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Carbon SequestrationBreaking New GroundBuilding the Base

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Carbon Sequestration

Research shows soils can sequester carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Farmers and ranchers manage the land.

What do farmers need to know to adopt practices that sequester carbon?

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Why farmers should be concerned about global warming

Who will be affected most – soonest

Higher incidences of extreme weather events (over 2” of rain)

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Time is critical

Carbon evaporates when soil temperatures reach 79 degrees F.

As global temperatures increase, more carbon will evaporate.

Building carbon reserves now will pay off now and in the future.

40-50 year window if we know how.

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All About CarbonCarbon is an element of nature

The basis for life

Part of everything that lives and has lived

Carbon can be a gas or a solid -

in the earth or around the earth

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Carbon is dynamic, but also constant:

It constantly changes . . . gas to solid atmosphere to soil coal to diamonds valuable to problematic

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Carbon is critical to soil health because it influences:

Infiltration rate Holding capacity Nutrient exchange Oxygen exchange Promotes soil life

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Soil Life:

The difference between soil and dirt

Each 1% organic matter means up to 40lbs. of free nitrogen

There are more organisms in a tablespoon of healthy soil than people on the earth.

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Carbon is essential to life: Carbon is the food for

microorganisms. Without microorganisms there is no

soil life. Without soil life there is no nutrient

exchange. Without nutrient exchange there is no

food for us.

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The Value of Soil Carbon

Nutrient exchange depends on moisture

Oxygen exchange – carbon holds soil particles apart making soil softer

Soil life needs moisture and oxygen to live

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Carbon increases holding capacity

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Moisture cycles in Nebraska

Time (year)

1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000

Nor

mal

ized

rai

nfal

l

-2

0

2

4ObservationsMultidecadalBidecadal

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Teaching Points:

Growing plants capture carbon dioxide Carbon needs to be added continually Carbon leaves naturally Tillage speeds the loss Manure/compost adds carbon

(concentration of plants material)

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Carbon comes from roots

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-1000-50

3301000

3000

12000

-2000

0

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

12000

RowCroppingIndustrial

Monoculture

MoldboardPlowing

No TillCropping

ConventionalMonoculture

Winter CoverCrops

Compost HolisticManagement

Biochar

Potential Carbon Impact Practice

( kg C / ha /year)

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Unfortunately, many habitats are now too damaged to support the wildlif that once maintained them.

In su ch d am ag ed lan d scap es, sim p ly p ro tectin g o r rein tro d u cin g w ild sp ecies u su ally fails.

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Managed livestock can successfully restore these areas, then maintain them until wildlife populations recover.

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Early settlers plowing the prairie – To survive in a seemingly hostile environment

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People who farmed sustainably for over 40 centuries now lose 18 lbs of farmable soil for every 1 lb of food eaten

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Historical Carbon Levels

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The simple math behind Soil Carbon

One hectare = 10,000 sq. metres Soil 33.5 cm deep (1 foot approx) Bulk density = 1.4 tonnes per cubic metre Soil mass per hectare = about 4,700 tonnes 1% change in soil organic matter = 47 tonnes Which gives about 27 tonnes Soil Carbon This captured 100 tonnes of atmospheric CO2

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The True Scale of “The Job” Reduce annual emissions from combustion

to levels that are matched by biological sequestration

Relocate about 200 billion tons of carbon from the atmosphere to the soils of the world. I.e., increase soil organic matter levels about 2% to a foot of depth on 5.1 billion hectares of agricultural and grazing land.

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FACT FACT FACT FACT: “Carbon scrubbing” at source does

not reduce the existing CO2 burden in the atmosphere

FACT: Plantation tree farms can be net emitters in their early stages and take many years to reach their sequestration potential

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FACT FACT FACT

FACT: “Geosequestation” (burial beneath deep cap rock formations and in exhausted oil wells) does not reduce the existing CO2 burden and researchers say it could take 100 years to determine if it is effective

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FACT FACT FACT FACT: Solar Power cannot sequester CO2

FACT: Wind turbines cannot sequester CO2

FACT: Deep sea burial threatens the chemical balance of the oceans (especially shell formation)