Farmers Edge CCP Project #1
Alberta Offset System
Offset Project Plan
2015 Crop
Contents
1) Project Scope and Site Description ................................................................................. 3
2) Contact Information ....................................................................................................... 6
3) Other Project Information .............................................................................................. 7
3.1
Description of how the project will achieve GHG emission reductions ........... 7
3.2
Conditions prior to project initiation ................................................................ 7
3.3
Project Eligibility ............................................................................................... 8
3.4
Project technologies, products, services and the expected level of activity . 10
3.5
Identification of risks ...................................................................................... 11
4) Identification of sources and sinks ............................................................................... 13
4.1
Baseline Condition .......................................................................................... 13
4.1
Project Sources and Sinks ............................................................................... 15
5) Identification of the Project Condition ......................................................................... 18
6) Quantification Plan ....................................................................................................... 20
6.1
Quantification Approach & Methodology ...................................................... 20
6.2
Parameters & Procedures .............................................................................. 21
7) Monitoring Plan ............................................................................................................ 25
8) Data Management System and Records ...................................................................... 27
8.1
Record Keeping ............................................................................................... 27
Project Developer Signature ............................................................................................. 33
Farmers Edge CCP Project #1
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Offset Project Plan for Farmers Edge
Conservation Cropping Protocol Project #1
Project Developer: Farmers Edge Inc.
Date: December 2015
1) Project Scope and Site Description
Project Title:
Farmers Edge CCP Project #1
Project Purpose and
Objective(s):
This Farmers Edge agricultural offset aggregation project will
use the Alberta Quantification Protocol for Conservation
Cropping (CPP) to develop and aggregate carbon offsets from
Alberta farmers. Starting in 2015 we will help customers
complete comprehensive crop plans every year, helping to
manage their zero-tillage (no till) program and build the organic
matter in the soil sequestering carbon dioxide.
Project Start Date:
2014-09-01
Credit Start Date:
2015-01-01
Credit Duration
Period:
2015-01-01 to 2021-12-31
Expected Lifetime of
the Project:
This CCP aggregation project will run annually with Farmers
Edge customers for the duration allowed under the protocol to
December 31, 2021.
Estimated Emission
This Project will target 50,000 tonnes CO2e annually to
Reductions/Removals: aggregate from the Farmers Edge customer base in Alberta.
Applicable
Quantification
Protocol(s):
Alberta Quantification Protocol for Conservation Cropping
(Version 1.0) April 2012 (CCP).
Protocol(s)
Justification:
The Quantification Protocol for Conservation Cropping (Version
1.0) April 2012 (CCP) is at the core of this Project. The project
consists of the aggregation of carbon offsets generated through
Farmers Edge CCP Project #1
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the use of no till practices. These offsets result from the direct
and indirect reduction of greenhouse gas emissions under no
till. These tillage practices are not required by law in Alberta
and are done on a voluntary basis by Alberta farmers and are
therefore additional.
Other Environmental
Attributes:
This project is not expected to generate additional
environmental benefits.
Legal Land
Description of the
Project and/or Other
Unique Site
Descriptions:
This is an aggregated project of CCP offsets from Alberta
farmers that are customers of Farmers Edge Inc. These
customers are located across Alberta from the north Peace
River area to southern Alberta.
Ownership:
The project is 100% owned and operated by Farmers Edge Inc.
Farmers Edge uses an agent contract model and discounts its
customer selected agronomic services for the estimated value
of the carbon offsets on the farm. A pre-qualification checklist
is used by Farmers Edge Agronomists to ensure there is a high
likelihood the protocol parameters can be met before enrolling
the farm as a sub-project.
Farmers Edge will provide a list of all participating land
locations (properties) in a spatial locator template when the
carbon offsets are registered.
All participating farms (sub-projects) sign an emissions credit
assignment agreement with Farmers Edge. If the farms have
rental land they must provide a landlord/tenant agreement
showing assignment of carbon offsets to the farming tenant.
Both documents are stored in our data management system.
Reporting and
Verification Details:
CCP emissions reduction generated in 2015 will be summarized
in a report to Dec 31, 2015. They will be verified by an
experienced independent verification team from ICF Canada
for 2015. Annual verifications will occur for the life of the
project with an independent third party verifier that meets the
Specified Gas Emitters Regulation.
The Technical Guidance for Offset Project Developers (Version
4.0, Feb 2013) will guide the verification of the project.
Farmers Edge CCP Project #1
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A pre-verification by an independent third party occurred midyear 2015 to ensure all database development and collection
processes were aligned with the CCP.
We will not consider any potential Summerfallow Reduction
Projects as part of this project.
Project Activity:
All the project activity occurs with Farmers Edge customers
with land located only in Alberta. The Conservation Cropping
practices applied are not required by law and are beyond
business-as-usual and agricultural common practices.
As this Project Plan demonstrates, the reductions generated
will be real, demonstrable, quantifiable and verifiable. They are
the result of actions taken after January 1, 2002 and will have
clearly established ownership.
Credits generated will only be counted once for compliance
purposes and the project is not registered under any other
offset schemes.
Project Registration:
This project will only be registered the Alberta Emissions Offset
Registry.
Other:
This project has been planned using the Technical Guidance for
Offset Project Developers (Version 4.0 February 2013)
document developed for the Specified Gas Emitters Regulation.
The project complies with the Alberta Quantification Protocol
for Conservation Cropping (Version 1.0) April 2012.
Farmers Edge CCP Project #1
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2) Contact Information
Project
Developer
Contact
Information
Farmers Edge Inc.
Doug Cornell, Carbon Project Manager
(Located in Airdrie, Alberta)
Head Office location:
Enter the names of the other
contacts for the project developer.
Patrick Crampton, Chief Product
Officer
[email protected]
1470 Willson Place, Unit B
Winnipeg Manitoba
R3T 3N9 Canada
Dan Heaney, VP Research &
Development
587-585-5199
[email protected]
www.farmersedge.ca
[email protected]
Authorized
Project
Contact1
Not Applicable
(This is a
contact that
has been
given the
authority to
act on behalf
of the project
developer.)
1
The authorized project contact is the contact person for the project. AESRD and the Alberta Emissions
Offset Registry will contact this person for any project specific questions, including government audit.
Farmers Edge CCP Project #1
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3) Other Project Information
3.1
Description of how the project will achieve GHG emission
reductions
In Alberta, as current or new customers of Farmers Edge plan for their next crop,
Farmers Edge Agronomists, Precision Agronomists and Precision Technicians consult
with them on their cropping plans. As part of this agronomic planning process, seeding
and fertilizing decisions are made with respect to products used, placement and timing
of applications. During this consulting phase, the farm’s machinery and tillage practices
are assessed. If they meet the CCP requirements for no till, the farm becomes prequalified for inclusion to our CCP project as a sub-project (farm). The pre-qualified farms
then complete their annual cropping with seeding and fertilizing machinery designed to
minimize soil disturbance (no till).
Shifting from conventional farming to conservation cropping can increase carbon
sequestered in the soil. This results in reduced carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions to the
atmosphere and lower nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions resulting from less soil
disturbance. Fewer passes on a farm field reduces fossil fuel emissions from farm
equipment further helping to lower greenhouse gas footprint for the farm.
The CCP protocol specifically quantifies greenhouse gas emissions reductions from the
following three activities:

