Topsoil across the land areas of the planet holds substantially more carbon than the entire atmosphere, but over the past several hundred years we have released at least 50 percent of the carbon formerly held in agricultural lands. This is primarily because of tilling, which disturbs the deeper soils and kills the roots and fungi which reside there. Tilling is necessary for modern agricultural practices using fertilizer and insecticides, which can improve yields substantially until the soil has become substantially depleted of carbon. Then the land becomes gradually less productive.

It is estimated that regenerating depleted land can absorb two to five tons of CO2 per acre per year, for about ten years. Done at scale, regenerative agriculture could absorb tens of gigatons of CO2 per year. For perspective, current human emissions are approximately 37 gigatons per year. Improving soil health could offset a nontrivial fraction of current emissions or, in conjunction with other methods to reduce new emission, pull previously emitted carbon from the air.

Much farmland around the world now is stuck in a local maxima: allowing the soil to recover would eventually result in improved yields, but only after a few years of very poor harvests. Absorbing carbon, regrowing myconid fungi, and replentishing microorganisms takes a substantial amount of time, and requires that tilling and fertilization not be done ere it disrupt the regenerative process. Getting through this process can be financially ruinous.

A carbon credit market to reward sequestration can help solve this, by providing income during the years where soil health and carbon levels are improving but revenue from the land is diminished. However most proposals for such credits would not pay until the sequestration is verified, and verification involves lab testing. This is expensive enough to be done infrequently, such as annually or semi-annually. Verification and auditing mechanisms are needed which can provide monitoring data much more frequently, allowing smaller payments to be made at more frequent intervals and provide a lifeline while agricultural lands regenerate.