News
CARBON YIELD HIRING NEW DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS
August 6, 2026
Location: Remote
Employment Type: Full-time
Salary: $100,000-$120,000 per year
About Us: Carbon Yield is a small, dynamic company at the forefront of regenerative agriculture and climate innovation. We manage a growing portfolio of projects, including McDonald’s USA’s largest investment in regenerative agriculture, consulting with the USDA Office of the Chief Economist, and providing technical advisory services to the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. We specialize in creating and implementing resilient agriculture programs, primarily supply chain partnerships that leverage public funding and payments for outcomes to help accelerate farmer adoption of regenerative practices. We aim to support farmers’ resilience to climate change and create more equitable and sustainable food systems. Our team is supportive and tight-knit, valuing new ideas, innovative approaches, and collaboration to achieve our goals.
Position Overview: We are seeking a Director of Operations to help steward our organization and lead the design and implementation of the Michigan Regenerative Dairy program (USDA NRCS/NACD AMP grant), Carbon Yield’s largest direct grant. This role will involve management of our team and organizational systems, including personnel and partner management, financial systems, and grant compliance and administration. This leadership role will report directly to Carbon Yield co-founders while maintaining day-to-day oversight and an external-facing presence for flagship projects. The ideal candidate will bring expertise in sustainable agriculture, a proactive and adaptable mindset, a detail-oriented approach, and a collaborative ethos.
Key Responsibilities:
Management systems (20%)
Coordinate with diverse partners including food corporations, non-profits, government agencies, and start-ups to ensure program success.
Manage a small team of interdisciplinary staff across multiple projects with founder support.
Drive momentum across the company and via external partners
Provide onboarding, performance management, and workforce planning across a small, partly field-based team for the Michigan Regenerative Dairy program (data analysts, conservation district technicians, contractors)
Contribute to the overall development and positioning of Carbon Yield as an institution, including collaboration on new project work and product development.
Program design & delivery — Michigan Regenerative Dairy (70%)
Lead the design and implementation of an $8.6 million federal grant program
Solicit input from corporate funders and partners to design a program that centers farmer needs and is responsive to funder requirements
Design and build an incentive program that offers financial assistance, technical assistance, impact modeling, monitoring and reporting, and supply chain resilience
Utilize project management best practices to support program and staff success, track details, and establish systems to keep the project on track.
Stand up and run the cost-share committee (including co-op, partner organization, and conservation district members) to equitably distribute financial assistance that aligns with regional expectations and motivates intended impacts.
Own the producer enrollment pipeline to sign conservation plans by coordinating partners and conservation district technicians.
Define and manage the technical assistance/verification workflow (conservation plans, CPA-52 or resilience agreements, site visits, evidence collection)
Establish the payment administration process with the grantor (format, cadence, evidence standards) for processing producer incentives.
Manage grant resource distribution including decisions around a potential no-cost extension or accelerated deployment under compressed grant timelines.
Coordinate with the Senior Data Analyst on platform requirements and with the CEO on offtaker-dependent design decisions.
Grant compliance & contracting (10%)
Own ongoing compliance with the NACD Subaward Agreement and 2 CFR 200 (allocability, procurement, budget-category change approvals)
Manage quarterly invoices and payment requests, itemized by budget category with allowability certification.
Maintain audit-ready records, own the QA/QC process.
Preferred Qualifications
Seeking a leader with 8+ years of experience
Experience in agriculture, carbon, or corporate sustainability
Track record hiring and managing teams, including field-based staff
Federal grants experience
Fully remote position, Midwest connections a bonus
High autonomy in a small, fast-moving organization
Motivation to drive change and accelerate transitions to regenerative agriculture
Light travel required, at minimum quarterly trips and assorted partner visits
What We Offer:
Competitive salary of $100,000-$120,000 per year
Remote work flexibility
Unlimited flexible time off with a yearly minimum of 3 weeks PTO
Summer 4-day weeks (Mondays off Memorial Day through Labor Day).
