Verra, established in 2005, is a non-profit organisation which runs the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS). 

The Verified Carbon Standard is a leading international verification standard for carbon credits in the voluntary carbon market. 

Carbon credits generated through the VCS are listed on Verra's public registry. Verra is recognised for its good governance by the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM) and ICROA (a quality assurance provider for carbon trading). Verra has issued over one billion carbon credits.

High standard carbon credits are only generated when the carbon being sequestered is additional to a business-as-usual farm management scenario. 

The education and support of Regenerate Outcomes’ unique Mentoring and Outcomes programme evidences the additionality required to generate these high standard carbon credits.

Third party verification is a fundamental component of generating carbon credits with high integrity (i.e. ensuring the carbon being sold has actually been sequestered), which in turn commands a premium market price. 

The Validation and Verification Body (VVB) reviews the programme from the start and on an ongoing basis. 

At the start of the programme, the VVB reviews what is called the Project Design Document. This describes how the programme incentivises farmers to produce carbon credits and then monitors the results. 

Once it is approved the programme may be listed on Verra’s registry and carbon credits may be bought and sold from that registry.

The Verified Carbon Standard withholds approximately 12% of any carbon credit generated as a ‘non-permanence buffer’. 

This is to mitigate the risk that a farm exits the programme early or carries out activities which reverse the carbon sequestration of the programme. This reserve is deducted from all carbon values. Such permanence reserves are a key feature of all high-integrity carbon credits.

Regenerate Outcomes return 67% of carbon credits to our farmers, subject to a minimum soil carbon increase. You can opt whether to receive this as cash or credits. 

We cover all of the costs of delivering the programme to our members from our 33% share. 

Regenerate Outcomes' share of credits is higher than other carbon programmes because we physically baseline and resample all fields you enter into the programme every five years. You also receive in-person mentoring on your farm each year and your credits are generated to the Verified Carbon Standard, a best-in-class methodology. 

Compared to other lower-cost, lower-value-add programmes you will receive substantially more services plus more valuable credits for the 33% share. 

When a farm's carbon performance is particularly low, Regenerate Outcomes need to ensure our costs are covered so that we can continue delivering services to that farm. 

Therefore, in low performance scenarios, a farm may receive less than 67% of the credits or none at all. 

However, our farmers are never liable for the cost of services they receive, even if they generate less carbon than the cost of services. 

In a worse case scenario, a farmer would benefit from all services at no cost and receive no revenues; you would never be liable for any costs.

Regenerate Outcomes are committed to only selling verified carbon credits to buyers with credible net zero plans and who are committed to using the credits directly rather than trading them. 

This means that our farmers can be confident the price they receive for their carbon is the final price. 

Verified soil carbon credits are a premium credit class and so mainly attract buyers who are committed to net zero and keen to purchase credits from reputable sources, rather than buyers who may be seeking cheap credits to cover 'business as usual' emissions.

There is a spot market for carbon credits. However, it is possible to generate greater value by working with buyers to help them understand the programme so they pay a premium price.

We are not trying to 'time the market' but instead securing long-term value for our farmers by developing relationships with buyers.

Credits will be sold during the verification process, either post verification or pending verification. 

Verification will occur every two to three years initially. Carbon credits are at their most valuable in the year that they are generated and tend to depreciate over time, so there is often limited advantage to holding onto credits in the hope of price increases.

You can only generate high value carbon credits once you have a measured baseline in place. Delaying your baseline reduces the number of credits you can generate. 

Credits are only generated following verification which occurs every two to three years. By joining the programme today you are creating the opportunity to sell in the future.

Yes, you can claim your share of carbon in credit form to balance your emissions and claim carbon neutral status.

However, the government’s independent adviser on climate change, the Climate Change Committee, anticipates some ongoing emissions from agriculture in a net zero scenario due to the unavoidable nature of some methane emissions from ruminant livestock and nitrous oxide from soils. 

Therefore we do not advise farmers to retain high-value carbon credits to offset these emissions sources unless there is a clear business case (for example, demand in the supply chain) for doing so.

There is no penalty if your soil carbon does not increase from one measurement period to the next (beside foregone revenue from carbon credits). 

The long-term nature of the programme allows for a process of continuous learning, adaptation and replanning to help you grow soil health and soil carbon over time.

Carbon credits are generated from increases in your soil carbon once you join the programme. 

You can't earn any carbon credits for your existing soil carbon, nor from any increases you've achieved in recent years. 

Although high organic matter soils have less absolute potential to build soil carbon than low organic matter soils, most farmers still have some ability to generate soil carbon credits, particularly deeper in the soil profile. 

Regenerate Outcomes want every farmer to have the opportunity to realise their carbon gains, regardless of your starting point. 

The mentoring team will help you refine your farming management to secure further soil carbon gains.

What was the depth of this soil sampling? 

We carry out soil sampling to 60cm which allows us to capture carbon gains deeper in your soil profile. 

We often see farmers with high carbon levels in the top layer of their soil, but scope for improvement at greater depths. 

With the support of the mentoring team, we'll support you to improve soil health and lock up carbon deeper in your soil profile.

Our soil carbon baseline partner Agricarbon can sample down to one metre. 

However, below 60cm you increasingly find parent material in the soil (rocks and stones) which reduces the efficiency of the measurement process. 

Many farmers also have concerns about sampling below 60cm due to field drains.

The UK government looked at developing a UK soil carbon code but decided against it because of existing high integrity international standards. 

This was a de facto endorsement of the Verified Carbon Standard - the methodology that we follow for generating carbon credits. 

It is not possible to generate high value carbon credits without having a laboratory-measured soil carbon baseline in place. If you use beneficial management practices and increase your soil carbon without any measured baseline in place, you won’t be able to realise the value of this carbon now or in the future. 

Many farmers think that by doing nothing they are keeping their options open. In fact they are missing out on the carbon they may currently be sequestering

Yes, in principle, with the following caveats:

• The land needs to still be classed as agricultural land rather than industrial

• You need to be able to carry out regenerative practices on the land (for example, adaptive grazing)

• The solar agreement should not preclude you from generating carbon credits on the land under the panels