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What is Carbon Farming?

: 23 June 2023; Hits: 1135; Rating:

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Carbon

Carbon farming explicitly recognizes that it is solar energy that drives farm ecosystem dynamics and that carbon is the carrier of that energy within the farm system. Carbon farming is synonymous with the term ”regenerative agriculture” when that term is explicitly rooted in an understanding of the underlying system dynamics and positive feedback processes that actually make a “regenerative” upward spiral of soil fertility and farm productivity possible, as depicted in the figure below.

Aldo Leopold defined soil fertility as the “ability of the soil to receive, store and release energy;” it is hard to conceive of a more succinct definition of “soil health.” Recognizing that carbon is the energy currency of living systems –as the medium through which solar energy enters and radiates throughout the food web and the farm system– carbon farming focuses on opportunities for increasing the capacity of the farm system to “receive, store and release” that energy; as work, as system processes, and as biological and structural diversity within the farm ecosystem, particularly recognizing the critical role of soil organic matter as both a sink for solar energy and as driver of both soil and overall agroecosystem dynamics. Carbon farming is successful when carbon gains resulting from enhanced land management and/or conservation practices exceed carbon losses. Learn more about the Carbon Cycle.

Carbon Farming Framework
The Carbon Cycle Institute has developed a model framework for land management that emphasizes carbon as the organizing principle. Land management within this framework leads to enhanced rates of carbon capture, increases the provision of important ecosystem services (including water), builds agricultural resilience and mitigates climate change. The framework relies on sound policies, technical assistance, public-private partnerships, quantification methodologies and innovative financing mechanisms that ultimately empower land managers to efficiently implement on-the-ground, effective solutions.

Simplifying the process for calculating soil carbon credits

CCI’s Carbon Farming framework is now widely supported by local, state, and federal natural resource agencies, and is providing a foundation for value-added direct marketing, sustainable supply-chain creation, and other corporate sustainability initiatives. Most importantly, carbon farming makes sense to farmers and ranchers, and has been an excellent vehicle for increasing on-farm climate and carbon cycle literacy. Learn more about Carbon Farm Planning and about building a Carbon Farming Network.

Carbon Farming Practices

Carbon farming practices are management practices that are known to sequester carbon and/or reduce GHG emissions. At least thirty-five of these practices are identified by the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) as conservation practices that improve soil health and sequester carbon while producing important co-benefits, including: increased soil water holding capacity, hydrological function, biodiversity, and resilience.

Agriculture and Climate Change

Agriculture and forestry practices account for at least 24 percent of global carbon emissions and 9 percent of U.S. carbon emissions (1). Under current land management practices, agriculture remains one of the leading contributors to global carbon emissions. However, it is the only economic sector with the potential to transform itself from a net carbon emitter to a net sink using practices broadly classified as “carbon farming”. These practices can help remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and store it for long periods of time in soil, microorganisms, and plant matter. Climate scientists estimate that 200 billion tons of carbon dioxide would need to be removed from the atmosphere to halt and begin to reverse the effects of climate change (2). The world’s agricultural soils can meet this challenge if change the way we grow food (3).

What is carbon farming?

Carbon farming is a broad set of agricultural practices across a variety of farm types that result in increased storage of atmospheric carbon in the soil. Many of these practices are common in organic farming, regenerative agriculture, permaculture, and other approaches to food production. When plants photosynthesize, they remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it. When they die, this carbon is either released back into the atmosphere or it is stored for long periods of time in the soil. Many conventional agriculture practices result in the release of carbon, while practices classified under carbon farming aim to do the opposite.

Some examples of practices that farmers (or even gardeners) can employ to help sequester carbon and improve soil health include:

Leftover biomass is returned to the soil as mulch after harvest instead of being removed or burned.
Conventional tillage practices are replaced by conservation tillage, no till, and/or mulch farming.
Cover crops are grown during the off-season instead of leaving croplands bare.
Continuous monocultures are replaced by high diversity crop rotations and integrated farming practices.
Intensive use of chemical fertilizers is replaced by integrated nutrient management and precision farming.
Intensive cropping is replaced by croplands integrated with trees and livestock.
Surface flood irrigation is replaced by drip, furrow, or sub-irrigation.
The indiscriminate use of pesticides is replaced by integrated pest management techniques.
Marginal and degraded soils are restored to their natural states instead of being used as cropland.

Many of these practices can be used in combination with one another or applied one at a time. Almost all cropland can be improved with these practices and more. We have the science and technology; the real barriers to changing our agricultural system are economic, social, and political barriers.

Benefits of carbon farming

In addition to offsetting emissions, carbon farming practices have the added benefits of restoring degraded soils, enhancing crop production, and reducing pollution by minimizing erosion and nutrient runoff, purifying surface and groundwater, and increasing microbial activity and soil biodiversity. It is important to recognize the value of these other benefits, so they don’t aren’t overlooked when implementing policies that encourage carbon sequestration in soil.

The added benefits of carbon farming mean that more food can be produced with less pollution while building soil and sequestering carbon dioxide. If accomplished at a large enough scale, carbon farming practices have the potential to begin to reverse the catastrophic effects of climate change. Promoting and growing the use of these practices is one of the best avenues for meeting carbon emissions reduction goals and mitigating climate change (3).