Grazing Management Potential On Soil Carbon Storage Essay

1 The U.S. Bureau of Land Management has stepped in to provide restorative practices upon 500,000 acres of heavily degraded public grasslands. This land is suffering from severe soil erosion as well as degradation due to overgrazing. The suppression of natural fires has caused shrubs and invasive weeds to encroach upon the grasslands. A full scale assessment will take place on this land before restoration efforts begin. The first thing that would need to be assessed is the soil, for it is eroding and holding little nutrient value. Samples would be taken of this soil from various parts of the grasslands including the eroded gullies. Each soil sample would be taken from at least 1 foot below the surface, to test for carbon richness below the topsoil. These would then be tested for texture, density, water retention, and chemical composition. Typically, powerful, healthy soil will contain amounts of both Nitrogen and Phosphorous, which are essential nutrients in sustainable plant growth. These samples would also be tested for any build-up of salts, something known as soil salinization. Unhealthy, salinized soil is created over years of over-hydrating and deep plowing. Excess water will suffocate root systems of once-healthy crops, and salinized soils will reduce crop output up to 20% (Withgott &Brennan, 2011). The next assessment would be in the shrubs and invasive weed species on the land. Knowing the volume and location of these plants gives way to a better understanding of

This conservation plan has been put together to identify any soil, salinity, fertility, water, grazing and manure management issues that Cattleland Feed yards might have and to make recommendations on how to improve them. The goal is to make the land owner more informed and knowledgeable of the beneficial management practice and get them to commit to improving them. This will need to be done in a realistic and financially manageable way.

There are many ways to conserve soil. Windbreaks, cover crops and crop rotation are some methods to conserve soil. Windbreaks are tree lines that are planted around crop fields to provide shelter from the wind which in turn protects the topsoil from erosion. Cover crop is a crop that is planted just to occupy the land but they are not always harvested because the land is occupied by crop year round this reduces soil erosion. Crop rotation is a set of crops planted in order and repeated yearly. Examples of crop rotation are corn could be planted one year, wheat the following year and hay the third year. Crop rotation has various benefits such as the soil health is increased, the water absorption into the soil is increased and most importantly soil erosion is

Franklin D Roosevelt once said, “the history of every Nation is eventually written in the way in which it cares for its soil.” The United States began seeing sustainable management practices in farms, and healthier soil through this act. In 1982 through 2007, the United States soil erosion had declined by 43%” (Montanarella, 2015). Every year the United States loses about $400 billion dollars due to crop soil that is eroded. Soil is a limited resource and the largest resource for growing food, accommodating diverse ecosystems, and providing food resources. Therefore laws, acts, and provisions are necessary to protect this natural resource.

Soil erosion is proven to be the dominant sediment source within catchments, comprising up to 63% of the sediment flowing into rivers (McKergow, Prosser, Hughes, & Brodie, 2005, pp.200). It is estimated that by the end of the 20th century, agricultural purposes had caused the clearing of more than 50% of the natural vegetation in Queensland (Bowen & Bowen, 2002, pp. 407). In 1999, 90% of all land cleared in Australia was located within Queensland, an estimated 400,000 hectares (Bowen & Bowen, 2002, pp. 407). Cropping, particularly sugarcane, and beef grazing are the main sources of soil erosion, as well as cotton and minor urban development (Brodie et al., 2007). Use of nitrogen fertilization (De’ath & Fabricius, 2010) has also caused a flux of nutrients to make their way to the Great Barrier Reef, causing eutrophication in some areas (Brodie, Wolanski, Lewis, & Bainbridge, 2012, pp. 267). Degradation of land assigned for Pastoral purposes has been the main contemporary source of sediments, owing the impact they have to the sheer amount of cleared land that is designated to beef grazing (Neil, Orpin, Ridd, & Yu, 2002, pp. 733). Unlike agricultural practices which use highly fertilized soils, the exported nutrients from cattle grazing land are from natural, unfertilized soil that results from erosion inland (Brodie et al.,

Soil respiration is a process which results in the production of carbon dioxide and can be affected by several factors including plant litter and temperature (Biology 208 Lab Manual 2017). With increasing temperatures, the amount of carbon dioxide released during soil respiration will increase (Schlesinger and Andrews 1999). The presence of plant litter in the soil results in increased soil respiration, and results in increased rates of carbon dioxide production (Xiao et al. 2014). This experiment is looking at the effects of temperature and type of plant litter on the rate of soil respiration. For the abiotic factor, we hypothesize that increasing the temperature will positively affect soil respiration rate as it will increase the rate of metabolism of the microorganisms. Soil placed in 30°C chamber will produce more carbon dioxide than the soil placed in the 15°C chamber. For the biotic factor, decreasing the carbon:nitrogen ratio in plant litter will positively affect soil respiration rate by speeding up the rate of decomposition of the plant litter. Therefore, soil with grass will decompose faster and have higher carbon dioxide production than soil with pine needle litter. The interaction between temperature and type of plant litter indicates that soil with grass litter and in a 30°C chamber will have the highest carbon dioxide production.