New carbon stored annually in agricultural soil;

Lower nitrous oxide emissions from soils under no till management; and

Associated emission reductions from reduced fossil fuel use from fewer passes
per farm field.
Throughout the year, Farmers Edge collects all protocol required records and data and
securely stores them in a GIS enabled database. From the records in that database a
greenhouse gas reduction is calculated for each sub-project (farm). Each sub-project
boundary is each farm’s land locations. The farms are from across Alberta. All the subprojects (farms) CCP calculated CO2e offsets are aggregated together for this project.
3.2
Conditions prior to project initiation
The conditions on each farm prior to project initiation vary somewhat due to different
agro-climatic zones, different machinery and different crop choices & rotations.
However, all farmers are interested in minimizing their impact on the environment and
reducing expenses. Done properly, no till seed and fertilizer practices can accomplish
both. Many farms still require coaching to not resort to tillage practices for weed control
and trash (straw) management.
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The CCP uses a performance standard baseline methodology to quantify GHG emission
reductions resulting from conservation cropping management practices. This means
that sector level performance based on 2006 Census data was used to establish a sector
level baseline for Alberta based on best practices for the sector and known levels of
adoption of reduced and no till agriculture within Alberta Ecozones.
3.3
Project Eligibility
This project meets the requirements as outlined in the Alberta Quantification Protocol
for Conservation Cropping (Version 1.0) April 2012 (CCP). The applicability criteria were
determined using the CCP and the Technical Guidance for Offset Project Developers
(Version 4.0, February 2014) including identification of sources and sinks, and
quantification methodologies.
Table 1 describes how the protocol criteria are met.
Protocol Criteria
How The Criteria Are Met
Farms must be within Alberta.
Every farm field is recorded by digitized
border within a GIS data management
system with a “Google Earth” like aerial
photo interface. The system supplies
Legal Land Description (LLD) and lat/long
coordinates.
Farms must be producing annual crops.
Farmers Edge crop planning process
captures crop type for every field. This is
confirmed with AFSC Crop Insurance
reports.
Farms must be practicing no till farming
within Alberta.
No till machinery is photographed and
measured. A soil disturbance calculation
is then done for every soil opener.
Soil disturbance events exceeding the
limit must be captured and reported.
Farmers Edge CanPlug telematics devices
capture seeding, fertilizing and tillage
operations data directly to database.
This information is also collected by
Technicians from in-cab monitors as a
back-up. Agronomists discuss field
events with farmer and confirm any
discretionary tillage events.
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Clear legal ownership of the GHG
emission reductions must be established.
A Farmers Edge Emissions Credits
Agreement is signed with every
participating farm customer.
A land title certificate will be accessed
and a copy retained for all LLD’s for each
farm’s owned lands as proof of
ownership.
A copy of the landlord/tenant lease
agreement for each farm’s rented lands
will be copied and retained.
If the lease does not assign the carbon
rights to the tenant (farmer), a Carbon
Assignment Agreement will be requested
between the landlord and tenant
assigning the carbon rights to the tenant
(farmer). A copy of that agreement will
be retained.
Additional farm management operations
involving tillage must be documented
and recorded, including irrigation status,
reseeding and manure incorporation.
Irrigated crops (fields) will be indicated
as such.
Ecozone must be indicated.
Every field will be assessed using our GIS
data management system for location in
Parkland or Dryland zone. Fields bisected
by the border will use the more
conservative Dryland zone parameters.
The project must meet the eligibility
criteria stated in section 7.0 of the
Specified Gas Emitters Regulation. In
order to qualify, emissions reductions
must:
This project meets the eligibility criteria
stated in section 7.0 of the Specified Gas
Emitters Regulation.
Farmers Edge CCP Project #1
Farmers Edge CanPlug telematics devices
capture seeding, fertilizing and tillage
operations data directly to database.
This information is also collected by
Technicians from in-cab monitors as a
back-up. Agronomists discuss and
confirm with farmer any other field
operations which may affect CCP.
• All farm fields will be in Alberta and
their Land Title will assure this.
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• Occur in Alberta;
• Result from actions not otherwise
required by law;
• Result from actions taken on or after
January 1, 2002;
• Actions measured for emission
reductions are not required by law.
• All actions have or will occur after
January 1, 2012.
• All emission reductions for this project:
• Be real, demonstrable and quantifiable;
-
• Have clearly established ownership
including, if applicable, appropriate,
documented transfers of carbon
ownership from the land owner to land
lessee;
Are real, demonstrable and
quantifiable because they are based
on the CCP as described in this plan;
