Exchange Market pays arable farmers to help de-risk practical changes that reduce emissions, for example reducing fertiliser. With 12-month contracts, flexibility over actions and no requirement to sell carbon, it’s designed to fit real-world arable systems.
For many arable farmers, the desire to reduce fertiliser is already there. Inputs remain a major cost, margins are tight, and there is growing interest in building soil health and resilience into the system.
While fertiliser prices have eased from their peak, volatility and margin pressure remain. Cutting fertiliser still carries risk. The challenge is not whether change is needed, but how to do it whilst balancing yield and income.
Paying farmers to act
Exchange Market is a funding mechanism developed by Soil Association Exchange, in partnership with nature finance experts Finance Earth, and designed with farmers and participating funders. It directs money from food businesses, banks, and landowners straight to farmers to help de-risk practical changes that reduce greenhouse gas emissions on arable crops. The companies that fund the scheme do not buy credits or carbon, and they can only report on emissions reductions associated with farms linked to their own sourcing footprint.
In many cases, farmers can access the largest funding amounts by reducing synthetic fertiliser use. That is why fertiliser reduction is often the starting point. But it is not the only option.
Exchange Market will pay farmers for any action on arable crops that can be evidenced to reduce emissions – including switching to a lower emissions fertiliser source, or reducing cultivations and associated fuel use. The focus is on what works for each farm, and Exchange Market’s independent advisors work with farmers to find the right plan for them.
Can I take part?
Exchange Market is available to farmers that have a reporting link to its funders through:
- Their supply chain (major arable traders)
Their lender (Lloyds Bank, Bank of Scotland, AMC)
- Their landowner (Church Commissioners for England)
Exchange Market can be stacked with SFI, and may be able to operate alongside other funding so long as it relates to different crops or areas of the farm.
Farmers need to have min 30ha arable land on which to undertake new actions – although for better payments it is recommended to involve around 100ha or more.
You ca find out if you could be eligible for Exchange Market using the quick, online Eligibility Checker www.bit.ly/exchangechecker or scan the QR code below.
Why fertiliser is the obvious place to start
Nitrogen fertiliser sits at the heart of cost, risk and emissions. Reducing rates can lower spend and improve efficiency, but it can also feel like a gamble, particularly in difficult seasons, or where the business relies on consistently meeting yield or grade requirements.
That is why it features heavily in Exchange Market agreements as payments can help to reduce risk. Importantly, changes can be incremental and targeted, rather than whole-farm, all-at-once decisions.
What sort of actions are funded?
Exchange Market can support a range of changes on arable crops, including:
- Reducing nitrogen application rates
- Improving nitrogen use efficiency through better planning, timing or placement
- Using legumes or organic inputs to replace part of the fertiliser requirement
- Rotational or management changes that reduce fertiliser demand
How payments work
Exchange Market is designed to be flexible, and it rewards farmers for the outcomes they achieve, whatever actions they choose to take. Payments are based on the emissions reductions that farmers achieve each year compared with their emissions impact when they joined. The payments are estimated, and 50% is paid upfront, based on a crop level carbon calculator baseline and a realistic assessment of what change looks like for that farm business. And end-of-year payment is calculated based on a second carbon calculation following actions undertaken.
Farmers receive:
- An advisory session to assess options and risks
- A baseline emissions assessment for eligible arable crops
- A payment offer linked to emissions reductions delivered through agreed actions
- 50% payment upfront
Payments are set at £60/tonne of CO2e reduced. In the first year of the pilot there is a £1 million pot and average payments for the first farms going through the programme are around £4500.
Short contracts, real flexibility
The programme has been designed to avoid long lock-ins.
Contracts run for 12 months, giving farmers the freedom to test changes without committing years ahead.
Exchange Market does not buy or sell carbon. Farmers are paid for outcomes delivered, not for giving up ownership of carbon or future environmental claims.
I was involved from the start in helping shape Exchange Market, and it was clear the team genuinely wanted to build something that worked for farmers, not just tick boxes. What’s come out of it is a practical, flexible scheme — without forcing us to sell our future carbon. It’s farmer-led, and that makes all the difference.
James Hay – Barton Place Farms
Why this matters?
Even with lower fertiliser prices, uncertainty is here to stay. For many arable businesses, the real question is how to manage change without undermining profitability.
Exchange Market enables farmers to share the risk of farm transition and emissions reduction with businesses in their supply chain.
For farmers already thinking about reducing fertiliser use, Exchange Market helps make that step more manageable — and pays them to take it.
Places are limited, so act fast to have a chance to take part. Visit https://bit.ly/exchangechecker to take the 5 minute eligibility test today or www.soilassociationexchange.com/exchangemarket for more information.
