Key Takeaways
- Groundwork BioAg has issued its first verified carbon credits under Rootella Carbon, its mycorrhizal fungi-driven Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) programme — the first issuance under Verra's VM0042 standard in the United States.
- The issuance totals 19,568 net Verified Carbon Units (VCUs), independently verified by SCS Global under Verra's Verified Carbon Standard, with multiple purchase agreements already signed.
- Grower enrollment in the programme has grown from approximately 9,000 acres in 2023 to more than 700,000 acres of US and Canadian cropland today, with an immediate addressable market of 450 million acres of reduced-tillage farmland across the Americas.
- Participating farmers receive up to 70% of net proceeds from carbon credit sales under the programme's grower-centric model.
- Mycorrhizal Carbon sequesters an estimated 1.5–3.5 tCO₂e per acre annually — approximately five times higher than published benchmarks for regenerative practices such as cover cropping and no-till.
Groundwork BioAg Issues First Verified Carbon Credits Under Rootella Carbon Programme
Groundwork BioAg has issued 19,568 net Verified Carbon Units (VCUs) under Rootella Carbon, its soil carbon removal programme, marking the first issuance of mycorrhizal fungi-driven CDR credits under Verra's VM0042 standard in the United States. The issuance has been independently verified by SCS Global under Verra's Verified Carbon Standard, and the company has already signed multiple purchase agreements for the credits.
The milestone marks Groundwork BioAg's formal transition from pipeline development to active delivery in the voluntary carbon market, establishing it as the first company to bring Mycorrhizal Carbon to commercial scale under a third-party registry framework in the US.
How Groundwork BioAg Mycorrhizal Carbon Works and Why It Differs
Rootella Carbon is built on the role of mycorrhizal fungi as a primary pathway for permanent soil carbon sequestration. Mycorrhizae drive the formation of Mineral-Associated Organic Matter (MAOM) — a persistent carbon pool that remains stable for centuries to millennia, regardless of cultivation methods. Groundwork BioAg estimates that Mycorrhizal Carbon sequesters 1.5–3.5 tCO₂e per acre annually, roughly five times the published benchmarks for regenerative agricultural practices including cover cropping and no-till.
Unlike avoidance-based carbon credits, Rootella Carbon delivers 100% CDR credits, positioning it as a high-integrity, high-durability product in the voluntary carbon market.
“This first-of-its-kind issuance represents the holy grail of CDR: scalable, durable, verifiable. We fully intend to disrupt the global CDR market, which delivered a total of 2 MtCO₂e last year. In contrast, Rootella Carbon is set to deliver half that amount in the next two years alone,” said Alon Werber, CEO of Groundwork BioAg.
Scale, Grower Economics, and Market Opportunity
Grower enrollment has scaled from approximately 9,000 acres in 2023 to over 700,000 acres across the US Midwest and Canadian Prairies today. The immediate addressable market covers 450 million acres of reduced-tillage farmland across the Americas. Under the programme's grower-centric model, the pool of enrolled farmers receives up to 70% of net proceeds from carbon credit sales — structuring the programme as a revenue stream for producers rather than a compliance cost.
Verra CEO Mandy Rambharos said the issuance showed its VM0042 methodology working as intended, noting that agricultural land management represents carbon removal potential across US farmland that has barely been tapped.
“Rootella Carbon was launched under the premise that mycorrhizal fungi serve as nature's primary pathway for permanent soil carbon sequestration. Verra registration and issuance unlock millions of acres leading to a global climate impact,” said Dr. Yossi Kofman, co-founder and Chairman of the Board at Groundwork BioAg.
