Green

Farms Can Help Store Carbon

By Seattle Business Magazine April 14, 2010

The right combination of agricultural practices and government policies could transform the nation’s farmlands into giant storehouses of carbon, thereby helping to fight global warming, according to Washington State University researchers. Seattle Business recently reported on the trend here.

We need to reduce disturbance of the soil, produce more biomass and make sure that biomass and plant residue make it into the soil, says Chad Kruger, interim director for WSUs Center for Sustaining Agriculture and Natural Resource.

Kruger said low-till or no-till production minimizes carbon oxidation and erosion — especially important in the dryland farming areas of the Palouse and elsewhere in the state.

It is also important to avoid field burning and tilling, which oxidizes carbon and reduces carbon available to store in the soil.

Cover cropping, which entails growing a sacrifice crop that will be mowed or tilled in, can also increase the carbon content in soil. Another option might be to add organic substances to the soil such as compost, paper, municipal solid waste and biochar.

Such practices could be encouraged by the government through a system of offering carbon credits in exchange for changing farming practices.

Kruger is a featured speaker at the Understanding Carbon Markets workshop being held at Malo, Wash., on April 24. That workshop is being sponsored by WSU Ferry County Extension, Ferry County Commissioners and the Malo Grange.

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