NEPC Grazing Guide

Carbon Sequestration

WEBLIOGRAPHY on CARBON SEQUESTRATION prepared for
NORTHEAST PASTURE CONSORTIUM
June 2009
Martha Holdridge
West Wind Farm

links updated November 2019

AMAZING CARBON (AUSTRALIA)

  • Amazing Carbon
    Home page of Dr. Christine Jones, soil scientist, founder of Australian Soil Carbon Accreditation Scheme, a voluntary carbon trading system.  It includes references to many articles on soil carbon, including:

  • Mitigating Climate Change
    Combined policy statement by UN/FAO, the Conservation Technology Center, and Conservation Agriculture Carbon Offset Consultation

  • Our Soils, Our Future
    article by Dr. Jones on needed changes in management of Australian soils

  • Building soil carbon with Yearlong Green Farming
    article by Dr. Jones on “turning air into soil” by means of photosynthesis, resynthesis, exhudation, and humification

  • Farming a climate change solution
    article about Dr. Christine Jones in ECOS

  • Carbon sinks
    Australian Senate committee: Submission by Dr. Jones for inquiry into possibility of establishing a project based soil carbon offsets scheme to include both forests and appropriately managed grasslands.  By appropriate she means a perennial pasture base fertilized by biology-friendly fertilizers and used for both cropping and grazing enterprises.  In this paper she also discusses measuring soil carbon and recommends testing to the rooting depth.

  • Climate Change: Land use – Agriculture and Forestry
    Submission by Dr. Jones to an Australian/New Zealand commission.  Note p. 7 line 4 concerning the need to use biologically based fertilizers.  Also note p. 7, Box 3.2. concerning critical importance of pasture management and type of fertilizer used in order to achieve net carbon sequestration.

AMERICAN FARMLAND TRUST (AFT)

(The following papers are no longer available on the AFT website, but have been archived.)

  • http://www.farmland.org/programs/environment/workshops/August-2008-public.asp
    Workshop on “Agriculture’s Role in Mitigating Climate Change.” Over 40 producers, crop and industry consultants, and leaders from key agricultural groups from around the country engaged in a workshop co‑sponsored by Farm Foundation, USDA Economic Research Service (ERS), and AFT in Washington, DC.  Participants were able to recommend 15 priority policy needs to include in developing climate change policy.

The following six briefing papers, commissioned by AFT, and one presentation cover the most important issues in developing policies for a carbon offset market:

BEEF

  • Profiting from Global Warming
    “Profiting from Global Warming” by Troy Marshall, cites experience in Australia with carbon offsets and potential for U.S. producers.

CHICAGO CLIMATE EXCHANGE (CCX)

(The Chicago Climate Exchange ceased operation in 2010. The following links have been archived.)

  • Soil Carbon Offsets
    Official CCX FAQ that discusses CCX policies and procedures for establishing Carbon offsets in agricultural soils.  Also includes references from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change that apply to agricultural soils management.  Focus is on no-till cropping.  Little or no mention of managed grasslands.

CARBON FARMERS of AMERICA

(Carbon Farmers of America is no longer in existence. The link is to an archived page.)

  • Carbon Farmers of America
    Carbon Farmers of America, LLC was created in 2006 by a group of family farmers in Vermont and Massachusetts committed to the health of the Earth and dedicated to rebuilding prosperity in our rural communities.  Carbon Farmers of America (CFA) trains, equips and provides ongoing consultation and support to member farmers across America to rapidly create new, high organic-matter topsoil. With our member farmers, we carefully record the process of soil building on each farm, and scientifically monitor the carbon levels in their soils each year. All carbon monitoring is verified by a third party.  CFA sells carbon sinks (1 T. CO2 = one carbon sink) to the public for \$25 of which \$19 goes to the farmer and \$6 for administration and training.

CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR - 8/16/07

EPA

  • Inventory of US Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks
    This is the EPA website for the national greenhouse gas inventory.  In the Executive Summary the Agriculture section is on page ES12 and a section on sources of N2O (largest source fertilizer applications) and of NH4 (enteric fermentation, second largest source) is found on page ES9.

FAO - Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

  • Climate Change Mitigation: Tapping the Potential of Agriculture
    This is a summary article, titled “Climate Change Mitigation: Tapping the Potential of Agriculture.”  It describes a remarkable departure from previous UN positions, which had not recognized the potential of agriculture through carbon sequestration to mitigate climate change.  It is based on an FAO submission to the UNFCCC Ad Hoc Working Group on Long Term Cooperative Action.

  • “Enabling Agriculture to Contribute to Climate Change Mitigation
    This is the complete submission.  It is titled: “Enabling Agriculture to Contribute to Climate Change Mitigation.”  Agriculture is recognized here as a sector with significant mitigation potential.  This document says that farmers, ranchers, herders, and other land users can and should be part of the solution to climate change. “The focus of this submission is on soil carbon sequestration in view of its high mitigation potential, its relevance to small holders, and its current exclusion from the CDM”

NEW YORK TIMES

VIRGINIA TECH

  • Virginia Landowners Guide to the Carbon Market
    Virginia Landowners Guide to the Carbon Market - Publication 442-138, 2009, 8 pages by Virginia Cooperative Extension.  Discusses how to develop carbon offsets and to earn carbon credits by conservation tillage, grassland establishment (not management!), and certain forestry projects.  Defines useful terns: aggregator, carbon credit, carbon offest, carbon reserve pool, carbon sink, third party auditors, additionality, CCX, and GWP.  Lists six aggregators that operate in Virginia.  Does not mention grazing lands or pastures as carbon offsets.

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