Carbon farming facts for kids

Measuring soil respiration on agricultural land. Carbon farming enhances carbon sequestration in the soil.

Carbon farming is a special way of farming. It helps store carbon in the soil and plants. This process is called carbon sequestration. The main goal is to take carbon out of the air. It makes soil healthier and helps plants grow better. It also helps soil hold more water. This means farmers might use less fertilizer. Sustainable forest management is also part of carbon farming. It's a key part of climate-smart agriculture. It helps remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Farmers use different methods for carbon farming. These include changing how they plow and how animals graze. They also use mulch or compost. Some methods involve biochar and terra preta. Changing crop types helps too. In forests, reforestation and bamboo farming are used. By 2016, carbon farming methods were used on hundreds of millions of hectares of farmland worldwide.

Carbon farming can sometimes cost more than regular farming. But some countries offer help to farmers. They give money to encourage these methods. While carbon farming helps reduce carbon, we must also think about how land is used. For example, turning forests into farms can have other effects.

Why Carbon Farming Matters

The main goal of carbon farming is to store carbon. It stores carbon in the soil, plant roots, wood, and leaves. This is one way to do carbon sequestration. By changing how we farm, soil can become a great carbon sink. This helps reduce carbon dioxide in the air.

These farming methods have many good effects. They improve soil, air, and water quality. They also help wildlife and increase food production. On poor croplands, adding just one ton of carbon to the soil can boost crop yields. For example, it can increase wheat by 20 to 40 kilograms per hectare.

How Soil Stores Carbon

Natural areas usually have more soil organic carbon (SOC). When land changes from forests or grasslands to farms, SOC often drops. This loss happens because plants that contain carbon are harvested. Losing carbon can make soil less suitable for farming.

To fix this, farmers can add more carbon back. They can leave plant remains on the field. They can also use manure or plant perennial crops. Perennial crops have bigger roots underground. These roots add more carbon to the soil. Soils around the world hold a huge amount of organic carbon. It's about ten times more than what's in the atmosphere.

Carbon gets into the soil in a few ways. Dead plants and animals mix with the soil. Small roots die and break down underground. Living plants also release carbon as they grow. Soil can contain up to 5% carbon by weight. This includes decaying matter and biochar.

How Much Carbon Can Be Stored?

Carbon farming can help a lot. It could offset up to 20% of the carbon dioxide released in 2010 each year. By 2016, these methods were used on hundreds of millions of hectares globally. That's a huge area of farmland.

However, storing carbon in soil is not always permanent. If the soil is disturbed, it can release greenhouse gases again. This happens with intense plowing. Also, soil can only hold so much carbon. After many years, it might become full. This means there's a limit to how much carbon soil can store globally.

Smart Farming Methods for Carbon

All crops take in carbon dioxide as they grow. They release some after harvest. The goal of carbon farming is to use this cycle. It aims to store carbon permanently in the soil. Farmers choose methods that return plant material to the soil. This helps carbon stay in a stable form. Here are some ways:

Plant cover crops like grasses. These grow between main planting seasons. They protect the soil.
Move livestock often to small areas. They graze lightly and evenly. This helps roots grow deeper. Their hooves also mix old grass and manure into the soil.
Cover bare fields with hay or dead plants. This protects the soil from the sun. It helps the soil hold more water. It also attracts helpful microbes that capture carbon.
Restore damaged or unused land. This slows carbon release. It also makes the land useful again. Poor land has a high potential to store carbon.

Managing Animals for Healthier Land

Cattle grazing

Animals like cows and sheep produce carbon dioxide. They also produce methane. This is due to microbes in their stomachs. But managing them well can help. Farmers can move their herds to different paddocks regularly. This lets the land rest and recover. This method creates strong grasslands.

This type of grazing helps replace short-lived grasses with perennial crops. Perennials have deeper roots. They recover better after grazing. If animals stay in one large area too long, it can harm the grassland.

Another method is Silvopasture. This is when animals graze under trees. The trees are spaced out. This allows enough sunlight for the grass. For example, a farm in Mexico planted native trees. It became a successful organic dairy.

Some experts debate how much this approach truly helps. Some studies suggest that removing animals from dry grasslands can help plants and soil carbon recover.

Reducing Plowing for Soil Health

Carbon farming tries to disturb the soil as little as possible. Farmers avoid plowing or digging up the soil. They use special machines like seed drills. This helps increase carbon in the topsoil. It allows the soil to regenerate.

Plowing breaks up soil clumps. This lets tiny living things in the soil eat organic matter. This releases nutrients at first. But over time, it harms the soil's structure. This makes it harder for soil to hold water. It also makes it more likely to erode. This can reduce how much food grows.

Using Mulch and Compost

Mulching means covering the soil around plants. Farmers use wood chips or straw. They can also leave crop leftovers on the field. These break down and add to the soil.

Compost is decayed organic material. It stores carbon in a stable form. Farmers spread it on the soil surface. They do not plow it in. A study in 2013 found that adding compost once greatly increased carbon in grasslands. It boosted it by 25–70%. This likely happened because compost helped the soil hold more water. It also acted like a fertilizer. Both helped plants grow more. The study also found no big increase in methane or nitrous oxide.

Biochar: A Special Soil Helper

Biochar is like charcoal. It's made by burning plant material with very little air. Mixing biochar into soil stores about half of the carbon from the plants. This can help offset carbon emissions. For example, if farmers use "slash-and-char" instead of "slash-and-burn," it helps.

Waste from farming and forests can also be turned into biochar. This can store a lot of carbon each year. Biochar made from biofuel production also helps. The carbon stored in soil with biochar is easy to measure.

