Advancing DEI in Sharing Carbon & Ecosystems Services Information
Alliance of Crop, Soil and Environmental Science Societies
Madison, Wisconsin
Carbon Markets Are Growing, But Trusted, Unbiased Information About Them Is Limited
Carbon credits, also known as carbon offsets, are permits that represent the equivalent of one ton of carbon dioxide removed and sequestered from the atmosphere. In the U.S., credits can be purchased or traded through carbon markets. Trusted, unbiased information about these markets and supporting programs are limited. In 2021, the Tri-Societies began building a source for science-based information to assist all populations working in agronomy, crops, soils and agriculture at large to understand and adopt carbon programs that curb climate change emissions and evaluate the science behind practices and markets. The Decode 6 website, launched Nov. 2022, is the result of this effort. FFAR has invested $100,000, with an equivalent match from Tri-Societies, to develop inclusivity and accessibility tools into the website so the information is understandable and accessible to everyone, especially within underserved communities.
This partnership between FFAR and Tri-Societies allows Decode 6 to reach underserved communities that are looking to better understand and leverage opportunities in carbon and ecosystem services markets. But it’s not just a one-way push of educational materials to these communities. Through this partnership, Decode 6 will work directly with individuals in underserved communities to co-create actionable education materials related to carbon, markets and economics, water, nutrients, biodiversity and habitat and climate.
Chris Boomsma
Director of science & strategy for Decode 6
About the Decode 6 Website
The Decode 6 website provides free educational resources in carbon and ecosystem services and their respective markets for the agricultural and environmental sectors. It is named for carbon, the sixth element on the periodic table.
The website covers six key topic areas, including:
- Carbon
- Markets and economics,
- Water
- Nutrients
- Biodiversity and habitat
- Climate
The information is provided in bite-sized, science-based information question-and-answer format. Podcasts, videos and short articles seek to answer the key questions farmers, in-field advisers, agricultural retailers, conservationists, market providers and policymakers need to evaluate today’s opportunities in carbon and ecosystem services practices and markets.
Accessing science-based, unbiased information on emerging carbon markets and programs can often be challenging. FFAR is excited to support Decode 6 in providing equitable access to practical agricultural information and enabling more informed decision-making.
LaKisha Odom, Ph.D.
Scientific Program Director
Sustaining Vibrant Agroecosystems
Why Website Accessibility Is Important?
Website accessibility is the inclusive practice of ensuring there are no barriers that prevent interaction with, or access to, websites by people with physical disabilities, situational disabilities or other impairments or limitations. It ensures the information on a website is accessible to all.
The accessibility features FFAR is supporting for the Decode 6 website include:
- Closed captioning and transcripts for videos and podcasts for the visually and hearing impaired
- language translation services for Latino communities
- Collaboration with 1890s Land-Grant Universities for content development and focused outreach to people of color.
How This Research Contributes to Our Mission
FFAR’s Soil Health Challenge Area supports sustainable on-farm practices from the ground-up, creating innovative solutions to improve soil health from measurement to adoption. FFAR also values and integrates diversity, equity and inclusion into its efforts to ensure our work reaches everyone.
Matching Funders
Decode 6 was founded by the American Society of Agronomy (ASA), the Crop Science Society of America (CSSA) and the Soil Science Society of America (SSSA), collectively known as the Tri-Societies. FFAR has invested $100,000, with an equivalent match from Tri-Societies, to develop inclusivity and accessibility tools into Decode 6.
ASA is a progressive international scientific and professional society that empowers scientists, educators and practitioners in developing, disseminating and applying agronomic solutions to feed and sustain the world. Based in Madison, ASA is the professional home for over 7,000 members and over 12,000 certified professionals (Certified Crop Advisers) dedicated to advancing the field of agronomy.
CSSA is a progressive international scientific society that fosters the vision to improve the world through crop science. Based in Madison and founded in 1956, CSSA is the professional home for over 4,000 members dedicated to discovering and applying plant science solutions to improve the human condition and protect the planet.
SSSA is a progressive international scientific society that fosters the transfer of knowledge and practices to sustain global soils. Based in Madison and founded in 1936, SSSA is the professional home for over 6,000 members and over 800 certified professionals dedicated to advancing the field of soil science. The organization provides information about soils in relation to crop production, environmental quality, forestry, ecosystem sustainability, bioremediation, waste management, urban uses, mining and reclamation, and across many closely related scientific disciplines and applied fields.
Due to their common interests, ASA, CSSA and SSSA share a cooperative relationship under the management and administrative support services of the Alliance of Crop, Soil, and Environmental Science Societies (ACSESS). Each organization is autonomous with its own bylaws and governing boards of directors.
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The Latest
Insights
Our Insights highlight unique perspectives from across the food and agriculture community.
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The Next Frontier for Biotechnology & the Future of Forestry
Samantha Surber
FFAR Fellow, University of Georgia
A Place for Everyone in Agriculture
Dr. LaKisha Odom & Jocelyn Hittle
Transforming Agriculture with Data and Artificial Intelligence
Shiang-Wan Chin, FFAR Fellow
Cornell University
Closing the Loop
Madeline Desjardins, FFAR Fellow
Washington State University
Importance of Bacteria in Identifying Bovine Respiratory Disease
Ruth Eunice Centeno Martinez
FFAR Fellow, Purdue University
Let’s Raise a Glass on National Milk Day to the Power of Agriculture Research
Krysta Harden
President and CEO U.S. Dairy Export Council
The Innovation Dilemma: Why Adoption Rates for Agricultural Technologies Lag Behind
Enrique Pena Martinez, FFAR Fellow
Raleigh, North Carolina
Building Team Chemistry: The Bigger Picture Behind Cows & Climate
Conor McCabe
Animal Biology Graduate Student, UC Davis
Insight on Livestock Methane Mitigation
Dr. Rod Mackie, Professor, Department of Animal Sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Champaign, IL
Finding a New Way to Control Weeds in Cotton.
Sarah Chu
FFAR Fellow, Texas A&M University
Indigenous Farmers are Leading a “New Green Revolution” Focused on Hemp
James DeDecker, Director, Michigan State University – Upper Peninsula Research and Extension Center Mary Donner, Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians – Ziibimijwang Farm Executive Director and Tribal Citizen
Filling the Hemp Research Gap
The Algae-rithm of Sustainable Agriculture: Can Algae Replace Harmful Pesticides and Fertilizers?
Protecting the Vidalia Onion
Irrigation’s Role in Ensuring Global Food Security
Luke Reynolds
Irrigation Association
A Biomass Carol: Bioenergy for The Future
Ekramul Ehite
FFAR Fellow, University of Tennessee-Knoxville
The “Good Soil Discount” — A Game Changer for U.S. Agriculture
Harley Cross
Land Core Co-founder & Director of Strategy
Illuminating Pest Management with the Help of the Washington State Wine Commission
Alexa McDaniel
FFAR Fellow, Washington State University
Global Agriculture Leaders See How Maryland Farmers Use Land-based Tools to Benefit Waterways
Ernie Shea
President, Solutions from the Land
FFAR Vet Student Fellow Research Spotlight
Anna Schaubeck
2021 FFAR Veterinary Student Research Fellow
News
The latest news and updates from FFAR.
