbon in the soil. It also reduces methane emissions compared to high-density, grain-fed systems.
To reach carbon neutrality, Paris Creek Farms worked with experts to measure emissions on each farm. They tracked sources like methane from cows, fertilizer use, and fuel for tractors. Farms with high soil carbon and healthy ecosystems were already close to net zero. For those still emitting more, the company purchased certified carbon credits to balance out their footprint.
In addition to greening the farms, Paris Creek installed solar panels at its processing plant. They also began investing in on-farm improvements like tree planting, better manure handling, and energy efficiency.
Paris Creek Farms shows that even small businesses can lead in sustainability. Their next steps focus on helping all their farms reach carbon neutrality through farming practices alone—so fewer offsets are needed over time.
Land O’Lakes is a farmer-owned cooperative in the United States. It operates across dairy, animal feed, and crop inputs. Over the past three years, its climate strategy has focused on giving farmers the tools—and the financial rewards—to cut emissions and store carbon in their soil.
The co-op’s sustainability arm, Truterra, runs one of the largest carbon credit programs in U.S. agriculture. Through this program, farmers are paid for using methods like cover cropping, no-till planting, and nutrient management. These practices help increase the carbon content in soil. Truterra measures the impact using farm data, satellite imagery, and modeling. The result is a verified carbon credit that can be sold to companies wanting to offset their emissions.
In 2022, Truterra paid $5.1 million to 273 farmers who stored over 260,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide. The year before, it had paid $4 million to 200,000 tons. Demand is growing, with Microsoft and other buyers driving the market.
Land O’Lakes also helps dairy farmers track and reduce their emissions. By 2025, over 1,200 dairy farms will have completed environmental assessments. These help farmers identify emissions hotspots, such as methane from cows and nitrous oxide from manure. The cooperative provides support through agronomy tools, tech platforms, and partnerships with buyers looking for low-carbon milk.
Land O’Lakes is turning sustainability into a business model. Its farmers not only help the planet—they also earn income from their efforts. This shows how carbon markets can create real value for producers.
Innocent Drinks, a UK-based smoothie company, and part of Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, is known for its playful branding and strong sustainability goals. Over the past three years, it has taken big steps to reduce its carbon footprint—from its factory operations to the fruit farms it sources from.
In 2021, Innocent opened a state-of-the-art factory in the Netherlands, powered entirely by renewable energy. Called “the Blender,” the facility cut direct emissions (Scope 1) by almost 50% in just two years. With green electricity (Scope 2), Innocent reported zero emissions from its power use in 2021 and 2022.
But the real challenge is Scope 3—emissions from suppliers, transport, and packaging. Over 99% of Innocent’s carbon footprint comes from these areas. To tackle this, the company launched farming projects with fruit suppliers across Europe and the Global South. These include:
By 2022, Innocent had verified that 93% of its ingredients were sustainably sourced. The company is also pushing for 100% recycled or renewable packaging by 2030. It was one of the first to use recycled plastic in its bottles and now leads the UK Plastics Pact.
While Innocent has not publicly disclosed its use of carbon credits, it aims to be carbon neutral by 2025. This may involve purchasing offsets for remaining emissions, particularly those from transport and farming.
Innocent shows how food brands can reduce emissions while keeping quality and ethics front and center. Their next step is to work more closely with suppliers on farming innovations that cut emissions from the ground up.
Based on the progress of these three leaders, several trends are likely to shape agriculture’s climate future in the next three years:
More farmers will join carbon programs like Truterra. Expect better tools to measure and verify soil carbon, along with rising carbon prices.
Biodynamic and regenerative practices—once niche—will move into the mainstream. Companies will invest more in soil health, crop diversity, and grazing rotation.
Food companies will push suppliers to track and reduce emissions. Certifications, scorecards, and climate labels will become common.
Digital platforms will allow real-time emissions data collection at the farm level. This will make it easier to reward low-carbon products and practices.
Governments will roll out more climate-smart agriculture grants, especially in response to rising food prices and weather disruptions.
Together, these trends point to a future where sustainable farming isn’t just possible—it’s profitable and expected.
The examples of Paris Creek Farms, Land O’Lakes, and Innocent Drinks show that real climate leadership in agriculture is already underway. These companies aren’t just talking about sustainability—they’re doing it, measuring it, and scaling it.
If your business is ready to join the movement, the time to act is now. Whether you’re looking to invest in carbon credits, reduce your agricultural emissions, or design a climate strategy that works, expert help is available.
Visit CarbonCreditCapital.com to get started. They offer sustainability consulting, help with carbon credit purchases, and opportunities to collaborate on low-carbon agricultural projects. The climate challenge is real—but with the right tools and partners, so is the solution.
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