-
Will have clearly demonstrated
ownership;
-
Will only be counted once.
• Be counted once for compliance; and
• Be implemented according to
ministerial guidelines.
3.4
The project will be implemented
according to ministerial guidelines.
Project technologies, products, services and the expected level
of activity
Farmers Edge agronomic consulting helps bring our customers tillage practices under
control and monitoring by planning their seeding and fertilizing operations. These
practices are then monitored by our agronomic professionals including Certified Crop
Advisors (CCA), Professional Agrologists (P.Ag.) and Accredited Professional Advisors
(APA).
The farmers involved in this CCP project are customers of Farmers Edge advanced
precision farming services. These services include:
 Variable rate fertilizer planning and prescription preparation for application
machinery
 Single rate per field prescription preparation for application machinery
 Telematics based “over the air” collection of machinery application and timing
data by our CanPlug system
 Zone planning and soil testing by zone and by field
 Processed & raw satellite imagery and on-farm weather stations for advanced
agronomic decision making.
All these tools are used by our agronomic and precision technology advisors, in
consultation with the farmer, to plan the cropping strategies that meet or exceed CCP
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parameters. All protocol required records and data are collected and securely stored in
a GIS enabled database (Carbon System).
Farmers Edge CanPlug technology, backed up by in-cab monitor data collection, forms
the basis of tracking the number of passes with low disturbance openers and any
discretionary tillage. Tillage events can be tracked and measured in our data
management system with the tractor GPS data for in-field activity. The machinery
operational data is confirmed by our Agronomists with the farmer. This is done because
the tillage event could be a harrow or packer or other minimal soil disturbing field
operation. All soil disturbing events are tracked, recorded and reported on.
3.5
Identification of risks
Consideration of risk factors unique to this project needs to include:
 data collection challenges in the agricultural industry;
 data management, storing and processing factors;
 regulatory changes or misinterpretation challenges.
Data Collection
Data collection challenges have always existed in the agriculture industry because
agriculture, at the production point, is based on biological systems in an uncontrolled
outdoor environment. Those who own the production assets, farmers, are usually
owner-operator businesses that are family run. Quite often they are incorporated but
are still small family businesses with few to no employees. Despite the internet
revolution, the data infrastructure across the agricultural land mass is still weak,
especially further from major urban centers and major transportation corridors. Cellular
service can be non-existent or weak at best and high speed internet connections are still
entry level in some areas. With this in mind, automated data collection systems must be
very well designed to survive off-grid momentarily or extensively and still retain the
crucial data collected. However, there is a “big data” revolution occurring in the
agricultural industry as the sensor, computer and GPS systems coalesce.
Farmers Edge has invested significantly in data collection automation with machinerybased telematics devices and processes to ensure useful data is collected for agronomic
decision making, and will continue to do so. The same data required for this agronomic
decision making is also required for carbon emissions offset calculations.
The other area of data collection challenges are the human factors. Copies of signed
contracts and external data documents need to be collected by Farmers Edge staff.
Extensive staff training has been done at Farmers Edge through process training
sessions, mentoring, webinars, phone calls, emails plus instruction and process
documentation. This training is supplemented with a thorough review process of data
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collection entered in our Carbon System before the information is used to calculate GHG
emission reductions.
Data Management
The risks associated with data management systems are quite well known. Data
redundancy (back-up), non-registered access, system design and ease of use are all
worth noting as potential issues.
Farmers Edge has a large dedicated computer software engineering team who built our
Carbon System as a subset of our larger big data management environment so all these
risks are addressed for carbon projects in Alberta and around the world. Authentication
protocols and processes are in place to reduce unauthorized access risk.
Regulatory Change
This CCP project will be among many conservation cropping projects done in Alberta.
Although based on very solid agricultural science, the science of greenhouse gas
quantification is still evolving and may evolve more to meet the needs and standards of
the agricultural industry. While the actual emissions offsets are not in question, the
documentation standards and requirements may still evolve. Beyond the protocol level,
the Alberta regulatory environment has just changed dramatically with a new
government, but the offset system did stay intact. This CCP project can run for seven
