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Soil Carbon Sequestration Is a Win-Win in Sequestering Carbon

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Soil Carbon Sequestration Is a Win-Win in Sequestering Carbon C ARBON S EQUE S TRATION IN A GRI C ULTURAL AND F ORE S T S OIL S gricultural land in the United States has the capacity to the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX) currently pay these Asequester about 650 million metric tons of carbon dioxide land managers between $2 and $3 per acre for adopting (CO2) every year, offsetting up to 11 % of U.S. greenhouse gas proven technologies (conservation tillage and grass and (GHG) emissions annually (Lal et al., 2003). Of this amount, tree planting) for sequestering CO2. In addition to providing cropland accounts for about 41%, grazing land 24% and forest farmers with another source of income, carbon sequestration lands 36%. Farmers, ranchers, and foresters, implementing increases soil organic carbon which improves productivity, best management practices (BMPs) such as cover crops, reduces soil erosion and nutrient runoff, and enhances water no-tillage, and nutrient management, play an important role quantity and quality. Soil carbon sequestration is a win-win in sequestering carbon. Voluntary carbon trading markets like solution for agriculture and the environment. How is Carbon Sequestered? What are the Economic and Environmental Benefits of Soil Carbon Sequestration? Plants cultivated to produce food, feed, fiber, and fuel, use CO2 from the atmosphere in photosynthesis to grow. Upon harvest, Carbon markets offer farmers financial incentives while providing decomposing plant residues (including roots) are, in addition binding contracts to businesses that wish to voluntarily offset their to being a source of nutrients for subsequent crops, a sink for CO2 emissions. The CCX pays land managers between $2 and $3 atmospheric carbon. Soil carbon sequestration occurs when per acre for sequestering CO2 using certified conservation tillage the carbon from decomposing residues is converted in the soil practices and/or grass and tree planting. Voluntary carbon markets to humus or soil organic carbon (SOC). Farmers, ranchers and show great promise as a vehicle to improve stewardship and foresters can employ carbon-sequestering BMPs, including cover mitigate climate change. crops, buffer strips, conservation tillage, no-tillage, selective Of the many mitigation options available to reduce greenhouse harvesting, and planting of grasses, to ensure sustainable yields gases, SOC sequestration is the most readily deployable, and protect land and water resources while, at the same time, environmentally beneficial and a low-cost means of reducing US offsetting GHG emissions. GHG emissions. Soil carbon sequestration provides a bridge to the How much Carbon Can be Sequestered in future, allowing the U.S. economy time and “breathing the Soil by Agriculture? room” as we transition to less-GHG intensive Cover Crops energy production technologies. In the U.S. each year, adoption of BMPs can lead to sequestration of 83-270 Increasing SOC improves soil quality, million metric tons of carbon (or Forest boosting agricultural productivity a mean of about 650 million No Tillage management while reducing atmospheric CO2 metric tons of CO2). From the concentrations. In addition, cropland portion totaling 72 because carbon stored in million metric tons of carbon agricultural soils can be (264 million metric tons of easily quantified using well- CO2), 50% can be due to Soil accepted scientific practices, conservation tillage and Carbon it can provide benefits to surface residue management, farmers through rental 25% to adoption of improved payments and to society cropping systems and other by avoiding the cost of BMPs, 6% to supplemental implementing expensive new irrigation and the remainder to technologies. More research is other practices. No-till farming, Rotations & needed to ensure that farmers Grassland/Rangeland Cropping Systems an especially promising method Management have access to improved carbon which leaves the soil intact and crop management technologies and residues in the field, sequesters an that markets adequately reward their average of 0.3 metric tons of carbon per Nutrients/Fertilization conservation efforts. acre per year. BEST MANAGEMENT B IO S PRACTICES Dr. Rattan Lal and he serves as the chair of Commission Professor of Soil Physics in the on Soils, Food Security, and Public Health