RSS
Climate Friendly Farming Topics
Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Carbon Sequestration
Agricultural production results in three greenhouse gas emissions of consequence: carbon dioxide from soil management, fertilizer production and fossil fuel use; nitrous oxide from fertilizer management, and methane from storage and use of organic wastes such as manure. Depending on the source of the inventory, agriculture is credited for between 6 and 35% of global greenhouse gas emissions (depends on direct versus total GHG emission estimates). Improved management and technology can help dramatically reduce GHG emissions from agriculture.
WSU Websites
Organic Farming Footprints
WSU webpage for the OFoot project, working to provide a scientifically sound yet simple estimation of the carbon and nitrogen sequestration and net greenhouse gas (GHG) balance likely in a given organic cropping system scenario.
WSU Publications
Carbon storage and nitrous oxide emissions of cropping systems in eastern Washington: A simulation study
Stöckle, C., S. Higgins, A. Kemanian, R. Nelson, D. Huggins, J. Marcos, and H. Collins. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation 2012 67(5):365-377; doi:10.2489/jswc.67.5.365.
Soil carbon sequestration in the dryland cropping region of the Pacific Northwest
Brown, T.T., and D.R. Huggins. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation 2012 67(5):406-415; doi:10.2489/jswc.67.5.406.
Global Climate Change
Weddell, B., L. Carpenter-Boggs, and S. Higgins. June 2012. FS069E. Washington State University researchers have taken a departure from the regionally focused, applied-science extension publication to write a fact sheet on the science, debate and challenges of global climate change.
Climate Change FAQs - 3
Chad Kruger, CSANR Director. The third in a series of website posts addressing frequently asked questions about climate change and agriculture.
WRDC Rural Connections Newsletter: Climate Change issue now available
Western Rural Development Center's Rural Connections Newsletter Climate Change issue contains three articles written by CSANR faculty and staff members. View the entire issue here (6 MB), or view the individual articles by clicking the titles here: Anaerobic Digestion in the Pacific Northwest; Climate Change and Family Forest Landowners in the Pacific Northwest: Attitudes & Understanding; Climate Change and Agriculture in the Pacific Northwest.
Climate Change FAQs - 2
Chad Kruger, CSANR Director. The second in a series of website posts addressing frequently asked questions about climate change and agriculture.
Climate Change FAQs - 1
Chad Kruger, CSANR Director. The first in a series of website posts addressing frequently asked questions about climate change and agriculture.
Carbon sequestration under irrigated switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) production
Collins, H.P., Smith, J.L., Fransen, S.C., Alva, A., Kruger, C.E., & Granatstein, D.M. (2010). Soil Science Society of America Journal. 74(6), 2049-2058.
C-Farm: A simple model to evaluate the carbon balance of soil profiles
Kemanian, A.R. and Stockle, C.O., (2010). European Journal of Agronomy 32(1), 22-29.
Climate Friendly Farming Final Report: Improving the Carbon Footprint of Agriculture in the Pacific Northwest
The WSU Center for Sustaining Agriculture & Natural Resources established the Climate Friendly Farming Project in 2003 with an initial grant from the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation.This report represents the culmination of research and assessment of the potential for improved management and technology deployment to reduce agricultural greenhouse gas emissions in the Pacific Northwest.
Dryland Agriculture's Impact on Soil Carbon Sequestration in the Pacific Northwest.
Chapter 13 in Climate Friendly Farming: Improving the Carbon Footprint of Agriculture in the Pacific Northwest. Full report available at http://csanr.wsu.edu/pages/Climate_Friendly_Farming_Final_Report/.
Field Heterogeneity of Soil Organic Carbon and Relationships to Soil Properties and Terrain Attributes
Chapter 14 in Climate Friendly Farming: Improving the Carbon Footprint of Agriculture in the Pacific Northwest. Full report available at http://csanr.wsu.edu/pages/Climate_Friendly_Farming_Final_Report/.
