Major Revision to VM0042 Methodology for Improved Agricultural Land Management

*Note: The greenlined version of the document “Draft VM0042, v3.0 Sections 9-10″ is available upon request.

VM0042, v2.2 quantifies the greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions and carbon dioxide removals through increased soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks resulting from the adoption of improved agricultural land management (ALM) practices.

The proposed revisions include the following:

1. New guidance for grouped projects to determine the baseline scenario
2. Introduction of a cumulative accounting approach for quantifying net reductions and removals that results in more accurate accounting of long-term carbon stock increases
3. Specific requirements for repeated measurements and model prediction error true-up when following a “measure and model” approach (Quantification Approach 1 [QA 1]) to quantify soil organic carbon (SOC) stock changes
4. Improved rigor and consistency of SOC modeling as part of QA1 to quantify SOC stock changes
5. Alignment of VM0042’s woody biomass quantification approach with the one used under VM0047 Methodology for Afforestation, Reforestation, and Revegetation, v1.1
6. Revised requirements for grazing projects implemented on pastures and rangelands that are consistent with those proposed in a major revision to VM0032 Methodology for the Adoption of Sustainable Grasslands through Adjustment of Fire and Grazing, v1.0, and with the proposed version 2.0 of VM0032, and that clarify each methodology’s applicability in terms of agricultural management, land use, and land cover
7. New guidance for setting baselines that can accommodate flexible crop rotations by averaging modeled baseline scenarios of multiple crop years (“blended baseline”)
8. Standardization enhancements for stratification, soil sampling procedures, sample processing, and laboratory analysis when determining changes in SOC stocks
9. General clarifications and improvements to equations

• Verra is leading the development process for this revision, with technical support from TerraCarbon (external). The proposed revision is currently at “Step 4: Public Stakeholder Consultation” of the VCS Methodology Development and Review Process (PDF), (MDRP).
• Verra hosted a webinar (YouTube) on June 18, 2024 at 12:00 pm ET, to present the proposed revision elements and invite early stakeholder feedback, informing the drafting of the revised methodology.
• On July 17, 2024, Verra published a Request for Proposal (PDF) to select independent expert reviewers to review the draft methodology as per Section 3.5 of the MDRP.
• On November 25, 2025, Verra published a Request for Proposal (PDF) to select an accredited validation/verification body (VVB) to review the draft methodology along with the other independent expert reviewers, as per Section 3.5 of the MDRP.