years with no extension. Governments and potentially the regulations may change in
the future.
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4) Identification of sources and sinks
4.1
Baseline Condition
For projects applying the Alberta Quantification Protocol for Conservation Cropping
projects the approach is a performance standard baseline. The emission coefficients
were set based on no till adoption levels reported in the 2006 Statistics Canada Census
of Agriculture and the emission reduction contribution of those practices in Alberta
Ecozones. This baseline already discounts the pre-2006 minimum tillage adoption of
practices and is considered static for the current crediting period.
This adjusted baseline approach accounts for prior conditions and prior carbon
reductions which includes conventional tillage and some zero-tillage. Therefore,
previous on farm tillage practices of Farmers Edge customers participating in this project
do not have to be accounted for in an individual baseline. After implementation of the
current protocol, no till management practices were employed on the participating
farms.
Figure 1 below shows the Baseline Sources and Sinks and their status as Related,
Controlled or Affected.
Figure 1
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Descriptions of each of the sources and/or sinks and their classification as controlled,
related or affected are provided in Table 4 from the protocol below.
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4.1
Project Sources and Sinks
Sources and sinks are determined to be either controlled, related or affected by the
project and are defined as follows:
Controlled
The behaviour or operation of a controlled source and/or sink is under the direction and
influence of a project developer through financial, policy, management or other
instruments.
Related
A related source and/or sink has material and/or energy flows into, out of, or within a
project but is not under the reasonable control of the project developer.
Affected
An affected source and/or sink is influenced by the project activity through changes in
market demand or supply for projects or services associated with the project.
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This project follows the Conservation Cropping Protocol sources and sinks without
deviation. Figure 2 below shows the Project Sources and Sinks diagrammatically.
Figure 2
The Project Sources and Sinks are shown as Controlled, Related or Affected in Table 5
from the protocol below.
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Farmers Edge CCP Project #1
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5) Identification of the Project Condition
For the purposes of quantifying GHG reductions, tillage is defined as a mechanical
disturbance of the soil to modify soil conditions for seeding, managing crop residues,
weed control, and/or incorporating chemicals/manure for crop production. Reduced till
and no till systems, known as conservation tillage systems, vary in their degree of soil
disturbance and number of passes of farm machinery. While both practices are used in
farming operations in Alberta, the scope of this project is limited to no till cropping
systems, as described in the protocol.
The project condition for tillage system management is the use of no till systems as
defined in Table 1 from the protocol, below, which results in reduced disturbance of the
soil, reduced soil organic carbon decomposition and loss of terrestrial carbon stores
relative to conventional tillage systems (i.e.: the baseline condition). No till systems also
result in a reduction in the fossil fuel emissions from fuel consumed in conventional, fulltill farming operations. In the case of the drier soils (i.e. Dry Prairie soils), there is also a
reduction in nitrous oxide emissions from agricultural soils under no till relative to fulltill farming, which have been included in the coefficients provided in the protocol.
Farm operators participating Farmers Edge CCP project must demonstrate each year
that they are planting annual crops and managing their fields according to the
requirements specified in this protocol.
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Farmers Edge CCP Project #1
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6) Quantification Plan
6.1
Quantification Approach & Methodology
Quantification of the reductions, removals and reversals of relevant sources and sinks
for the greenhouse gases will be completed using the methodologies outlined in the
Conservation Cropping Protocol.
This project will not consider the summerfallow reduction flexibility mechanism for any
participating farms.
Coefficients for Tillage System Management
Table 11 below (from the protocol) provides a summary of raw coefficients associated
with tillage change between No Till (NT), Reduced Till (RT) and Full Till (FT) management
where positive signs represent emission removals from increased soil organic carbon
sequestration and reduced N20. (adapted from Haak, 2006.).
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Below, in Table 12 from the protocol, are baseline adjusted emission factors for 2012
through 2021 (inclusive) for No Till (NT) management using 2006 Census adoption levels
on cropped land area by region in Alberta.
6.2
Parameters & Procedures
In cases where a field is bisected by an Ecozone boundary, where there is not a natural
