Miscanthus giganteus, or elephant grass, is a perennial reed-like crop that grows incredibly fast, has the energy value of coal and requires hardly any weed control, insecticide, irrigation or fertiliser (although manure can be applied to it just after harvest if desired).
Agriculture and horticulture farmers have powerful assets to combat global warming. By improving their soil quality with carbon farming, they can remove many tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere while making their operations more future-proof. Until now, however, the conventional agricultural system does not compensate them enough, if at all. That is why Carbon Farmers motivates Dutch farmers to get started with carbon farming by planting miscanthus.
About Carbon Farmers
Carbon Farmers is a collective of Dutch farmers who are working on making their farms more sustainable. We focus on soil improvement and link new earning models for our farmers to this. By selling certificates for carbon sequestration in soils, trees and building materials, we give our farmers a piece of much-needed funding to start with more nature-inclusive crops and business systems. We currently have projects with certificates around miscanthus (elephant grass), bamboo (in partnership with Bamboologic) and permanent grassland (in partnership with GreenDutch).
About the Removers
G.J. (Bart-Jan) de Lorijn planted Miscanthus giganteus on about 4 ha in May 2022, near Waalbandijk in Wamel. Since 2022 the farm made the conversion to organic (SKAL certification). This crop was deliberately chosen because of its resistance to climate change (too wet/too dry).
See documentation:
https://oncra.org/CBF001