Articles by Todd Janzen

Should Your Farm Sign a Carbon Contract?

By Todd Janzen posted on May 8, 2026 | Posted in Agriculture Policy & Programs

"To date, farmer uptake of these programs has been very slow, in spite of the promise to pay farmers for participation. I believe a lot of the reluctance stems from the uncertainty about these programs," says Todd Janzen in his latest blog.

Updating the Model Ag Data Use Agreement

By Todd Janzen posted on January 30, 2026 | Posted in Agriculture Policy & Programs, Precision Agriculture

"The coming wave of new platforms and products that focus on regenerative agriculture and use of artificial intelligence tools require that companies update their data collection policies," says Todd Janzen in his latest blog.

The Key Elements of a Soil Carbon Contract

By Todd Janzen posted on June 4, 2025 | Posted in Soil Health

What’s typically in these contracts? This post describes five of the most common elements to a soil carbon contract.

Is an AI-Drafted Contract Better Than No Contract?

By Todd Janzen posted on April 30, 2025 | Posted in Precision Agriculture

I recently asked Chat GPT: “Draft a lease for 80 acres of farmland in Marion County, Indiana at $250/acre for 1 year.” Chat GPT responded with 12 paragraph Farm Lease Agreement, which I have included below.

45Z Tax Credits Bring Ag Data Questions

By Todd Janzen posted on November 18, 2024

45Z brings a lot of promises to midwestern corn farmers, but it also brings a lot of unanswered questions about what ag data is necessary to verify compliance and how such data will be used.

New Concepts in the Updated Core Principles for Ag Data

By Todd Janzen posted on June 8, 2024 | Posted in Precision Agriculture

The updated Core Principles require companies to explain whether data is anonymized and whether a farmer can opt out of contributing to the anonymized and aggregated dataset.

5 Questions to Ask Before Signing a Carbon Contract

By Todd Janzen posted on October 12, 2023 | Posted in Soil Health

Source: Janzen Ag Law

The USDA describes soil carbon farming as “the use of specific on-farm practices designed to take carbon out of the air and store it in soils and plant material.”

How Will USDA Collect Ag Data for Climate-Smart Commodities Program?

By Todd Janzen posted on June 5, 2023 | Posted in Precision Agriculture

The USDA’s Partnership for Climate-Smart Commodities program represents an investment of over $3.1 billion into U.S. agriculture. The statistics for the program huge: USDA selected 141 proposals from corporations, nonprofits and universities to study ways to increase climate-smart production practices for U.S. farmers and livestock producers.

How to get No-Tillers on Board for Carbon Contracts

By Todd Janzen posted on September 26, 2022 | Posted in Soil Health

A group of companies called the Agricultural Climate Market Collaborative believes that lack of “transparency” is one of major road blocks to acceptance. To address transparency, the Collaborative developed eleven principles to guide carbon ecosystem marketers when forming these new contracts with growers.

Maybe Carbon Contracts Will Finally Convince Us to Update Real Estate Laws

By Todd Janzen posted on May 14, 2021 | Posted in Soil Health

Source: Janzen Ag Law

Carbon sequestration contracts for farmland are attempts to restrict usage of land. Historically, restriction on land were put in place by recording easements, mortgages, leases, or deed restrictions.

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