Carbon Farm Planning

Livestock Integration

Mentioned previously in the curriculum, livestock integration can influence soil health, and depending on management; stocking rate, grazing system, recovery time, and season of use, grazing can have either a positive or negative impact on the carbon stored in the soil (16). For example, a grazing system with a grazing-tolerant plant species with a shallow, high-density root systems that dominates the pasture after grazing periods saw an increase in soil organic carbon over time (17). However, grazing can also lead to a decline in soil carbon through a positive feedback loop as excessive livestock grazing intensity negatively impacts plant roots, decreasing plant productivity, which decreases future forage availability for livestock and soil carbon inputs (16).

Managing livestock with appropriate stocking rate, grazing frequency and intensity can have a positive impact on soil health in addition to the following co-benefits (CPS 528):

Improved plant community species diversity and composition
Increased forage productivity and soil organic carbon
Improved forage quality and livestock health
Improved riparian health
Reduced soil erosion

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Minimize Soil Disturbance

Discussion board: If you have any questions throughout Module 1, please use the discussion board below to post.

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Maximize Soil Cover & Living Continuous Living Roots

Citations

(1) Claassen, Roger, Maria Bowman, Jonathan McFadden, David Smith, Steven Wallander. Tillage Intensity and Conservation Cropping in the United States, EIB-197, U.S.Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, September 2018

(2) Soil Quality Indicators (USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service, 2008; https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/PA_NRCSConsumption/download?cid=nrcs142p2_051276&ext=pdf).
(3) Paustian, K., Six, J., Elliott, E. et al. Management options for reducing CO2 emissions from agricultural soils. Biogeochemistry 48, 147–163 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1006271331703
(4) R.T. Conant, M. Easter, K. Paustian, A. Swan, S. Williams Impacts of periodic tillage on soil C stocks: a synthesis Soil Till. Res., 95 (2007), pp. 1-10
(5) Lal, R., M. Griffin, J. Apt, L. Lave, et al. 2004. Managing Soil Carbon. Science, 304(5669):393.
(6) Paustian, K., Andrén, O., Janzen, H.H., Lal, R., Smith, P., Tian, G., Tiessen, H., Van Noordwijk, M. and Woomer, P.L. (1997), Agricultural soils as a sink to mitigate CO2 emissions. Soil Use and Management, 13: 230-244. doi:10.1111/j.1475-2743.1997.tb00594.x
(7) M.M. Al-Kaisi, A. Douelle, and D. Kwaw-Mensah. November 2014. Soil microaggregate and macroaggregate decay over time and soil carbon change as influenced by different tillage systems. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation. 69 (6) 574-580; DOI: https://doi.org/10.2489/jswc.69.6.574.
(8) Report published by USDA NRCS, Penn State University Extension, capital Resource Conservation & Development, and Clinton County Conservation District.
(9) Andrade DS, Colozzi-Filho A, Giller KE (2003) The soil microbial community and soil tillage. In: El Titi A (ed) Soil tillage in agro-ecosystems. CRC Press, Boca Raton, pp 51–81
(10) Duiker, S.W., Myers, J., Blazure, L. Soil Health: In field and forage crop production, Report published by USDA NRCS, Penn State University Extension, capital Resource Conservation & Development, and Clinton County Conservation District.

(11) Ogle, S.M., et al. 2014. Chapter 3: Quantifying Greenhouse Gas Sources and Sinks in Cropland and Grazing Land Systems. In Quantifying Greenhouse Gas Fluxes in Agriculture and Forestry: Methods for Entity‐Scale Inventory. Technical Bulletin Number 1939. Office of the Chief Economist, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC. 606 pages. July 2014. Eve, M., D. Pape, M. Flugge, R. Steele, D. Man, M. Riley‐ Gilbert, and S. Biggar, Eds.
(12) Derner, J.D., T.W. Boutton, and D.D. Brisk. 2006. Grazing and ecosystem carbon storage in the North American Great Plains. Plant Soil, 280(77‐90).

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