Quantifying the Greenhouse Gas Benefits of AgriculturalConservation and Management

Marlen EveUSDA Office of the Chief Scientist

Soil and Water Conservation Society, Greensboro, NC, 27 July 2015

• Project partner: ICF International, Diana Pape and team.

• Lead Authors: Stephen Ogle (CSU); Wendy Powers (MSU); Coeli Hoover (FS)

• Numerous authors, experts, contributors and reviewers.

• Tool Building: Colorado State University; U.S. Forest Service; NRCS

Quantifying Greenhouse Fluxes in Agriculture and Forestry: Methods for Entity-Scale Inventory

Acknowledgements

Goal: To create a standard set of GHG quantification methods and tools for landowners, USDA, and other stakeholders.• Phase 1: Report outlining comprehensive science-based

methods for entity-scale GHG estimation.• Phase 2: Develop a user-friendly tool that follows the

methods report to provide land owners and managers with reliable and understandable estimates of GHG emissions and C sequestration.

Greenhouse Gas Quantification Methods and Tools for Managers of Integrated Production

Systems in the U.S.A.

4

REPORT LAYOUT AND CONTENT

• Executive Summary• Introduction• Considerations• Crop and Grazing Lands• Wetlands• Animal Systems• Forest lands• Land Use Change• Uncertainty Assessment

http://www.usda.gov/oce/climate_change/estimation.htm

The Methods Report is designed to be:• A scientifically vetted means for USDA to provide

local-scale, standardized and transparent estimation of GHG fluxes

• Consistent with the USDA and EPA national GHG inventories

• Aligned with NRCS’s COMET Farm and other USDA GHG tools.

• Coordinated with water quality or other tools to assess environmental services benefits

THE USDA GHG METHODS

5

Scientific Experts

Public Comment, Final Inter-Agency and USDA Review

May 2012

Feb – March 2013

Sept - Oct 2013

Final Report ReleaseJuly 2014

Science-Based Methods

USDA Tech. Rev.

CCPO

Oct 2011

Inter-Agency Tech. Rev.

May 2012

CHALLENGE: Vetting the methods. Establishing the rigor and transparency of the report.

29 scientific reviewers

38 expert authors

Federal agency experts

21 subject matter experts

1.Transparency2.Consistency 3.Comparability 4.Completeness 5.Accuracy 6.Cost effectiveness 7.Ease of use

BALANCING ACT Maximize accuracy … but maintain ease of use Complete … but cost effective Stand alone … but consistent and comparable Transparent … but with scientific rigor … and user-friendly

KEY CONSIDERATIONS

CHALLENGE: Capturing management of the whole operation

Animal Feeding

Operation Lago

ons

Pasture

Crop

TreesTr

ees

Wetland

Forest

Cropland Grazing Land Livestock

Managed WetlandsForestry Agroforestry

• Fertilizer management• Tillage management• Crop rotations• Cover cropping• Water or residue

mgmt in cultivated rice• Drainage• Irrigation• Biomass burning

• Fertilizer management• Grazing management• Species enhancement• Drainage• Irrigation• Prescribed burning

• Species mix• Biomass

management• Water management

• Animal housing• Feeds and additives• Feeding management• Manure collection and

storage• Composting• Land application of

manure

• Thinning and harvest• Fertilizer management• Species management• Irrigation• Biomass burning• Planting/re-establishing• Clearing and/or land

conversion

• Windbreaks• Alley cropping• Silvopasture• Riparian forest buffers• Forest farming• Species

selection/mgmt• Cropping system/mgmt

Other equations, emission factors, or new hybrid approaches.

USFS Tools like FVS, FOFEM, and iTree

ARS Tools like DairyGEM, the work of

Rotz and others

CHALLENGE: Bringing all the methods together into a seamless estimation tool.

COMET-FarmExample: Corn-Soybean Rotation in IowaTillage Reduction

1. Map Your Field:

2. Describe Historic Management:

3. Describe Current Management, Conservation Scenarios

COMET-FarmCorn-Soybean Rotation in Iowa, Cont’dTillage Reduction

4. Generate Reports:

COMET USDA GHG Tool

Output Reporting forGHG Decision Support, Quantification and Documentation

Ener

gy U

se

Crop

land

/ G

razi

ng L

and

Live

stoc

k

Entity-Scale GHG Methods Report

Rese

arch

and

Dat

a

REVISIT / REVISE / UPDATE

R&

D

VA

LID

AT

ION

VE

TT

ING

IMPLEMENTATION

IPCC Tier 1

Fore

stry

USDA Forest C Tool

• Extrapolating from sites to all areas of the U.S.

• Accounting for Climate / soils / management interactions

• Comprehensively accounting for all cropping systems and practices– Agroforestry– Specialty crops– Cover cropping– Fertilizer application– Soil Amendments

• Uncertainty Assessment 14

CHALLENGES:

Thank you!

Marlen Eve U.S. Department of AgricultureOffice of the Chief Scientistmarlen.eve@osec.usda.gov(202) 720-9131

www.usda.gov/climatesolutions

CONTACT INFORMATION