See all News
FFAR Grant Unites Urban Agriculture Operations to Increase Food Security
FFAR-Funded Research to Prevent African Swine Fever Virus
FFAR Announces New Innovator in Food & Agriculture Research Awardees
FFAR Awards Savanna Institute a Grant to Inform Agroforestry Adoption
FFAR & The Organic Center Invest $632,000 into the Future of Organic Farming
Greener Cattle Initiative Opens Call for Enteric Methane Emission Research
FFAR Grant Addresses Emerging Pine Needle Diseases
FFAR Accepting Pre-Proposals for 2024 Seeding Solutions
FFAR Grant Provides Data on Nitrogen Management Practices in the Great Plains
FFAR & AAVMC Open Applications for 2024 FFAR Vet Fellows
Japanese Encephalitis Virus Research Protects U.S. Swine
Dr. Jeffrey Ross-Ibarra Awarded the 2024 NAS Prize in Food & Agriculture Sciences
FFAR Grant Reduces Nitrogen Inputs, Lower Greenhouse Gas Emissions
FFAR Seeks Nominations for 2024 New Innovator in Food & Agriculture Research Award
FFAR Grant Develops Mitigation Tactics for Cocoa Frosty Pod Rot
Grant Transforms Wastewater to Crop Fertilizer
FFAR Unveils New Research Strategy
FFAR & Open Philanthropy Announce Egg-Tech Prize Finalists
ICASA Grants Seek to Address Liver Abscess Formation in Cattle
Climate-Smart Agriculture: Key Findings from WFO and AgMission™ Producers’ Consultation
Breakthroughs
Tools, technologies and strategies from the research we fund.
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Building Collaborations for Technology-Driven Solutions in Agriculture
Breakthrough for Open Technology Ecosystem for Agricultural Management (OpenTEAM)
Building Food System Interventions to Support Urban & Rural Communities
Breakthrough for Integrating Community and Modeling Efforts to Evaluate Impacts and Tradeoffs of Food System Interventions
Unlocking Genetic Heat Tolerance in Cattle
Breakthrough for Precision Bred Adaptation of Elite Taurine Breeds of Beef & Dairy Cattle
Increased Fiber, Same Great Taste
Breakthrough for Increasing Dietary Fiber in Wheat Crop
Diagnosing Coffee Leaf Rust & Slowing Its Spread
Breakthrough for Protecting Coffee from Leaf Rust Disease
Connecting Growers & Markets
Breakthrough for FFAR Grant Develops Tools to Predict Consumer Demand, Reduce Food Waste
Accelerating Crop Development with Improved Haploid Fertility
Breakthrough for Accelerated Development of Crops of the Future
Documenting Adaptive Multi-Paddock Grazing’s Benefits
Breakthrough for Quantifying the Advantages of Multi-Paddock (AMP) Grazing Compared to Conventional Continuous Grazing in the U.S. Southeast & Northern Great Plains
RIPE Researchers Prove Bioengineering Better Photosynthesis Increases Yields in Food Crops for the First Time
Breakthrough for Realizing Increased Photosynthetic Efficiency (RIPE) Reinvestment
Launch of Eco-Harvest, a program rewarding producers for regenerative agriculture practices
Breakthrough for Ecosystem Services Market Research Consortium
Radiography could transform poultry breeding
Breakthrough for FFAR Awards $1.4 Million to Purdue University, University of California, Davis and University of Edinburgh Researchers to Improve Health and Productivity of Egg-Laying Hens
Research Pinpoints Why Dairy Cows Produce Less Milk in Warm Weather and Develops Nutrition-Based Solution
Breakthrough for FFAR Grant Helps Heat-Stressed Dairy Cows Weather Increasing Temperatures
The Irrigation Innovation Consortium & Parallel 41 Network: Building a path to data-driven management
Groundwater Fluctuations Impact Grain Yields
Breakthrough for FFAR Awards $2.4 Million to Eight Early-Career Research Faculty Members for Innovative Research Projects
Getting to the Root of the Problem: Fastidious Pathogens
Report on Interventions to Reduce Consumer Food Waste
Breakthrough for Understanding & Reducing Consumer Food Waste
Feed Additives Stop Viral Disease Spread, Researchers Find
Breakthrough for FFAR-Funded Research Finds Feed Additives Stop the Spread of Viral Diseases
Initial Successes in Ending Surgical Castration of Swine
Breakthrough for FFAR Awards $500,000 Grant to Improve Swine Health and Well-Being
Emergency Food for Children & Families During the Pandemic
Breakthrough for Integrating Community and Modeling Efforts to Evaluate Impacts and Tradeoffs of Food System Interventions
Breakthroughs to Advance Food & Agricultural Research by 2030
Breakthrough for Breakthroughs 2030 Report Identifies New Scientific Strategy to Transform U.S. Agriculture