The strategy of paying large incentives to farmers so they adopt climate-friendly farming methods won over large swaths of big ag, capturing a policy priority that has eluded past administrations. But they still need to prove it actually has an environmental impact and isn’t just a giveaway to Big Ag, as some climate activists fear.

Researchers also have cast doubt on the climate impact of one of the types of projects drawing the most funding — carbon sequestration, which can involve planting cover crops during the offseason to absorb more of the warming gases in the air.

But a recent study from the Stanford University’s Center on Food Security and the Environment found that cover crops — especially when implemented poorly — can reduce overall crop productivity. That reduction in crop growth could cause “spillover” emissions in other areas of the world, where farmers would have to ramp up their own agricultural production to fill the void.

David Lobell, the director of the Stanford center, said findings from early studies on soil carbon, which suggested that massive amounts of carbon could be sequestered by climate-smart agriculture, were overly optimistic.

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