Low Carbon Technologies, Select Sires, and Triangle Digital Announce First USDA-Validated and Verified Environmental Credits
This press release highlights the partnership between Low Carbon Technologies (LCT), Select Sires, and Triangle, focusing on the first USDA-validated environmental credits.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PLAIN CITY, OH & NEW YORK, NY — Low Carbon Technologies (LCT), a Select Sires company helping agricultural producers earn a premium for low carbon production practices, and Triangle Digital, the financial infrastructure for the carbon economy, today announced the validation and verification of the first environmental credits issued under a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)-approved Process Verified Program (PVP). The milestone gives producers a science-based pathway to be paid for practice changes they are already making, and gives corporate buyers a credit whose provenance holds up under scrutiny.
As the only USDA-approved PVP service provider certifying
beef produced with reduced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, LCT utilizes a
proprietary, comprehensive life-cycle assessment (LCA) model to quantify
emission reductions. This rigorous verification process ensures that
participating cattle groups demonstrate at least a 10% reduction in GHG
emissions compared to the U.S. industry baseline, setting a new standard for
integrity in the voluntary carbon market.
"Our work with LCT and Select Sires represents a
significant leap forward in paying American producers for emissions reductions
they have already made," said Darren
Wolfberg, CEO of Triangle Digital. "USDA verification gives that work
a foundation nothing else in this market has. Triangle turns each verified
reduction into a regulated digital asset a corporation can hold, report, and
stand behind, then makes those credits continuously available through the
Carbon Pool as real demand occurs, so producers are paid on measured
performance and buyers get a credit their auditors will accept."
The initiative leverages Triangle’s Carbon
Infrastructure-as-a-Service platform for Regulated Digital Asset Minting and
Issuance, which aligns with Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market
(ICVCM) reporting standards and is CORSIA-eligible. By embedding
compliance-grade characteristics into USDA-verified assets and making them
available through Triangle’s Carbon Pool, the partnership enables banks,
corporations and asset managers to acquire, hold, trade or retire credits as
demand occurs, without requiring buyers to pre-purchase and warehouse large
blocks of carbon-credit inventory.
“Select Sires’ commitment to producer-owners has always
been about driving profitability through innovation,” said David C. Thorbahn,
President & CEO of Select Sires, Inc. “This program allows our producers to
be recognized and rewarded for their leadership in regenerative agriculture,
while simultaneously providing corporate buyers with a trusted, verifiable
solution to meet their sustainability goals.”
This milestone is a foundational step in the broader effort
to strengthen the U.S. voluntary environmental credit market. The partnership
is actively working with large enterprises for future offtake, and policymakers
to further codify these assets, ensuring that American agriculture remains at
the forefront of the global transition to a low-carbon economy.
About Low Carbon Technologies (LCT)
Low Carbon Technologies, a division of Select Sires, Inc.,
provides certified sustainability solutions for the livestock industry. Through
its USDA-approved Process Verified Program, LCT quantifies and independently
certifies GHG emission reductions so farmers and ranchers earn a premium for
low carbon production practices.
About Select Sires Inc.
Also located in Plain City, Ohio, Select Sires Inc. is
committed to enhancing the productivity and profitability of dairy and beef
producers. High-fertility genetics and genetic consultation are provided by
three farmer-owned and farmer-controlled cooperatives domestically, while World
Wide Sires, Ltd. delivers international service. As the industry leader, Select
Sires Inc. supplies farmers and ranchers with the world's best genetics,
services and programs..
About Triangle Digital
Triangle Digital is the financial infrastructure for the
carbon economy, providing the end-to-end infrastructure that transforms the
environmental performance of real-world assets into regulated, financially
tradeable digital assets. With carbon as its flagship market, Triangle’s Carbon
Infrastructure-as-a-Service connects measurement, verification, asset creation,
transaction and retirement into a single infrastructure layer. Its Carbon Pool
provides continuous access to verified carbon credits for just-in-time
acquisition and retirement, eliminating the need for customers to pre-purchase
and warehouse carbon-credit inventory before demand occurs. Triangle is
BMA-licensed, works with Mastercard, Temenos, BDO, Accenture and Cisco, and was
recognized by Environmental Finance as Innovation of the Year and at COP30 by
the Brazil Central Bank.
Media Contact:
Low Carbon Technologies: Michael Johnson, mjohnson@selectsires.com,
Triangle Digital: Darren Wolfberg, darren@triangle.digital,
(917) 574-0673
Questions people ask
What makes these credits different from typical carbon credits?
They are validated and verified under a USDA-approved Process Verified Program, which LCT states is the only such program for beef produced with reduced greenhouse gas emissions. LCT uses a proprietary life-cycle assessment model requiring at least a 10% emissions reduction versus the U.S. industry baseline. Triangle Digital then mints each verified reduction into a regulated digital asset rather than an unregulated credit.
Who is behind this partnership?
Low Carbon Technologies (LCT), a division of Select Sires Inc., runs the USDA-approved Process Verified Program that certifies emission reductions in beef production. Triangle Digital supplies the financial infrastructure, called Carbon Infrastructure as a Service, that turns those verified reductions into regulated digital assets. Select Sires, headquartered in Plain City, Ohio, is a farmer-owned genetics cooperative that owns LCT.
How much of an emissions reduction is required to qualify?
Participating cattle groups must demonstrate at least a 10% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions compared to the U.S. industry baseline. LCT measures this using a proprietary, comprehensive life-cycle assessment model built specifically for its USDA-approved Process Verified Program. This threshold is described as setting a new standard for integrity in the voluntary carbon market.
How do producers benefit from this program?
Producers are paid for practice changes they have already made to reduce emissions, rather than having to adopt new, unproven methods to qualify. The USDA verification and Triangle's digital asset structure are meant to give corporate buyers confidence in the credit's provenance, which the companies say translates into a premium for producers. Select Sires frames this as rewarding producer-owners for leadership in regenerative agriculture.
What can a company do with one of these digital carbon assets?
Because the assets are built to be compliance-grade and align with Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market reporting standards, and are CORSIA-eligible, banks, corporations, and asset managers can custody, lend against, and integrate them into portfolios. Triangle Digital describes the platform as letting buyers hold, resell, or retire each serialized credit on demand, with auditors able to accept the underlying USDA verification.
Is this the end of the partnership's work, or is more planned?
The companies describe this as a foundational step rather than a finished effort. They say they are actively working with large enterprises on future offtake agreements and with policymakers to further codify these assets, with the stated aim of keeping American agriculture at the forefront of the low-carbon transition.