Paid family and medical leave
Health insurance coverage or stipend for existing coverage
Opportunities to work on impactful, cutting-edge projects in the agriculture and climate space
A collaborative and supportive remote team environment that values new ideas and innovative thinking
The chance to contribute to a mission-driven organization that supports farmers and builds more sustainable food systems
How to Apply:
Carbon Yield celebrates diversity and is committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. To apply, please submit your resume and a cover letter detailing your relevant experience to admin@carbon-yield.com. Applications are due by August 18.
FIRST SIX PROJECTS ANNOUNCED FROM THE GRASSLAND RESILIENCE AND CONSERVATION INITIATIVE
April 7, 2026
The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) announced $32.8 million in grants and six initial grantees under the new Grassland Resilience and Conservation Initiative.
Supported by funding from McDonald’s USA, the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), and several key McDonald’s USA beef and beverage suppliers, the newly formed Initiative will help beef ranchers conserve water, improve soil health, and support wildlife.
MCDONALD’S USA MAKES COMPANY’S LARGEST-EVER INVESTMENT IN REGENERATIVE AGRICULTURE THROUGH NATIONAL FISH AND WILDLIFE FOUNDATION PARTNERSHIP
September 15, 2025
Carbon Yield is thrilled to publicly share the details of what may be our most transformational project with McDonald’s USA, NFWF, and Kateri.
Over the next seven years, the Grassland Resilience and Conservation Initiative will facilitate environmental impact across up to 4 million acres of grazing lands. The more than $200 million investment from McDonald’s USA, NFWF, the Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, and key McDonald’s U.S. suppliers represents the Golden Arches’ most significant investment in regenerative agriculture in company history and will unlock an additional federal conservation funding across ranching communities in as many as 38 states.
This work bridges the divide between traditional conservation and market-based sustainability programs, enabling the restoration and protection of new lands while deploying novel monitoring and accounting solutions that quantify and claim the ecosystem outcomes generated by our ranch partners.
Carbon Yield leads and manages this partnership. We are excited to leverage our experience in emerging carbon programs to design a program that equitably serves ranchers and advances the state of modeling outcomes in grassland systems.
This work has connected us with the outstanding teams at NFWF and Kateri, who will enable the Grassland Resilience and Conservation Initiative to empower a network of conservation technical assistance organizations and provide them with Kateri’s rancher-focused technologies to help capture the restoration generated by this initiative. We look forward to accelerating this ambitious initiative and sharing our learnings as we work on this landscape scale. Special thanks to the core project team and McDonald’s USA supply chain partners Cargill, Golden State Foods, Lopez Foods, OSI, and The Coca-Cola Company.
CLIMATE TRACE INTERVIEWS BRUNO BASSO
July 8, 2025
Climate TRACE, a global non-profit coalition that tracks worldwide emissions, interviews Bruno Basso, a professor at Michigan State University’s Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences. Basso describes collaborating with Carbon Yield to publish emissions data for Climate TRACE. Carbon Yield serves as the agricultural sector lead, responsible for research collaborations that produce global emissions estimates across agricultural systems.
CO-FOUNDER SAM SCHILLER QUOTED IN BBC ARTICLE ON METHANE EMISSIONS
March 6, 2024
Carbon Yield co-founder and CEO Sam Schiller appears as an expert source in this BBC article exploring why agricultural methane emissions remain an overlooked climate priority despite being the largest human source of methane (nearly 40% of emissions). It examines the launch of MethaneSat, a new satellite designed primarily to monitor oil and gas methane leaks, and discusses why agricultural emissions are harder to track than industrial sources. "In most parts of the world, public datasets of livestock facilities are hard to come by," Sam says.
ENERGY TRANSITION SOLUTIONS PODCAST FEATURES CO-FOUNDER SAM SCHILLER
November 22, 2023
The Energy Transition Solutions podcast speaks with Carbon Yield co-founder and CEO Sam Schiller about how regenerative agriculture practices store carbon in the soil and impact food production.
OUR USDA PARTNERSHIP & REPORT TO CONGRESS
October 24, 2023
The USDA published its first comprehensive assessment of agricultural carbon markets under the Growing Climate Solutions Act. Carbon Yield supported the evaluation of barriers and opportunities for farmers to participate in emission-reducing practices and carbon markets featured in the report. Carbon Yield co-founder and CEO Sam Schiller emphasized the company's close collaboration with the USDA to ensure that "carbon incentives serve as a meaningful income driver for producers." At the same time, co-founder and COO Claire Pluard highlighted their mission to help farmers "access new revenue streams like carbon markets to restore their soil."
