BASF and Boortmalt Lead the Way in Reducing Farm Emissions
Agriculture is the second largest source of greenhouse gas emissions after electricity and heat.
A key partnership tackling agricultural emissions is between chemical manufacturer BASF and Boortmalt,the world’s leading malted barley provider.
The collaboration has led to successfully generating the first Verified Impact Units (VIUs) from reducing and removing on-farm GHGs.
How is BASF tackling emissions?
BASF, the largest chemical producer in the world, wants to create chemistry for a sustainable future.
As part of BASF’s Global Carbon Farming Program (GCFP), enabled by xarvio Digital Farming Solutions, barley farmers in Ireland are implementing sustainable farming practices such as cover crops.
BASF’s GCFP implements Verra’s agricultural protocol, an organisation that develops standards and ways for countries and businesses to reduce GHGs from agriculture.
“We are incredibly proud alongside our project partners to be Europe’s first to have achieved Verra’s standard of verification from carbon insetting,” said Gustavo Palerosi Carneiro, Senior Vice President BASF Agricultural Solutions for EMEA & CIS.
“Through reliable verification and certification, farmers are rewarded for implementing sustainable practices that benefit the environment without compromising productivity.
“We are excited to continue to work with the food value chain and farmers on our Carbon Farming Program and to provide them with innovative solutions for sustainable agriculture.”
BASFs efforts have resulted in average savings of 2.3 tons CO₂e per hectare, reducing GHG emissions by nearly 90% and bringing barley production closer to net zero.
This creates a significant milestone for companies seeking a mechanism to certify the impact of on-farm interventions that help reduce Scope 3 emissions and meet Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) commitments.
The programme also works with SustainCERT, an independent validation and verification body for climate impact.
“This is a great achievement,” said Marion Verles, CEO of SustainCERT.
“Our team validated and verified the outcomes of BASF’s Global Carbon Farming Program to ensure that the CO2e savings are of the highest level of trust and accountability.
“Our approach helps companies demonstrate progress toward their Scope 3 targets by validating and verifying value chain interventions and confirming the resulting mitigations outcomes.”
Inside the BASF and Boortmalt collaboration
Boortmalt’s agronomists have been working closely alongside barley farmers in the field.
Farmers know the benefits to soil, biodiversity and environment from sustainable farming practices.
“These first VIUs represent a critical step forward, benefitting farmers and reinforcing our commitment to reducing GHG emissions and promoting sustainability,” said Gauthier Boels, Group Sustainable Agriculture Manager at Boortmalt.
Both farmers and companies know the transitioning from conventional methods to more sustainable ones is not always easy.
In addition to the need to acquire new knowledge, farmers may need to invest in new materials like cover crop seeds.
Boortmalt understands the need for a value chain solution that not only reduces emissions in barley cultivation but also creates profitability opportunities for growers to accelerate and support these changes.
“The journey we began in 2022 has now reached a pivotal milestone with the generation of the VIUs,” said Marko Grozdanovic, Senior Vice President Global Marketing at BASF Agricultural Solutions.
“This achievement showcases the potential of climate-smart agriculture and our GCFP, emphasising also the importance of connecting farmers with stakeholders across the value chain to develop scalable solutions.”
The future of sustainable agriculture
In the future, BASF plans to extend its GCFP to work with partners globally across several crops, delivering similar benefits for different value chains.
The insights gained from this programme are also highly valuable for Boortmalt, as it expands its ambitious regenerative agriculture program across various regions, tailoring it to suit each country.
The company is committed to facilitate the transition to regenerative agriculture practices and reduce its barley emissions by more than 30% percent by 2030, compared to baseline in 2023, in line with its SBTi commitments.
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