Microsoft has signed a carbon removal deal with a soil enrichment-focused agriculture company.

Indigo Ag today announced that Microsoft has agreed to purchase 40,000 agricultural soil-based carbon credits from the company’s third carbon crop, issued in February.

Brian Marrs, senior director of energy and carbon removal at Microsoft said: “Soil organic carbon restoration is vital to the future of food systems, economies, and climate change mitigation. We are pleased to collaborate with Indigo Ag to advance both the adoption of regenerative agriculture practices and the soil organic carbon scientific evidence base.”

Established in 2013 and operating in 14 countries around the world, Indigo is helping farmers remove carbon from the atmosphere and storing it in their soils by adopting sustainable practices such as adding cover crops, increasing cover crop diversity or growth period, reducing tillage, improving nitrogen timing, or diversifying your rotation. The company pays the farmers for these sustainable practices, which improves soil quality and generates carbon credits that can be issued to companies.

Indigo said this deal represents the largest number of credits ever delivered by Indigo Ag to an individual buyer. These credits are verified and issued in accordance with the requirements of the Soil Enrichment Protocol of the Climate Action Reserve.

Dean Banks, CEO at Indigo Ag, said: “Today’s announcement is a major milestone for Indigo’s Carbon program and our increasing range of ag-based sustainability solutions. Microsoft is a leader in corporate climate action, a highly influential player in carbon removals, and shares our commitment to support the transition to a more resilient and sustainable agriculture system.”

To date, Indigo has almost 7 million acres of farmland and 2,850 farms enrolled in its program. It has issued 296,000 carbon credits – with farmers being paid a minimum of $20 per credit.

Microsoft is aiming to be carbon-negative by 2030, and supports a range of projects in pursuit of this goal. It is signing renewable energy contracts en masse to power its operations, and investing in carbon capture and removal projects as it seeks to remove its historical emissions. However, one company it backed to remove carbon this week closed down.