field division alternative to allow splitting of the field boundary into distinct fields in
each Ecozone, the Ecozone with the more conservative emission reduction estimate will
be used. Figure 3 below shows the Ecozone boundary line.
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Figure 3
Reductions and removals of greenhouse gases achieved through conservation cropping
projects must be quantified according to the methodologies outlined in Table 7 from the
protocol below.
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Sample Calculation
Here is a sample calculation from the protocol.
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Note: Although significant digits are defined by the raw coefficients throughout the calculations, final
results must be rounded to two significant digits consistent with the soil organic carbon coefficients.
Farmers Edge CCP Project #1
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7) Monitoring Plan
The Monitoring Plan for Farmers Edge CCP Project #1 integrates very well with Farmers
Edge regular customer procedures for agronomic consulting. Data collection for
monitoring purposes follows Farmers Edge processes and data systems already
available. Customer facing staff ensure data collection processes are executed and
tracked in Farmers Edge data systems. The Carbon System at Farmers Edge is integrated
as part of the parent FarmCommand data management system.
Field staff who work directly with customers, which includes Account Managers (sales),
Agronomists, Precision Agronomists and Administrators, each has a unique, secure logon to the Carbon System. All additions and changes to data in the Carbon System are
logged by person so all data and documents can be tracked back to the staff who
handled it. Also, many Farmers Edge Agronomists, Precision Agronomists and Account
Managers are Professional Agrologists (P.Ag.) and their designations are noted in our
Carbon System for CCP review purposes.
Customer Farm data is input into the Carbon System at two levels, Farm or Field. Farm
Level documents such as signed contracts, Crop Insurance documents, and lease
agreements are collected during the annual customer sign-up or renewal process,
scanned to pdf format and uploaded to the Carbon System. The initial crop plan is
entered for each field, defined by Legal Land Descriptions (LLD), into our contracting
sub-system. This forms the basis of our customer tracking system throughout
FarmCommand and the Carbon System.
Field Level data gets monitored by the Agronomists and Precision Agronomists and then
entered or uploaded. This includes Field specific details not available electronically.
Most Field Level data is “monitored” or collected electronically using Farmers Edge
proprietary system, the CanPlug. The CanPlug system is a telematics based data
gathering device supplied for our customer’s tractors, combines and sprayers. The
CanPlugs monitor the machinery data systems, harvest the GPS encoded data from the
in-cab and attached machinery controllers (computers) and sends the data over cell
networks to our cloud database. This data is processed and becomes available
information in the FarmCommand system including the Carbon System. As a backup to
this system, controller data is collected by our Precision Agronomists & Technicians from
the in-cab controllers and then uploaded to FarmCommand.
The electronically collected data includes much of the crucial information for detailed
agronomic consulting and CCP GHG calculations. Information tracked includes tillage
activity from As Applied fertilizing, application dates, the machinery involved and the
location of each event in all zones of every field.
Monitoring for CCP specifically happens through our consulting process with farm
customers:
 The initial crop plan is prepared in consultation with the farmer.
 Agronomists prepare fertility recommendations before and through seeding.
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 As Applied activity is gathered electronically during seeding by CanPlug and
directly immediately post-seeding by the Precision Agronomists and Technicians.
 After spring seeding the crop plan is reviewed by an Agronomist at the Field
Level. Any discrepancies or missing information is addressed with the Farmer.
Any electronic gathering or processing issues are addressed with the data
management development team and field staff.
 It should be noted that pre-seeding and pre-harvest farm visits are done by
Precision Agronomists to supply the machinery ready data files for fertility and
other prescriptions and to ensure the CanPlugs and other machine data systems
are operational.
 A final post-harvest review is done by an Agronomist at Field & Farm Level to
ensure each Field will qualify for CCP inclusion and that all Field & Farm Level
documentation is in place for the GHG calculation and eventual assertion.
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8) Data Management System and Records
8.1
Record Keeping
Farmers Edge’s main businesses of variable rate fertilizer planning and agronomic
consulting with farmers already had it deeply in involved in farm data record keeping
well before becoming an aggregator. The business of effective variable rate planning for
fertilizer requires collection, creation, processing and storage of the “big data” relating
to every acre annually cropped on our customers farms. Some of these data streams
include:

