soil carbon

While most people associate plowing with the initial stage of field activities, no-till agriculture proves that farmers can perfectly do without that. In fact, the concept of no-till farming is even older than the conventional one. Yet, the no-till motives to apply it were different millennia...

Recent reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) highlight how human activity is changing the climate in unprecedented and sometimes irreversible ways. The reports make it clear that action to tackle climate change is an urgent priority. Increasing the amount of Carbon...

One of the few positives from the current fertiliser crisis is that it will at least force all growers to reassess and optimise their nutrient strategies, which is the single biggest thing we as an industry can do to reduce our carbon footprint. Thoughts from Joe Stanley, Head of Training &...

A team of researchers from the University of Hull have been working with project partners Yorkshire Water and Future Food Solutions to understand how the application of cover crops may boost soil organic matter to deliver a range of benefits for the environment, the farmer, and wider society...

The Earth loses roughly 23 billion tons of fertile soil every year. At this rate, all fertile soil will be gone within 150 years, unless farmers convert to practices that restore and build soil organic matter, an essential component of soil fertility. Many industrial agricultural practices are...

To learn more visit: http://soilsolution.org A powerful solution to the climate crisis can be found right beneath our feet—in the soil. By harnessing the immense power of photosynthesis, we can convert atmospheric carbon, a problem, into soil carbon, a solution. Emerging science proves that...

Could a co-product from paper recycling help farmers to improve soil health whilst building carbon stocks? This was the question being explored by researchers at the University of East Anglia (UEA) and discussed at the 2020 Innovation Hub – and recent reseach suggest that it would. UEA is...

May 2019 was a turning point for climate change. The world reached a record of 415.3 parts per million of carbon dioxide (ppm CO2 ) in the atmosphere—the most in over 3 million years. The UK Parliament declared an environmental and climate emergency on May 1. Pope Francis followed this by...

By: Todd A. Ontl (Department of Natural Resource Ecology and Management, Iowa State University, Ames, IA) & Lisa A. Schulte (Department of Natural Resource Ecology and Management, Iowa State University, Ames, IA) © 2012 Nature Education Citation: Ontl, T. A. & Schulte, L. A. (2012) Soil...

Regenerative agriculture is a global farming revolution with rapid uptake and interest around the world. Five years ago hardly anyone had heard about it. It is in the news nearly everyday now. This agricultural revolution has been led by innovative farmers rather than scientists, researchers...

On 7 July 2021, the NFU co-hosted a webinar with other UK farming organisations which drew together leading scientists to discuss the carbon storage potential of UK non-peat soils. Why did we run this webinar? The unprecedented interest in the ability of agricultural soils to store carbon has...

Written by Richard Halleron from Agriland Converting farms from grassland to tillage would lead to regular crop failures, according to recent research. This research involved an analysis of one the UK’s largest livestock-rearing regions. The Rothamsted Research-led study focused on the...

Major carbon pools and fluxes of the global carbon balance - Carbon sequestration in dryland soils, WSRR 102 Atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide can be lowered either by reducing emissions or by taking carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and storing in terrestrial, oceanic, or...

Converting farms from livestock to arable would lead to regular crop failures, according to an analysis of one the UK’s largest beef and sheep rearing regions. The Rothamsted Research led study focused on the southwest of England in response to questions over what could happen to UK livestock...

We want to see a coordinated industry approach to improving soil health. One that underpins our productive farming systems, as well as delivering benefits such as carbon storage and resilience to climate change. Investing in the health of the nation’s soil is a key cornerstone to help the UK...

Hungarian Soil Scientist Endre Dobos digging a hole in Austria. Photo via GROW Observatory When it comes to carbon storage, a new peer reviewed publication shows the benefits of digging a little deeper. Researchers from University of California, Davis, found that compost is a key to storing...

Are we beginning to see carbon – the fundamental building block of all life – as a pollutant? Instead of demonising carbon as a cause of climate breakdown, we need to restore balance in the natural carbon cycle that has been disrupted by the use of artificial fertilisers. In advance of his...

To assist growers at the start of their carbon reduction journey ADAS has announced the return of the crop carbon benchmarking network YEN Zero for 2022/2023. YEN Zero, established in 2021, brings growers together to uncover how to continue to cultivate productive crops whilst lowering their...

There have been a lot of posts about quantification, certification and sale of Carbon and biodiversity natural capital on the forum over the last couple of years and the SFI has made us all aware of these previously hidden assets we all have on our farms both livestock and arable It’s all very...

Abstract The ‘4 per mille Soils for Food Security and Climate’ was launched at the COP21 with an aspiration to increase global soil organic matter stocks by 4 per 1000 (or 0.4 %) per year as a compensation for the global emissions of greenhouse gases by anthropogenic sources. This paper surveyed...