Automobile giant Honda has partnered with agritech firm Indigo Ag through its Carbon by Indigo program, an initiative that supports farmers across the US in adopting regenerative practices aimed at improving soil health, capturing carbon and strengthening farm profitability. As part of its broader decarbonization strategy, Honda is purchasing soil carbon removal credits through the program, accounting for the removal of 1,800 metric tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
Carbon by Indigo produces agricultural soil carbon credits in the US, offering farmers a way to improve profitability while strengthening soil health and long-term resilience.
Participating farmers are supported in learning, adopting and expanding regenerative practices suited to their crops and regional conditions, including cover cropping, reduced tillage, diversified rotations and more efficient nitrogen use.
The Carbon by Indigo program builds prosperity from the ground up, with tangible benefits for local communities and their environment: cleaner air and water, more resilient soil and crop production, additional income for farmers and their families, and a legacy of stewardship across generations
These practices aim to enhance soil structure, reduce runoff and improve air quality. As farmers maintain these methods over time, they can capture carbon in the soil and generate verified soil carbon credits through the program.
Honda says it is working to lower the environmental impact of its products and operations across three main areas. The company’s decarbonization efforts focus on reducing CO2 emissions from vehicles, equipment and corporate activities. Its clean-energy work involves increasing the use of carbon-free power sources.
Honda is also pursuing resource circularity by expanding the use of recycled and biomass materials and finding ways to return end-of-life products back into the supply chain as reusable raw materials.
Honda Smart Carbon Initiatives
Honda’s decarbonization strategy combines product shifts, operational changes and targeted use of high-quality offsets for emissions that cannot be fully eliminated. The company is working toward a transition to carbon zero and low-emission products, beginning with hybrid electric models in the US as it moves toward battery electric and fuel cell vehicles.
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It is also pursuing nature based efforts, including planting more than 85,000 trees at its Ohio facilities to support carbon capture and biodiversity. Honda is developing home and vehicle energy-management technologies to help customers lower their environmental impact, while improving energy efficiency and increasing low-carbon power use across its manufacturing operations.
In parallel, the company is expanding hydrogen fuel cell technology for commercial vehicles, stationary power systems and construction machinery.
For over 40 years, Honda has supported farmers near our Ohio operations through conservation programs that protect farmland and help expand access to markets for their crops. Now, Honda is building on that history by supporting regenerative agriculture practices that help farmers manage climate challenges and maintain healthy farmland for future generations.
To reduce the environmental impact of its operations, Honda is also sourcing renewable energy to offset CO₂ emissions from its North American facilities. The company has entered long-term virtual power purchase agreements for wind and solar energy that now cover more than 80% of the electricity used across its North American operations.
Honda’s decarbonisation efforts also extend to its offices, warehouses and manufacturing sites, and the company is working with suppliers and independently owned dealerships to support their own emissions-reduction plans through the Honda Green Excellence Academy and the Honda Environmental Leadership Program.
Indigo Ag’s Path to Scaling Regenerative Practices in the US
Honda’s move to buy soil-carbon credits through Indigo Ag’s Carbon by Indigo illustrates how corporate climate goals can create market pull for regenerative farming in the United States.
By channeling predictable demand and financing into verified soil-carbon projects, buyers like Honda lower the upfront risk for farmers to trial practices such as cover cropping, reduced tillage and diversified rotations. That demand can help convert on-farm experimentation into repeatable management changes that build soil health and resilience while generating tradable credits.
Carbon by Indigo Ag sits at a pivotal point in how regenerative agriculture is being scaled in the US. Its model reflects a shift from viewing soil-health practices as isolated conservation steps to treating them as quantifiable environmental services. By tracking how practices influence soil carbon, water retention and surface emissions, the program can help translate ecosystem benefits into data that can be verified and monetized at a large scale.
At the same time, Indigo’s role as a data and verification intermediary is critical. Scaling regenerative practice across diverse regions depends on credible measurement, clear baselines, and transparent accounting for permanence and leakage.
Long term impact will depend on whether credit revenues meaningfully offset transition costs for farmers, the quality of verification protocols, and the ability of programs to deliver benefits such as improved yields, reduced input use and greater climate resilience rather than one time payments.