In order to have a successful, profitable farm the paddocks have to be in ideal conditions, whereas Meadow Vale paddocks are in dire conditions. In order to maintain and support correct growth and supply abundant food for the cattle this issue must be addressed. A large contributing factor to this problem is the current soil quality of the paddocks. High quality pastures need essential minerals in order to obtain optimum quality pastures and metabolisable protein intake. Meadow vale soil tests have indicated that they are very deficient in Phosphorous and Sulfur, but this can very easily be fixed with a superphosphate fertilizer. In order to increase the Olsen P value of 10-12ppm to the target range 18-20pmm and the current sulfur 5-6ppm to the most favorable value of 15ppm, regular soil tests must be

Glomalin is a type of protein that works as a natural glue preventing soil from washing away. The producer of this protein is a type of fungi, which is torn by tillage during plowing. However, research shows that farming without tillage (silvopastoral systems for example) has the opposite effect because it leads to an increase of fungi and glomalin. The fungi carries minerals to the plants in exchange for carbon, which the plant takes from the atmosphere; therefore grazing areas such as rangelands and pasture lands can play an important part in restoring lost carbon soil (Niman, 28-30). Grass is also capable of producing soil carbon. According to the UK Soil Association, “Grass has high root densities, fine root hairs, and high mycorrhizal fungal levels, all of which increase soil aggregation. Animal manures and compost also promote soil carbon, again reinforcing how including animals in farming benefit carbon sequestration” (qtd. in Niman, 31). Niman concludes that while converting grassland to croplands does cause carbon losses, converting cropland into grass results in carbon gains (Niman, 32). In a study by the University of Maryland, field tests on 6 different continents consistently showed that the areas with grazing animals had a greater plant diversity than those without animals. These scientists argue that “the absence of animals rather

Thus, in conclusion, this essay has considered: the definition of soil, identifying the components of, and its contribution to soils unique properties, and the critical roles in which soils play to sustain life on Earth. Soil, therefore, coincides with life on our

This video and article by Rose Marcario, the Chief Executive of Patagonia Inc., explains the effect that changing our farming practices could potentially have on our environment and our ability to live sustainably; if we switch from fossil fuel intensive farming to organic and low-till practices that put carbon back in the ground, we can improve soil, grow more nutritious food, and reverse the effects of climate

The release of carbon, however, was released in four phases. First, there was a large release of carbon over the initial 10 years, then it slowed down the next seven years, after the seven years, the emissions resumed, until stopping again recently. The author ends the article hinting that some sort of feedback loop is happening that favors certain organisms that consume carbon in the soil.

farmers need to create more tillable space, one option has been for them to decrease the

“Methane has been identified as a significant contributor to global warming. It is second to carbon dioxide in contribution to global warming and is said to be 15-20% of all greenhouse gas emissions.” (Yusuf, Noor, Abba, A. Hassan, & Din., 2012, p. 1). The majority of the greenhouse gases emitted in the agricultural sector came from livestock (Yusuf et al., 2012, p. 2). Studies have shown that “cows produce more greenhouse gases than the entire

This paper will address the benefits of regenerative agriculture/farming or what some refer to as permaculture. How it is sustainable and how it benefits the ecosystems of the world. In addition, the author will discuss “improved grazing and cropping methods that grow and protect rather than deplete topsoil, in the process sequestering carbon, increasing water retention capacity… and creating wildlife habitat” (Hewitt, 2017). Regenerative agriculture is about guaranteeing a fair distribution of equity. A reasonable livelihood for farmers as well as farm workers. It is restoring vibrant rural communities and eliminating “policies that no longer incentivize the degradation of the land and the consolidation of wealth and political power” (Hewitt,

From Figure 3, increasing in-crop rainfall has resulted in a trend of small increases in soil nitrate-N kg/ha demand for Queensland and South Australian data. Against the trend is the Queensland >250mm value which showed a decline in value to 36 nitrate-N kg/ha from the previous 200-250mm demand for 44 nitrate-N kg/ha. In contrast, the South Australian wheat data has continued to use higher soil nitrate-N values, of 53 nitrate-N kg/ha at 350mm, without any decline at