Farm and farmer contact information

Detailed farm machinery parameters

Land locations, actual farmed area (digitized borders), aerial imagery, processed
satellite imagery

Detailed soil information including current soil test data on macro and micro
nutrients at the field level (composite) or zone level (sub-field) from sampling
done by Farmers Edge Technicians and Agronomists. The soil samples are
processed at Farmers Edge own soil testing lab.

Planned crops, previous crops, projected yields and yield measurements

Combine yield and moisture monitor records

Applied fertilizer rates by zone or by field (As Applied machinery data), seeded
crop area, weeds & pests and applied pesticides. All this is digitized GPS
encoded data.

Weather station data from Farmers Edge automated weather stations placed at
each customer’s farm.
This information is then used to develop a prescription for fertilizer application by zone
or field for the entire farm (and potentially variable rate prescriptions for other crop
inputs). These electronic prescription files are loaded into the application machinery
controllers for every field.
The additional information collected that is required for CCP includes:

Land and carbon rights ownership documents

Crop insurance records

Crop advisor qualifications.
As we sign-up our customers they choose a level of precision farming planning service.
The levels of service for 2015 are:
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
Smart Solutions, our base service package contains the on-farm data solutions,
and also provides a Carbon Offset Credit (service price reduction per acre) for
Alberta farms which will qualify for the CCP. Other services in this package
include:
o Digital bordering of all fields
o As Applied crop input maps, Precision Health maps and Precision Harvest
maps
o CanPlugs for the main tractor(s), combine(s) and sprayer(s)
o FarmCommand software access
o On-Farm Weather Station
o Access to Tech and Agronomic support services.
In addition, farmers then choose additional services that suit their agronomic
management profile from these solutions:

Farmers Edge Ultra Carbon VR solution which provides fertility
recommendations based on whole farm zoned soil sampling the first year, and
then Virtual Soil Testing blended with check sampling, alternating portions of
the farm annually.