HOARD’S DAIRYMEN WEBINAR FEATURES CARBON YIELD CO-FOUNDER SAM SCHILLER
October 18, 2023
Hoard's Dairymen led a webinar entitled "How to Capture Profits in a Carbon Credit Market." They featured dairy producers executing sustainability programs as well as Carbon Yield co-founder and CEO Sam Schiller. The panel discussed what's on the horizon in sustainability practices for the dairy industry. They also covered emerging trends around feed additives to reduce enteric methane or the methane gas produced by ruminant animals such as cattle.
CLIMATE TRACE PRESENTS AT UN ENVIRONMENTAL PROGRAMME WEBINAR
October 26, 2022
Climate TRACE participated in a panel webinar as part of the UN Environmental Programme's Digital Discovery series, featuring expert insights on climate data and emissions tracking. The panel included Carbon Yield co-founder and CEO Sam Schiller, Nils Jenson (Senior Associate, RMI's Climate Intelligence Program), and Lekha Sridhar (Senior Policy Analyst at WattTime and Manager of International Partnerships for Climate TRACE). The discussion explored innovative approaches to monitoring and reducing global greenhouse gas emissions through advanced data analytics and satellite technology.
BLOG: IN ROTATION - REGENERATIVE GRAZING
October 5, 2022
Discover how animal integration transforms farming through rotational grazing practices. This article examines the implementation, environmental benefits, operational challenges, and economic opportunities of regenerative grazing systems, drawing on insights from Claire Pluard, co-founder and COO of Carbon Yield. It explores how strategic livestock management can improve soil health, enhance carbon sequestration, and generate new revenue streams for farmers transitioning to regenerative agricultural practices.
BLOG: BIOCHAR AND REGENERATIVE AGRICULTURE
August 24, 2022
Learn how biochar, a carbon-rich charcoal produced from agricultural waste and crop residues, can transform soil health and boost crop yields in regenerative farming systems. This comprehensive guide, written by Carbon Yield data scientist Viv Powell, explores biochar production methods, the benefits of soil carbon sequestration, improved water retention, enhanced nutrient cycling, and the role of biochar in sustainable agricultural practices. Learn how this ancient soil amendment technique can help farmers reduce waste, increase profitability, and contribute to climate change mitigation through long-term carbon storage.
BLOG: CARBON 101: UNDERSTANDING SOIL CARBON AND CARBON CREDITS FOR FARMERS
July 25, 2022
Learn the fundamentals of carbon's role in agriculture and how farmers can profit from soil carbon sequestration. This essential guide by Kate Harmon breaks down the carbon cycle, explains how carbon improves soil health and plant growth through enhanced soil aggregation, and explores the basics of carbon credit markets. Discover how regenerative farming practices can increase soil organic matter, boost crop yields, and generate new revenue streams through carbon credit sales, making sustainable agriculture both environmentally beneficial and financially rewarding.
BLOG: LEARN ABOUT COVER CROPS WITH MOLLY TAYLOR
June 24, 2022
Meet Molly Taylor, manager of PT Ranch in California, and learn about their transition to regenerative agriculture using cover crops since 2020. The ranch eliminated expensive chemicals and adopted practices such as planting diverse cover crops, no-till drilling, and composting, resulting in improved soil health, increased water retention, and greater hay tonnage compared to conventional farms.
The biggest challenge has been managing cash flow during the transition, which PT Ranch addressed through California's Healthy Soils Incentive Program grants and by working with Carbon Yield to monetize carbon credits through the Nori carbon market. Taylor emphasizes that Carbon Yield plays a "crucial role in bringing farmers and ranchers to the table" by relieving them of the administrative burden of navigating carbon credit protocols, helping address the financial uncertainty that prevents many farmers from adopting regenerative practices.
CARBON YIELD JOINS GENER8TOR’S NEW SUSTAINABILITY ACCELERATOR
February 22, 2022
gener8tor selected Carbon Yield for its first competitive spring 2022 sustainability accelerator program. The program focuses on startups driving systemic change to address climate and environmental challenges, prioritizing solutions that transform industries at the corporate, government, and community levels. This partnership will accelerate Carbon Yield's mission to help farmers transition to regenerative agriculture practices while accessing new revenue streams through carbon markets, advancing our vision for the role of sustainable agriculture in climate mitigation.
