GREAT FALLS - Just over 100 landowners will receive checks this week totaling $551,000 for enrolling land in a carbon credit program, the Montana Farmers Union said.

The program links landowners with no- or low-till or seeded land to industrial businesses seeking to offset their greenhouse gas emissions.

Jim Sargent, MFU membership director, said landowners are being paid to keep stored carbon in the ground undisturbed, or to seed plants that will pull carbon dioxide out of the air during photosynthesis. Carbon dioxide is widely blamed for global warming.

The National Farmers Union Carbon Credit Program pools carbon credits for sale on the Chicago Climate Exchange. Members of the exchange, such as corporations or cities, can buy carbon credits to help offset their emissions.

Dutton-area grain farmer Chad Doney said he received a check for $470 for enrolling about 800 acres in the program.

Sargent said the program is another way for landowners to make money.

"They are also a nongovernment program that brings new revenue into the state, which we like," he said.

Nationwide, producers have earned $8.5 million since the program started in 2006.

Farmers Union is completing a new enrollment period for no-till, seeded grass and rangeland acres. Contracts would run from 2008 through 2012.