Carbon and Its Importance for Management

Carbon, primarily in the form of CO2 (carbon dioxide), is a hot topic surrounding climate change because of its potential to harm the environment by acting as a potent greenhouse gas that traps heat in the atmosphere. The trapped heat can increase global temperature levels. Human activities such as burning fossil fuels can contribute to the rise in carbon throughout the atmosphere. The rising global temperatures can lead to melting glaciers, altered weather patterns, disruptions in agriculture yield potentials, and an increased risk of natural disasters. From plants, to animals, to equipment, agriculture plays a large role in carbon levels.

Many common farming practices such as operating equipment, tilling the soil, methane gas from livestock, and clearing forests can contribute to a surplus of CO2 being released into the atmosphere. In plants, carbon is absorbed from atmospheric CO2 through photosynthesis. Carbon dioxide is used to form the plant biomass which includes the creation of leaves, stems, roots, and other tissues. When the plants die and are harvested, their biomass returns to the soil and starts decomposing, eventually becoming organic matter. How can we still be efficient, profitable, and environment-friendly when it comes to farming? An answer to help is by using a concept known as carbon farming.

Carbon farming is the implementation of agricultural practices that can actively capture and store CO2 from the atmosphere in soil and plant matter. The goal of carbon farming is to create an overall net loss of CO2 emissions back into the atmosphere to help offset carbon emissions from other sectors. Key principles of carbon farming include:

• Minimize soil disturbance which can help minimize the release of stored soil carbon.
• Maximize plant growth as healthy growing plants capture atmospheric CO2 through photosynthesis.
• Utilize cover crops because they can help maintain living roots in the soil during off-seasons.
• Increase soil organic matter because enriching the soil with organic matter acts like a long-term carbon sink.

When a plant dies and is harvested, the remaining residue contains carbon. Conventional agriculture practices with intensive tillage releases the stored carbon from that ground back into the atmosphere, along with the fossil fuel burned by the tractor. Increasing the carbon amount in the soil helps to benefit the atmosphere and can also benefit the farmer. When the remaining residue decomposes, it adds organic matter to the soil. Limiting tillage helps protect the existing organic matter from being oxidized by exposure to air. Year after year, the reduction of soil disturbance helps achieve a net gain of organic matter. Increased organic matter helps to increase water-holding capacity, reduce nutrient leaching, improve soil structure, and reduce the need for synthetic fertilizers. For every percent of organic matter in the top six inches of soil, 10 to 20 lb/acre of nitrogen, 1 to 2 lb/acre of phosphorus, and 0.4 to 0.8 lb/acre of sulfur can be accounted for and applied toward planned fertility needs.¹ Adding cover crops to this equation adds an extra component to carbon farming. Cover crops help aid in building organic matter with the added residue. They also help improve soil structure with the added plant material to keep the soil intact.

Increasing human populations combined with the loss of farmland won’t make farming easier. However, with the implementation of some environmentally friendly practices, the atmosphere and farmland can be enhanced for following generations.

Channel Agronomist
Dylan Marx

Sources

¹Gasch, C. and Dejong-Hughes, J. 2019. Soil organic matter in cropping systems. University of Minnesota Extension. University of Minnesota. https://extension.umn.edu/soil-management-and-health/soil-organic-matter-cropping-systems

Carbon farming – agriculture’s answer to climate change. 2022. TraceX Technologies. https://tracextech.com/carbon-farming-agricultures-answer-to-climate-change/#:~:text=Cover%20Cropping:%20Planting%20cover%20crops%20between%20cash,and%20enhances%20organic%20matter%20accumulation%20over%20time.

What is carbon farming? 2022. Carbon Cycle Institute. https://www.carboncycle.org/what-is-carbon-farming/

Effects of residue management and no-till on soil quality. Soil Quality Agronomy. Technical Note No. 3. 1996. United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Natural Resources Conservation Service. https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/sites/default/files/2023-04/nrcs142p2_053270.pdf

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