This component of the VA RLEP consists of a field based sampling and research effort to document the efficacy of Management intensive Grazing (MiG) techniques to enhance the soil's inherent capacity to serve as a sink for carbon (four data collection sites were developed in VA). To the extent that MiG and associated conservation practices increase the storage of carbon in the soil, ambient carbon dioxide will be reduced. Because the environmental impact of any single operation would be small, widespread adoption of MiG technology will be required to significantly impact existing greenhouse gas levels. The field sampling of this component has been combined with existing data sets to estimate the potential for GHG reductions at the county and state levels. This information is also available for inclusion in national scale modeling of GHG reduction impacts from improved grazing and livestock management.
Specifically, we know that properly managed rotationally grazed farms increase carbon storage in soils when forage vigor and production increases. This is because more carbon is input to the soil in the form of aboveground biomass, manure, and root material. If land use conversion can be achieved to improve pasture management, then carbon sequestration is likely to occur. Additionally, conversion from cultivation, such as land currently used by dairymen to produce corn silage, could be converted to pasture and rotational grazing systems sequestering even more carbon in soils. These management and landuse conversion improvements in the soil carbon pool have been demonstrated to sequester up to 0.5 Mg C ha-1 yr-1 (0.22 tons C ac-1yr-1).