of School of Natural Resources the International Union of Soil Sciences. Cropland Director of the Carbon Management and n Reduced tillage Sequestration Center Ohio Agricultural Research Brent L. Sohngen n and Development Center (CMSC) Rotations Professor of Agricultural, Environmental and n Ohio State University Cover crops Development Economics, Phone: 614-292-9069 n Ohio State University (OSU) Fertility management Email: [email protected] n Erosion control Phone: 614-297-5394 Email: [email protected] n Irrigation management Dr. Rattan Lal is the current President of the Soil Science Society of America (SSSA). Lal Dr. Brent Sohngen has been in the Grasslands served as a soil physicist from 1970 to 1987 Department of Agricultural, Environmental, n Grazing management at the IITA, Ibadan, Nigeria, conducting long- and Development Economics at the n Fire management term experiments on land use, watershed Ohio State University since 1996. His n Fertilization management, methods of deforestation, primary research interests lie in estimating erosion control, no-till farming, and agro- the economic benefits of improving Forest forestry. A world-renowned soil scientist, Lal environmental resources, and estimating n Selective harvesting received the prestigious World Congress the costs of carbon sequestration in n Tree planting of Soil Science Liebig Applied Soil Science forests and agricultural soils. He leads Award, an honor bestowed upon recipients n Diverse Species an extension program in environmental once every four years in conjunction with the and resource economics that provides World Congress of Soil Science conference. resources on benefit cost analysis to Ohio policy-makers. Sohngen teaches a graduate Dr. Charles Rice course on micro-economic theory, and an SOIL CARBON SEQUESTRATION Professor of Soil Microbiology, undergraduate course on environmental and Kansas State University (KSU) IS GREATEST WITH: Director, Consortium for Agricultural Soil resource economics. Mitigation of Greenhouse Gases (CASMGS) Northwestern USA Member National Academies US National Merle Holle n Conservation tillage Committee for Soil Science M & K Farms near Marysville, KS n Cropping systems without Phone: 785-532-7217 Email: [email protected] Mr. Merle Holle is a no-till grain and soybean fallow periods farmer in Kansas’s 1st Congressional district. Professor Charles W. Rice has conducted Mr. Holle has farmed the land on M & K Northeastern USA research on the role of soils in mitigating, n Farm since 1956, where it has been passed Conservation tillage with a focus on C and N emissions in through the hands of two generations. agricultural and grassland ecosystems. He now grows corn, soybean, wheat, and Central USA Rice’s research has been supported by n grain sorghum with his son on the land Conservation tillage more than $15 million in grants from the U.S. in Marysville, KS and has practiced no-till n Complex cropping rotations Department of Agriculture, National Science for 16 of his 60 years of farming. After the Foundation, Department of Energy, and first 5 years of no-till, Mr. Holle has never Southwestern USA other agencies. He currently serves on the looked back to conventional, citing the many n Rangeland restoration U.S. National Committee for Soil Science benefits of no-till. Mr. Holle participates n Less intensive grazing and the USDA Agricultural Air Quality Task in the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX) Force. Internationally, he served on the UN program for soil offsets through the Kansas Southeastern USA Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Coalition for Carbon Management. n Conservation tillage (IPCC) to author a report on Climate Change n Cover crops n Pasture management C ONTA C T I N F OR M ATION : FACTS ABOUT SOIL CARBON n World wide, C in the surface meter of soil comprises about fl of the C on land. Karl Glasener Tamara Wagester n Best Management Practices Director of Science Policy Executive Director American Society of Agronomy (BMPs) vary due to climatic The Council on Food, Agricultural and Resource Economics conditions and soil type. 900 2nd Street, NE, Suite 205 n nd Carbon is found in diamonds, Washington, DC 20002 900 2 Street, NE, Suite 205 pencil lead, gasoline, and soil! Washington, DC 20002 n In Western States, soil Email: [email protected] inorganic carbon is abundant in Phone: 202-408-5382 Email: [email protected] the parent material Phone: 202-408-8522.
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