CARBON YIELD CO-FOUNDER CLAIRE PLUARD FEATURED ON CONSERVATION FINANCE ALLIANCE WEBINAR
February 23, 2021
Carbon Yield co-founder and COO Claire Pluard presented on the Conservation Finance Alliance webinar as part of CFA's incubator program. The presentation showcased Carbon Yield's innovative approach to marketing carbon stored in regenerative agricultural systems through place-based, natural carbon offsets that directly connect climate action to specific farm parcels managed by verified carbon farmers. This webinar highlighted how Carbon Yield's marketplace model creates transparent and traceable carbon credits while providing farmers with new revenue opportunities for implementing regenerative practices that sequester soil carbon and improve environmental outcomes.
CO-FOUNDER SAM SCHILLER FEATURED ON THE INVESTING IN REGENERATIVE AGRICULTURE AND FOOD PODCAST
December 15, 2020
Carbon Yield co-founder and CEO Sam Schiller examines how achieving $100 per tonne of CO2 equivalent could be the critical price point necessary to accelerate the widespread adoption of regenerative agriculture practices. In this episode of the Investing in Regenerative Agriculture podcast, Sam discusses the market mechanisms, policy frameworks, and investment strategies necessary to reach the carbon pricing threshold that would make regenerative farming economically viable for producers. The conversation explores how carbon markets can serve as a meaningful revenue stream for farmers transitioning to soil health practices, while delivering measurable climate benefits through enhanced carbon sequestration.
CARBON YIELD SPONSORS DELTA INSTITUTE’S BOOST 2020 COMPETITION FOR EMERGING ENTREPRENEURS IN SUSTAINABILITY
November 10, 2020
Carbon Yield proudly sponsored BOOST 2020, Delta Institute's annual competition showcasing early-stage entrepreneurs developing innovative sustainable solutions across the Midwest. The virtual event brought together hundreds of supporters to recognize emerging businesses driving environmental change in their communities.
This year's finalists included Chicago Environmental Educators, Dynamhex, Mycocycle, and Zumwalt Acres, each presenting cutting-edge approaches to sustainability challenges. Carbon Yield's sponsorship reflects our commitment to supporting the broader ecosystem of environmental entrepreneurs and innovative solutions that complement our mission of advancing regenerative agriculture through participation in the carbon market.
FAST COMPANY RECOGNIZES CARBON YIELD AS A WORLD CHANGING IDEA FINALIST
April 28, 2020
Fast Company recognized Carbon Yield as an innovative impact investing solution that helps decarbonize the economy while delivering financial returns. This honor highlights Carbon Yield's unique approach to channeling investment capital into regenerative agriculture projects that sequester carbon, improve soil health, and provide farmers with new revenue streams through carbon credit markets. The recognition underscores how Carbon Yield bridges the gap between environmental impact and financial performance, creating a scalable model for climate-positive investment in the agricultural sector.
CARBON YIELD CONDUCTS CARBON STUDY FEATURED IN SLM PARTNERS 2020 IMPACT REPORT
March 31, 2020
Carbon Yield partnered with SLM Partners to conduct a carbon impact study of a large U.S. farm transitioning to regenerative agriculture practices. The findings demonstrate the measurable carbon sequestration benefits and financial viability of regenerative farming transitions. SLM Partners is a pioneer in ecological farming and forestry investment, highlighting this partnership as an example of evidence-based impact investing that delivers both environmental and financial returns in its 2020 impact report.
CARBON YIELD WINS 2019 KELLOGG MORGAN STANLEY SUSTAINABLE INVESTING CHALLENGE
April 12, 2019
Carbon Yield won the prestigious 2019 Kellogg Morgan Stanley Sustainable Investing Challenge in Hong Kong. Carbon Yield's unique model enables farmers to transition to sustainable practices while generating both carbon sequestration and financial returns. The international award recognizes the company's innovative approach to financing regenerative agriculture through carbon markets, positioning the company as a leader in sustainable agriculture finance.