Comparative Analysis of Nitrous Oxide Fluxes in Dryland Cropping Systems
Chapter 15 in Climate Friendly Farming: Improving the Carbon Footprint of Agriculture in the Pacific Northwest. Full report available at http://csanr.wsu.edu/pages/Climate_Friendly_Farming_Final_Report/.
Site-Specific N Management for Direct-Seed Cropping Systems
Chapter 16 in Climate Friendly Farming: Improving the Carbon Footprint of Agriculture in the Pacific Northwest. Full report available at http://csanr.wsu.edu/pages/Climate_Friendly_Farming_Final_Report/.
Yield, Protein and Nitrogen Use Efficiency of Spring Wheat: Evaluating Field-Scale Performance
Chapter 17 in Climate Friendly Farming: Improving the Carbon Footprint of Agriculture in the Pacific Northwest. Full report available at http://csanr.wsu.edu/pages/Climate_Friendly_Farming_Final_Report/.
Monitoring Carbon Sequestration and Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Irrigated AgroEcosystems
Chapter 18 in Climate Friendly Farming: Improving the Carbon Footprint of Agriculture in the Pacific Northwest. Full report available at http://csanr.wsu.edu/pages/Climate_Friendly_Farming_Final_Report/.
Monitoring Soil Carbon Pools and Fluxes Following Land Conversion to Irrigated Agriculture in a Semi-arid Shrub Steppe Ecosystem
Chapter 19 in Climate Friendly Farming: Improving the Carbon Footprint of Agriculture in the Pacific Northwest. Full report available at http://csanr.wsu.edu/pages/Climate_Friendly_Farming_Final_Report/.
Reduced Tillage in an Irrigated Potato Rotation
Chapter 20 in Climate Friendly Farming: Improving the Carbon Footprint of Agriculture in the Pacific Northwest. Full report available at http://csanr.wsu.edu/pages/Climate_Friendly_Farming_Final_Report/.
Greenhouse Gas Fluxes from Irrigated Sweet Corn (Zea mays L.) and Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.)
Chapter 21 in Climate Friendly Farming: Improving the Carbon Footprint of Agriculture in the Pacific Northwest. Full report available at http://csanr.wsu.edu/pages/Climate_Friendly_Farming_Final_Report/.
Bioenergy as an Agricultural GHG Mitigation Strategy in Washington State
Chapter 22 in Climate Friendly Farming: Improving the Carbon Footprint of Agriculture in the Pacific Northwest. Full report available at http://csanr.wsu.edu/pages/Climate_Friendly_Farming_Final_Report/.
CropSyst Simulation of the Effect of Tillage and Rotation on the Potential for Carbon Sequestration and on Nitrous Oxide Emissions in Eastern Washington
Chapter 23 in Climate Friendly Farming: Improving the Carbon Footprint of Agriculture in the Pacific Northwest. Full report available at http://csanr.wsu.edu/pages/Climate_Friendly_Farming_Final_Report/.
Chapter 24 in Climate Friendly Farming: Improving the Carbon Footprint of Agriculture in the Pacific Northwest. Full report available at http://csanr.wsu.edu/pages/Climate_Friendly_Farming_Final_Report/.
Economic Enterprise Budgets for Conservation Tillage Systems in Washington State.
Appendix A: Lind Conventional and Reduced Tillage
Appendix B: St. John Conventional Tillage
Appendix C: St. John No Tillage
Appendix D: Pullman Conventional Tillage
Appendix E: Pullman Reduced Tillage
Appendix F: Pullman No Tillage
Appendix G: Irrigated Conventional Tillage
Appendix H: Irrigated Reduced Tillage
Life Cycle Assessment of the Potential Carbon Credit from No- and Reduced- Tillage Winter Wheat in the U.S. Northwest
Chapter 25 in Climate Friendly Farming: Improving the Carbon Footprint of Agriculture in the Pacific Northwest. Full report available at http://csanr.wsu.edu/pages/Climate_Friendly_Farming_Final_Report/.
