Oakville Bluegrass Cooperative and Recover Ag Launch Carbon Farming Program for California Vineyard and Orchard Managers
California Soil Restoration Project Will Deliver First Crop of High-Quality Carbon Removal Credits in 2027
Sacramento, Calif. March 13, 2026— The Oakville Bluegrass Cooperative (OBC) and Recover Ag today announced the launch of the California Soil Restoration Project (CSRP), a groundbreaking carbon farming program for vineyard and orchard managers. The program has enrolled its first cohort of growers, measured soil carbon levels in their fields, and is on track to issue its first carbon removal credits in the first quarter of 2027.
A New Source of Positive Cash Flow for Growers
The CSRP pays growers to maintain continuous living soil cover — keeping the row middles blanketed with living roots year-round while minimizing soil disturbance. Participating growers manage over 50,000 acres – spanning small family businesses to major brands, from Kern County in the south to Butte County in the north, and from the Sierra foothills to the coast. The program has enrolled an initial 10,000 acres.
Looking ahead, the CSRP plans to scale to a third of California's 3 million acres of vineyards and orchards over the next decade, and deliver over three hundred million dollars in revenue to carbon farmers during that period.
The program introduces a new option for growers: Oakville bluegrass, which is a hybrid perennial grass that overcomes barriers to use in California's grape and tree nut acreage. Unlike conventional cover crops, Oakville bluegrass goes dormant during the summer, so it does not compete for water or nutrients, and its low profile means it does not interfere with harvest operations. OBC provides USDA incentive funds that significantly reduce the cost of planting any perennial cover crop that meets the growers requirements. Once established, perennial cover has lower annual operating costs than either annual cover or the typical practice of regular mowing, spraying, and tilling.
A New Supply of Bankable, Durable Carbon Credits for Corporate Buyers
For corporations seeking credible carbon removal credits, the CSRP offers a compelling opportunity. The program's next-generation Measurement, Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MMRV) system — developed by Recover Ag — harnesses the latest advances in artificial intelligence and remote sensing to deliver field-level soil organic carbon stock change measurements of unprecedented accuracy. The current generation of measurement tools used to account for soil carbon credits have low levels of accuracy. To compensate for low accuracy, credit registries have required credit issuers to take a large “uncertainty deduction” from their measured credit totals. With the improved accuracy of the MMRV system used in the CSRP, the uncertainty deduction can be reduced by 90%, allowing buyers to enter multi-year contracts with confidence that the credits in their portfolio reliably reflect real-world outcomes.
“Our next generation measurement solution delivers the level of accuracy needed to make carbon removal credits ‘bankable’ for corporate buyers. Measurement is the biggest cost for soil carbon project developers. We reduce that cost dramatically.”
— Jeff Thiel, CEO, Recover Ag
Credit buyers can be confident in the durability of the CSRP’s removal tons. A vineyard or orchard is a 25+ year capital investment. A perennial cover crop planted in orchards and vineyards becomes part of the permanent system. Removing it is an expense and results in lost agronomic benefits. In contrast, annual cover cropping systems require a season-by-season decision that can be skipped due to weather, input costs, commodity price swings, equipment availability, farmer health, or a change in farm management.
Act Now to Start Earning Credit Income and Building Land Value
The CSRP gives California vineyard and orchard managers an accessible path to earn carbon credit revenue while improving the long-term health and productivity of their land. Participation is simple: growers identify their field boundaries and management practices through an easy-to-use web application. The CSRP team handles everything else — measuring soil carbon stocks, issuing credits, managing financial and regulatory compliance, contracting with buyers, and distributing payments.
Growers who enroll now will be positioned to receive carbon credit revenue in the next payment cycle. The program's benefits extend beyond revenue offering reduced input costs, improved soil health and water conservation, and community-based land stewardship through the cooperative model.
“Co-op members can grow a new ‘crop’ in the form of soil carbon and get paid for that crop, within our community of land stewards. At the same time, they improve soil health and conserve water, which directly improve agronomic outcomes and long-term farm productivity.”
— Michael Costello, Region Director, Oakville Bluegrass Cooperative
About the Organizations
Oakville Bluegrass Cooperative (OBC) is an agricultural cooperative whose mission is to make sustainable farming practices more profitable than conventional ones. Growers can contact Mike Costello for information on enrolling.
Recover Ag is a technology company harnessing the latest advances in AI and remote sensing to measure change in soil organic carbon stocks in croplands accurately and affordably at any location or scale. Carbon credit buyers can contact Jeff Thiel to learn about credit purchase opportunities and multi-year offtake agreements.