Associated Press

Farmers enrolled in a program that rewards them for storing greenhouse gasses have not gotten payments this year due to a depressed carbon credits market.

The National Farmers Union says carbon dioxide credits are fetching about 60 cents a metric ton, down from a high of about $7 a year ago.

National Farmers Union President Roger Johnson says a sluggish worldwide economy and the uncertainty of climate legislation has hurt carbon credit values.

Farmers, ranchers and landowners can participate in the program by using no-till farming practices or growing grasses and trees to limit the release of carbon dioxide.

The program pools carbon credits for sale on the Chicago Climate Exchange, a private agency that trades greenhouse gases and other pollutants just as other exchanges trade such commodities as crops and livestock.