One of the largest agribusiness companies in the Baltics, AB Linas Agro, has become the exclusive representative of the HeavyFinance Carbon Farming Programme in Lithuania. Together, the companies aim to reduce the levels of CO₂e emissions within agriculture while improving soil fertility and farm profitability.
Linas Agro will have the unique opportunity to offer farmers the internationally recognised Carbon Farming Programme by climate technology company HeavyFinance. Covering over 700,000 hectares of arable land across Europe, the programme is based on Verra‘s methodology, the world’s leading certifier of carbon offsets. It provides tailored recommendations for no-till farming, crop rotation, and regenerative practices, supported by free soil sampling and data analysis.
According to AB Linas Agro’s CEO Jonas Bakšys, innovative solutions in the face of climate change are essential for creating long-term value for farmers. “We are excited to work with HeavyFinance aiming to enrol over 300,000 hectares of arable land in Lithuania within the next three years. This collaboration will drive the transition towards more sustainable farming practices and generate valuable carbon credits. ‘Geoface’, our digital agricultural management platform, will further support this initiative by allowing farmers to easily input their farm activities, automatically generating data that can be directly shared with HeavyFinance,” said Bakšys.
AB Akola Group, which owns Linas Agro, has already enrolled part of its cultivated fields in the HeavyFinance Carbon Farming Programme. The group plans to include more fields to improve the soil health of the farms and increase profitability.
“We always test new initiatives on our farms before implementing them on a wider scale. After successfully piloting this programme on one of our farms covering 2,147 hectares, we are now extending it to include lands managed by several agricultural companies, totalling 17,625 hectares,” said Mažvydas Šileika, CFO of AB Akola Group, which manages seven agricultural companies.
Tracking Carbon Emissions Certificates
Farms part of the Carbon Farming Programme will have their reduced and removed CO₂ emissions measured using the data collected by the HeavyFinance team and the results of the soil testing campaigns that measure the density of the carbon sequestered in the soil. After a thorough third-party audit of the practices implemented and the results, Verra will issue carbon credits that can then be sold at the Voluntary Carbon Market.
“Embracing regenerative farming is not just about preserving the land, it’s about investing in the future of our food systems, our communities, and our planet. By nurturing the soil, we are cultivating resilience, fostering biodiversity, and ensuring that agriculture remains a force for good in the world. This shift isn’t just necessary, it’s an opportunity to lead the industry towards a more sustainable, prosperous future. Aiming to remove 1 gigaton of CO₂e emissions by 2050, we see this partnership as an important step in increasing the sustainability of Lithuania’s agricultural sector,” commented Laimonas Noreika, CEO of HeavyFinance.
Each carbon emission certificate generated through these efforts is equivalent to one ton of CO₂e removed, with current market prices at around €35 per certificate. On average, farms participating in the programme remove 2 tons of CO₂e per hectare annually from the atmosphere, generating additional income from the sale of carbon emission certificates.
These carbon credits are then traded on the voluntary international market, where businesses purchase them to offset their unavoidable CO₂e emissions. Notable buyers include leading tech companies such as Microsoft, Google, Salesforce, airlines like Delta, and entertainment and media companies like Disney.
