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Fund for Rural America Project
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Project Overview
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Diagram of Carbon Cycle - click to enlarge |
The feasibility of developing C sequestration in U.S. agricultural soils as a commodity will be examined in this Fund for Rural America proposal and the results communicated to stakeholders at various levels within the U.S. economic and policy systems. With ever increasing atmospheric CO2 levels and heightened concerns about global warming, mandatory requirements for abatement of CO2 emissions and that of other greenhouse gases (GHG) will very likely become a reality in the near future. Net reductions in emissions through sequestration of C in agricultural soils worldwide has been identified as a significant mitigation option by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) (Cole et al. 1996). The IPCC also recognizes that cropping practices such as crop rotation, conservation tillage and improved nutrient management are technically quite effective in adapting to deleterious effects of soil C loss (Reilly et al. 1996). Based upon cross-sectoral economic analyses to evaluate reductions in the rate of atmospheric CO2 increase, combined with rough estimates of soil C storage potential, the opportunity for C sequestration by U.S. farmers could be worth several billion dollars per year over the next several decades. This, of course, must be balanced by the impacts on traditional agriculture. Many energy-producing companies are already examining ways to buy "carbon credits" in anticipation of emissions trading, C taxes and/or other policies to limit CO2 emissions (USIJI 1997). Could income generated by soil C sequestration aid farmers and rural communities during this time of transition when the risk of farm income is being shifted away from government programs and to the farmers themselves as a result of fundamental reforms in Federal farm programs? Some U.S. agricultural soils are already increasing C storage as a result of such conservation practices as those implemented in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) (Paustian et al., in press), with reduced tillage, increased intensity of crop rotations and the general trend of increasing crop productivity and the resultant increase of C inputs to soil (Cole et al. 1994, Paustian et al. 1997). Demonstration of the feasibility of C storage as an agricultural commodity would only accelerate this trend and enhance soil quality and environmental health as well.
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Agricultural Soils May be Carbon Sink
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Our proposed work will directly address critical needs identified by The Fund through development of new market opportunities in soil C sequestration that will enhance rural communities by increasing farm profitability while simultaneously promoting environmental stewardship of the soil resource. If demonstrated to be feasible, the soil C market will enhance international competitiveness (the U.S. has many excellent but C depleted soils that subsequently have a relatively high potential for C storage) while increasing the long-term productivity and simultaneously enhancing the natural resource base underlying agriculture. Soil C sequestration is a "win-win" situation that would maintain the balance between yield and environmental soundness. However, there are certain social, economic and cultural impediments that must be overcome for which added farm income would be required before adoption of new management could become widespread.
To address these critical issues of agricultural transition and climate change we will apply an interdisciplinary approach combining the expertise of already existing University and Federal research teams. We will integrate findings of the key disciplines of ecosystem science (Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory at Colorado State University), economics (Division of Natural Resources and Environment of the Economic Research Service of the USDA) and database management and extension (Natural Resource Conservation Service of the USDA). We see this approach as an innovative and natural collaboration that integrates knowledge from biological, physical and social sciences to simultaneously address system-based problems of commodity development, farm economy and environmental quality. The reason that a project of this magnitude can be accomplished within the limits of the resources provided by the Fund is our reliance on significant leveraging provided through prior Federal investments in research and development provided to the State and Federal institutions involved. These findings will be synthesized and adapted by forging new collaborative partnerships into the future to build sustainable solutions for U.S. agriculture.
For more information see:
Databases
USMP Overview
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CSU
This research is funded by
USDA
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