Choosing the Right Plants

Cover crops grow quickly. They protect soil from wind and water erosion. They are planted when main crops are not growing. These crops can be mixed into the soil. This adds organic matter. Some cover crops, like legumes, also add nitrogen. It's important to increase nitrogen when adding carbon. This keeps the soil healthy.

Perennial crops are plants that live for more than two years. They can store carbon well. Especially when grown in systems with many layers. For example, some systems use perennial plants that grow on trees. These are like natural versions of corn and beans.

Carbon Farming in Forests

Forests and farms together cause about a third of the world's greenhouse gas emissions. So, planting more trees is very important.

Bringing Back Forests

Reforestation means planting trees where forests once grew. These areas were cut down. Afforestation means planting trees in areas that were not historically forests. Not all forests store the same amount of carbon. How much carbon a forest stores depends on many things. These include its age, type, and how many different plants and animals live there. It also depends on how it's managed and the climate.

Having many different kinds of plants and animals (biodiversity) is a bonus. In forests, more biodiversity can actually help store carbon faster. So, it's a tool for carbon farming, not just a side benefit.

Bamboo: A Fast-Growing Carbon Store

A bamboo forest might store less total carbon than an old, mature forest. But it can store similar amounts to rubber farms or fruit orchards. It can store more than agroforests or grasslands. Bamboo plantations can store carbon faster than mature forests. This is especially true for new or actively managed plantations.

Bamboo is great if its harvested material is made into long-lasting products. This keeps the carbon stored for a long time. Bamboo also grows fast and regrows well after harvest. More than half of the carbon from bamboo is stored in the soil. It's stored in its roots and underground stems (rhizomes). This carbon stays in the soil even after the plant above ground is harvested.

Bamboo can grow on land that isn't good for other crops. This helps store carbon. It also improves the land for future use. It can reduce the need to cut down other forests. Farmers who grow bamboo can also earn carbon credits. This makes bamboo farming a promising way to store carbon.

Costs and Help for Farmers

Many things affect how much carbon farming costs. These include soil quality and other expenses. Farmers might not want to use more expensive methods. Especially if they don't see clear benefits for their crops or money.

Carbon farming methods can have extra costs. So, governments sometimes help farmers. They offer money or other incentives. For example, Australia and New Zealand have thought about letting farmers sell "carbon credits." These credits are earned by increasing soil carbon.

Some approved practices can also make farmers eligible for government funds.

Things to Consider with Carbon Farming

Carbon farming is a new and exciting field. But it also has some challenges. When restoring ecosystems for carbon farming, we sometimes lack enough knowledge. Ecosystem services are the benefits nature gives us. These are often a bonus of restoring ecosystems. But they are sometimes overlooked in planning. This is because carbon storage can be bought and sold, but ecosystem services are not always.

We need to study how different carbon farming methods affect these services. If policies only focus on storing carbon, it could cause problems. For example, it might lead to more land clearing. It could also lead to planting only one type of crop (monocultures). This would reduce biodiversity. So, we need to balance carbon storage with protecting different species.

Some people also worry that no-till methods might lead to more herbicide use. This could reduce the carbon benefits. Also, there isn't enough commercial compost to cover huge areas of land.

It's important to think about other issues too. These include how carbon farming affects groundwater and surface water.

Other Important Ideas

Climate-Smart Agriculture

Climate smart agriculture is an approach that helps farmers deal with climate change. It aims to increase food production. It also helps farmers adapt to changing weather. And it reduces greenhouse gas emissions.

Blue Carbon

Blue carbon refers to the carbon stored in coastal and ocean ecosystems. These include mangroves, salt marshes, and seagrass beds. These ecosystems are very good at capturing and storing carbon.

Carbon Farming Around the World

Many countries are exploring carbon farming.

Australia's Carbon Plan

In 2011, Australia started a system to trade carbon. Farmers who store carbon can sell carbon credits. Companies that need to reduce their carbon footprint buy these. Australia's plan sees storing carbon in soil as a big opportunity. Studies showed that soil carbon levels dropped by 30% on average from 1990 to 2006 with continuous cropping. To build soil carbon, farmers needed to add Nitrogen, phosphorus, and sulfur along with organic matter.

Canada's Conservation Efforts

By 2014, over 75% of farmland in the Canadian Prairies used "conservation tillage." More than 50% used no-till methods. Canada's government has set aside a lot of money. This is to help farmers adopt climate solutions in agriculture.

France's "Four Per 1,000" Initiative

France leads a big international effort called "four per 1,000." Its goal is to increase soil carbon by 0.4% each year. This is done through changes in farming and forestry. In 2016, France limited how much energy crops could be used for biofuels. This was to avoid competing with food crops. But cover crops were exempt. This encouraged farmers to use them.

Switzerland's Agroimpact Project

In Switzerland, a project called Agroimpact helps farmers. It advises them on how to store carbon. It also pays them for reducing CO2 emissions. This funding comes from food companies. They pay farmers to improve their carbon footprint.

United States of America's Programs

In California, many local groups help farmers with carbon farming. In 2015, California's carbon-credit exchange began giving credits to farmers. These were for composting grazing lands. In 2016, Chevrolet worked with the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). They bought carbon credits from ranchers using no-till methods. This was a big step.

By 2017, several US states passed laws to support carbon farming.

California set aside $7.5 million for its Healthy Soils Program. This program shows how certain farming methods store carbon. They also improve soil health and reduce greenhouse gases. It includes mulching, cover crops, composting, and planting hedgerows.
Maryland's Healthy Soils Program supports research and education.
Massachusetts funds training for soil-healthy agriculture.
Hawaii created a Carbon Farming Task Force. It develops ways to encourage more soil carbon.