Carbon Farming Initiative by Eco Citizen Australia
What is Carbon Farming
First, we must discuss why carbon farming exists the reason for which is to combat climate change, and the current effects of the carbon cycle onto the earth. Climate change is caused by the emission of greenhouse gases of which carbon is one of and due to the current practices in agriculture the amount produced and placed into the earth’s carbon cycle far exceeds that of which is sustainable which is why carbon farming exists in order to combat this issue. Carbon farming is used to combat the amount of carbon we put out when it outweighs the amount taken in by plants. Carbon farming allows the farmer to help fight against climate change by changing the practices they use to help halt and reverse the effects of climate change. Through the work of carbon farming, we can allow the excess of carbon in the atmosphere to be put back into the ground and help by reducing the amount we put out through agriculture which is at least 24 percent of global carbon emissions and 9 percent of U.S. carbon emissions.Carbon farming involves implementing practices that are known to improve the rate at which CO₂ is removed from the atmosphere and converted to plant material and soil organic matter.
“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.”
-“What Is Carbon Farming?” Green America, www.greenamerica.org/food-climate/what-carbon-farming.
Carbon farming allows the farmer to help fight against climate change by changing the practices they use to help halt and reverse the effects of climate change. Through the work of carbon farming, we can allow the excess of carbon in the atmosphere to be put back into the ground and help by reducing the amount we put out through agriculture which is at least 24 percent of global carbon emissions and 9 percent of U.S. carbon emissions.
Carbon Farming Techniques
An example of No-Till Farming
-
Tilling mixes soil with air, allowing carbon to oxidize back into the atmosphere. Instead, focus on perennial crops that don’t require tillage, or use a no-till seed drill for large-scale annual plantings.
Organic Mulch
- ORGANIC MULCH
Cover the soil around small-scale plantings with a wood chip or straw mulch to prevent carbon losses. On large plantings, leave crop residue in place as mulch. As it decomposes, the residue fuels the carbon cycle in the soil.
An example of Composting
- COMPOST–
Compost is rich in a stable (not easily oxidized) form of carbon. Carbon farmers recommend dusting it over the surface of the soil – you can spread it directly over the grass in your pasture – rather than tilling it in.”
-
Farmer with his livestock
-
Moving concentrated herds and flocks of animals through a series of small paddocks on a regular basis is preferable to letting the animals forage continuously over a single large area. Many carbon farmers move their animals every day and try to let each paddock “rest” as long as possible between grazings.”
Cover crop example
- COVER CROPS–Fast-growing species such as clover and vetch keep the soil covered and enriched with carbon through the winter and may also be planted together with cash crops during the growing season to compensate for carbon loss when those crops are harvested.”
All of which can be found on the source below
-Carbon Farming: Hope for a Hot Planet. (2018, October 10). Retrieved October 23, 2020, from https://modernfarmer.com/2016/03/carbon-farming/
Efforts towards Carbon Farming
In 2015 during the December climate change talks in Paris,25 countries had pledged to pursue carbon farming yet the concept of carbon farming had been advocated much longer by rancher for example Gabe Brown, who raises livestock and an array of crops on 5,000 acres outside Bismarck. He makes sure to avoid plowing to not directly harm the soil rather he lets loose his animals to trample the ground and eat the crops which he then uses a seed drill to plant the next crop among the decaying roots of the previous one. Gabe Brown says he has greatly increased his profitability since adopting carbon-farming practices more than 20 years ago. Demonstrating how carbon farming is not only beneficial for the planet but for the economic status of those directly involved. Brown practices and example has shown the world just how easy it can be to find solutions to issues and find ways to benefit ourselves in the process.
Why Carbon farming isn’t mainstream
Yet many do not do Carbon farming as many of those believe it is overhyped and not as effective as some state it is. They believe although many believe it is the easy way to help fight against climate change that simply isn’t true due to many of the factors that go into carbon farming that are overlooked:
“Before we can undertake large-scale revegetation we need enough land, enough seedlings, and enough labor to plant and manage these areas.
It cost more than $4 billion to establish one million hectares of new forest plantations under Managed Investment Schemes between 1995 to 2009. At its peak, the planting rate was 140,000 hectares per year.
At that rate, it would take 980 years to plant the 147 million hectares that CSIRO recently suggested was potentially available for carbon forestry.”
-Rod Keenan Professor of Forest and Ecosystem Science, et al. “Don’t Bet It All on the Carbon Farming.” The Conversation, 16 Sept. 2020, theconversation.com/dont-bet-it-all-on-the-carbon-farming-632.
As well as the issue of climate change is larger than just carbon dioxide and there is fear that the work of trying to rid the world of large amounts of carbon through this effort may result in an increase in other greenhouse gases. A change in land management to promote carbon accumulation can have perverse outcomes for example the use of nitrogen fertilizer can result in the emission of nitrous oxide which global warming potential is 300 times larger than Carbons. While many believe carbon farming can help the planet, they many among those who believe more research is needed before carrying out the process as different region contain a different climate and soil so research from one region can not easily inform another. In general, in many aspects of the work, more research is needed before being confident in the potential of carbon farming and the implications it may have for those directly affected. Maybe one day we can finally find a way to solve the climate crisis but until then we must work together to help not only the planet but all life on earth.
Blog Post by Jonathan Lopez
Sources:
Rod Keenan Professor of Forest and Ecosystem Science, Peter Grace Professor of Global Change, & Snow Barlow Foundation Professor of Horticulture and Viticulture. (2020, September 16). Don’t bet it all on the carbon farming. Retrieved October 22, 2020, from https://theconversation.com/dont-bet-it-all-on-the-carbon-farming-632
Carbon Farming. (n.d.). Retrieved October 22, 2020, from https://www.carboncycle.org/carbon-farming/
Klar, R. (2019, January 08). Often overlooked, sustainable farming can have ‘more effective’ impact on climate. Retrieved October 22, 2020, from https://www.yorkdispatch.com/story/news/2019/01/03/often-overlooked-sustainable-farming-can-have-more-effective-impact-climate/2203837002/
What is Carbon Farming? (n.d.). Retrieved October 23, 2020, from https://www.marincarbonproject.org/carbon-farming
Carbon Farming: Hope for a Hot Planet. (2018, October 10). Retrieved October 23, 2020, from https://modernfarmer.com/2016/03/carbon-farming/
“What Is Carbon Farming?” Green America, www.greenamerica.org/food-climate/what-carbon-farming.
What is Carbon Farming? (n.d.). Retrieved October 23, 2020, from https://www.greenamerica.org/food-climate/what-carbon-farming
Images: