The extent to which the costs of a carbon farming project accrue directly to the farmer depends on the business model chosen for the project. For example, if the project is undertaken with an aggregator, the aggregator may absorb a number of costs in the initial stages.
These are all real costs, however, and must be borne by someone in the project chain. Even if the costs are initially borne by the aggregator, they may still be passed on to the farmer through reduced net earnings from the ACCUs generated.