Farmers Edge Platinum solution which provides field zoning and then variable
rate fertility planning based on whole farm zoned soil sampling.

Farmers Edge Nutrient Management solution which provides fertility
recommendations based on composite soil sampling by field.
All Farmers Edge data is maintained in secured databases that are backed up off-site.
The main GIS interface is through our proprietary software FarmCommand. A separate
instance of FarmCommand for GHG emission protocols, the Carbon System, is
maintained for staff and farmer use. Verifiers and Auditors will be given read-only
access to one crop year of the database for their tasks when necessary. Each CCP
defined crop year will be stored, in its entirety, for the life of the project as per protocol
conditions.
All Farm and Farmers Edge generated documentation for each Farm is retained in an
orderly manner attached to the Field or Farm it relates to. Access to this data is through
a “Google Earth” type aerial imagery view of the digitized fields (bordered fields). The
CCP specific data is accessible through pop-up database menus for Farm & Field Level
data. All external documents are scanned to pdf and retained in the data system
attached to the Farm or Field.
The details of how Farmers Edge will meet each farm data record requirement in the
protocol are in the following Table 4 below, from the protocol with Farmers Edge data
collection plans also explained.
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Table 4 outlines the records needed to support this protocol Farmers Edge is collecting.
Table 4: Records Requirements & Collection Plan
Record Requirement
Farmers Edge Record Collection Plan
Why Required
1) Ownership of the farm
fields being claimed in the
project
• Land title certificate for each field being claimed in the project for the first year the
field will be downloaded and retained; and
• An annual check of land titles to determine any ownership change; and
• If ownership has changed, a new land title certificate will be downloaded; and
• If the farmer leases land, a signed written lease agreement between the land owner(s)
and the tenant will be copied and uploaded to Farmers Edge FarmCommand system.
To confirm land ownership
2) Right to transact on offset
credits
• Contract between Farmers Edge and farmer for the assignment of carbon rights will be
signed and uploaded. This includes agreement to provide access to data needed to
quantify the greenhouse gas assertion for the farm enterprise; and
• Carbon Transfer Agreements between land owner(s) and the project developer. This
agreement may be incorporated into the lease agreement. These documents will be
copied and uploaded to FarmCommand.
To confirm the right to transact on
offset credits
3) Field size and location
being claimed
• A GPS track file from farm seeding/fertilizing equipment is available each year
• A GPS shape file derived from aerial imagery (border) is developed for each field and
this is “proofed” by the farmer. The border will exclude non-cropped areas (e.g. roads,
gullies, wooded areas, grassed waterways, farm buildings).
• satellite imagery showing the above border and exclusions will also be available for
every field
• Measurement of farm enterprise boundary size will be done using digital imagery from
satellite data or aerial photos (fields will be bordered in FarmCommand);
• An annual check of additions or removals of land title certificates under the farm
enterprise boundary will be done; and
• An annual check of additions or removals of land lease agreements between the farm
enterprise and other parties will be done.
Only area under conservation cropping
is eligible for offset credits
3a) Confirmation of annual
Farm Enterprise Boundary
Farmers Edge CCP Project #1
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To confirm the entire farm enterprise
is included in the offset project
To confirm that new lands added to
the farm enterprise boundary are
recorded and appropriately
handled according to protocol
requirements
4) Ecozone protocol area
classification
5) Crop type grown for each
field including existence of
an annual crop, or first year
of seeding of a perennial
crop
6) Occurrences of soil
disturbance on each farm
field being claimed
• Legal land location(s) (Alberta Township System and GPS coordinates) of the entire
farm enterprise boundary is accomplished with the FarmCommand GIS data system;
and
• Ecozone location(s) of all fields for each farm will be provided
• EcoDistrict location(s) within the farm enterprise boundary are uploaded as digital
boundaries in FarmCommand.
• Farm records indicating the crop type grown for field in the project (including indication
of fields that were managed under ineligible crop types such as perennial production or
summerfallow for that cropping year); and
• One of the following:
o AFSC records, hail insurance records; or