C-Farm: A Simple Model to Evaluate the Carbon Balance of Soil Profiles
Chapter 26 in Climate Friendly Farming: Improving the Carbon Footprint of Agriculture in the Pacific Northwest. Full report available at http://csanr.wsu.edu/pages/Climate_Friendly_Farming_Final_Report/.
Soil Carbon Under Dryland Agriculture in the Columbia Basin of the Pacific Northwest as Assessed by C-Farm
Chapter 27 in Climate Friendly Farming: Improving the Carbon Footprint of Agriculture in the Pacific Northwest. Full report available at http://csanr.wsu.edu/pages/Climate_Friendly_Farming_Final_Report/.
Biochar and Pyrolysis: Renewable Soil Carbon and Energy - December 2009
Article in Sustaining the Pacific Northwest Newsletter
Organic Waste to Resources and Pilot Project Report: Biodiesel and Biohydrogen Co-Production with Treatment of High Solid Food Waste
Yubin Zheng, Jingwei Ma, Zhanyou Chi, and Shulin Chen, September 2009. two-step process was developed as a potential technology to produce hydrogen and biodiesel from food waste. The first process use fermentative bacteria to breakdown glucose from food waste to produce hydrogen and volatile fatty acids (VFA). The VFA are then fed to yeast for simultaneous carbon sequestration resulting in production of biodiesel from the oil-producing microbial biomass.
Organic Waste to Resources Research and Pilot Project Report: Use of Biochar from the Pyrolysis of Waste Organic Material as a Soil Amendment
David Granatstein, Chad Kruger, Hal Collins, Manuel Garcia-Perez, and Jonathan Yoder, September 2009. Biochars from different feedstocks were tested on five soils. Biochars on all soil types increased soil C. Biochar C was stable in soil with mean residence times estimated in the hundreds of years. Soil nitrate levels were reduced with increasing biochar rate perhaps due to ammonium adsorption. Biochar did not accelerate loss of indigenous organic matter through the ‘priming effect.′ Biochars raised soil pH, but did not lead to consistent plant growth improvements.
Recommendations for the Development of Agricultural Sector Carbon Offsets in Washington State
Washington State Agricultural Sector Carbon Market Workgroup (ASCMW).
Monitoring Greenhouse Gas Fluxes from an Irrigated AgroEcosystem - Fall 2008
Article in Sustaining the Pacific Northwest Newsletter
Improving Nitrogen Use Efficiency in Dryland Cereal Crops With Precision Nitrogen Management Technology - Fall 2008
Article in Sustaining the Pacific Northwest Newsletter
No-Till: How Farmers Are Saving the Soil by Parking their Plows
Huggins and Reganold. Article published in Scientific American July 2008.
No-till: The quiet revolution
Huggins, D.R. and J.P. Reganold. 2008. Scientific American 299(July):70-77.
Greenhouse Gas Balance for Composting Operations
Brown, S., Kruger, C.E., & Subler, S. (2008). J Environ Qual 37:1396-1410. The greenhouse gas (GHG) impact of composting a range of potential feedstocks was evaluated through a review of the existing literature with a focus on methane (CH4) avoidance by composting and GHG emissions during composting.
Will farmers trade profits for stewardship? Heterogeneous motivations for farm practice selection
Chouinard, H.H., Paterson, T., Wandschneider, P.R., and Ohler, A.M. 2008. Land Economics. 84:66-82.
Fractionation and long-term laboratory incubation to measure soil organic matter dynamics
Haile-Mariam, S., H.P. Collins, S.E. Wright, and E.A. Paul. 2008. Soil Science Society of America Journal. 72:370-378.
Greenhouse Gas Fluxes from an Irrigated Sweet Corn (Zea mays L.) - Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) Rotation
Haile-Mariam, S., H.P. Collins, and S.S. Higgins. 2008. Journal of Environmental Quality. 37:759-771.
Soil carbon pools and fluxes following land conversion in a semi-arid shrub-steppe ecosystem
Cochran, R.L., H.P. Collins, A.C. Kennedy, and D.F. Bezdicek. 2007. Biology and Fertility of Soils. 43:479-489.
Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Pacific Northwest Cropping Systems
2006 Crops & Soils Field Day Proceedings.
The Climate Friendly Farming Project: Dryland Agroecosystem Research
2006 Crops & Soils Field Day Proceedings.
Carbon Sequestration and Carbon Credits
2006 Crops & Soils Field Day Proceedings.
Studies into using manure in a biorefinery concept
Chen S, Wen Z, Liao W, Liu C, Kincaid RL, Harrison JH, Elliott DC, Brown MD, Stevens DJ (2005). Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology 121:999-1015.
CSANR On The Move: Climate Friendly Farming TM - Moving from Source to Sink - September 2004
Article in Sustaining the Pacific Northwest Newsletter
WSU Presentations
Climate Change: what does the science really tell us?
A narrated Extension PowerPoint on climate science and climate change. The presentation was prepared by Craig Cogger at WSU Puyallup and covers the basics of climate science, evidence of climate change, projections of future climate change, and mitigation strategies. The presentation consists of 10 parts, each about five minutes long, so that it can be viewed in short sittings.
Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Emissions in the Pacific Northwest
Understanding the greenhouse gas impacts of agriculture depends on how emissions are inventoried. This webinar covered different types of agricultural greenhouse gas emissions inventories, globally and in the Pacific Northwest. It also provided a brief overview of the mitigation potential from agriculture.
Climate Change webinars (parts 1 & 2)
We hear about climate change from the media, but the information can be confusing and politically charged. WSU soil scientist Craig Cogger presented two-part a webinar series to cut through the confusion and understand the science of climate change. View Part 1, What does the science really tell us about past and current climate trends? HERE. View Part 2, Climate models, skepticism, and our response to climate disruption HERE.
The Northwest Biocarbon Initiative launches video featuring eastern Washington farmer John Aeschliman
The Northwest Biocarbon Initiative aims to galvanize farmers, foresters, community leaders, and thinkers to demonstrate the essential role that natural systems can play in ensuring long-term climate stability. The Center for Sustaining Agriculture and Natural Resources is part of this collaboration with several of the Northwest’s leading conservation organizations who see this effort as a logical extension of our region’s rich natural resource heritage and our history of groundbreaking innovation and stewardship. This week’s launch includes a video and story featuring eastern Washington no-till farmer, John Aeschliman.
Find Extracting valuable energy, carbon and nutrient resources from organic waste
WSU scientists have conducted extensive research on Anaerobic Digestion (AD) as a technology for recovery of methane (energy), stable carbon, and nutrients from organic wastes such as manure, food processing wastes and the organic fraction of municipal solid wastes (OFMSW). Our research has evaluated the technical and economic performance of commercially available systems, developed improved AD reactors, and commercialized WSU patented nutrient recovery technology. This webinar, presented by CSANR director Chad Kruger and CSANR scientist Craig Frear, will provide an update on the latest results from the WSU Climate Friendly Farming Project’s AD research.
Greenhouse Gases and Agriculture: Where Does Organic Farming Fit?
Agriculture can be both a source and a sink for greenhouse gases. In this webinar, the presenters discuss these roles of agriculture, how management affects them, and ways in which organic farming systems in particular may influence greenhouse gases.
Trade-offs between bio-energy and soil carbon sequestration on the Palouse: Evaluating Sustainable Options.
Poster presented at 2008 BIOAg Symposium. Pullman, WA.
Trace Gas Fluxes from an Irrigated Sandy Soil Under Vegetable Cropping Systems in Eastern Washington
Poster presentation for ASA.
Managing the farm for carbon
Palouse Conservation Farm Field Day.
Gaseous N-losses from potato under Center Pivot Irrigation
Poster Presentation
Resources
Some WSU Extension websites provide links to external sites for the convenience of users. These external sites are not managed by WSU Extension. Furthermore, WSU Extension does not review, control or take responsibility for the content of these sites, nor do these sites implicitly or explicitly represent official positions and policies of WSU Extension.