o Signed Agronomist records of field observations for each field in the project. The
Agronomist must have reviewed and collected supporting farm records that
confirm the types of crops/field activities for that year. These records will be
maintained in a format that is readily available for verifiers to inspect.
To confirm the Ecozone and the
emission coefficients
Entire Farm Enterprise Boundary also
included in the project
EcoDistrict locations also included
• From the CanPlug system feeding tractor activity into FarmCommand, detailed field
record sheets that specify all land disturbance activities including but not limited to
seeding, manure spreading/incorporation and discretionary tillage are maintained;
• Our Agronomists probe for disclosure of any discretionary tillage events on a field and
calculation of area affected by the disturbance and then confirm by on the field record
sheet.
• If no discretionary tillage is done on a farm field, this is documented in the field record
sheet.
Also tracked is:
• The specific equipment used, or
• Supporting records to verify the accuracy of the items above. This may include sign off
by a professional agrologist who has reviewed and collected supporting farm records
that confirm the types of equipment used to meet protocol requirements (e.g. number
of passes, shank spacing and opener width) and disturbances per field. These records
must be identified in the report and maintained in a format that is readily available for
verifiers to inspect.
To assess soil disturbance against
Requirements stated in protocol
Farmers Edge CCP Project #1
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To confirm offset credits were
generated from an annual or first
year perennial crop
7) Seeding /fertilizer
specifications used each
year
8) Reseeding events if
applicable
9) Use of Irrigation if
applicable
• A calculation of the percentage of soil disturbance based on the width of the opener
and shank spacing is done in the Carbon System for every farm in the project.
AND we supply:
• Photo evidence with time stamp of: equipment used including:
o Opener width,
o Distance between shanks
• Or supporting documentation for equipment used by the farm operator including
equipment receipt or rental agreement, model number of the tillage equipment.
Changes in equipment need to be documented and recorded is supplied.
• All this information is stored in the Carbon System.
• One additional low-disturbance pass is allowed for reseeding events if total disturbance
remains within allowable maximums.
• Equipment specifications are recorded in the Carbon System for each farm
• Any reseeding is captured by CanPlug system or Agronomist and the data will indicate
dates of initial and reseeding events
Equipment specifications affect the
amount of soil disturbance incurred
during farming operations
• We collect and retain in the Carbon System supporting documentation for water usage
on the field by farm operator including two of the following:
o Water use records;
 Photo evidence with GPS time stamp showing equipment used including
model information;
 Crop insurance records noting use of irrigation;
 Air photo or satellite imagery showing pivots;
 Alberta Irrigation Program documents;
 Detailed farm maps showing coverage of irrigation networks over project
fields including type and model numbers for equipment being used;
OR
• Sign off by a Professional Agrologist
Irrigation increases the carbon
sequestration potential of Dry Prairie
soils to that of Parkland soils. This
information is needed to confirm the
practice
Farmers Edge CCP Project #1
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Reseeding events must not exceed
the soil disturbance requirements
Farmers Edge CCP Data Flow Chart
Farmers Edge CCP Project #1
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Project Developer Signature
I am a duly authorized corporate officer of the project developer mentioned above
and have personally examined and am familiar with the information submitted in this
offset project plan. Based upon reasonable investigation, including my inquiry of
those individuals responsible for obtaining the information, I hereby warrant that the
submitted information is true, accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge
and belief, and that all matters affecting the validity of the future emission reduction
claim or the protocol(s) upon which it is based have been fully disclosed. I understand
that any false statement made in the submitted information may result in deregistration of credits and may be punishable as a criminal offence in accordance with
provincial or federal statutes.
The project developer has executed this offset project plan as of the 24nd day of
December, 2015.
Project Title: Farmers Edge CCP Project #1
Signature:
Date:
Name:
Title:
December 24, 2015
Patrick Crampton
Chief Product Officer
Farmers Edge CCP Project #1
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