Improving Soil Health: Researchers Analyze Carbon Measurement Tools for Farmers
A newly released study, funded by the Harry R. Hughes Center for Agro-Ecology, helps improve the science of measuring carbon in agricultural soils.
The study was authored by Dr. Gurpal Toor (University of Maryland College of Agriculture and Natural Resources) and Dr. Keith Paustian (Colorado State University). It reviews the practicalities of two tools used to measure soil organic carbon, with the goal of eventually seeing an accessible tool for the typical farmer.
Soil organic carbon is a key component of soil fertility, but changes in carbon level can often take decades to detect. The study sampled 15 farms across Maryland and compared two different tools used for measuring soil organic carbon.
Researchers found that one tool — called COMET-Farm — while user-friendly, proved too generic, requiring more site-specific information on factors such as soil type and management practices to produce accurate calculations. COMET-Farm was also designed to measure changes in soil organic carbon, not current stock. Another tool — called DayCent — required advanced training, extensive inputs and was less accessible to the average user.
The study highlights the need for site-specific tools that farmers or farm service providers can use to gain valuable information about the health of the soil, and provides recommendations for how to improve the COMET-Farm model
Join Dr. Toor at 2 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 10, for a webinar presentation of their findings. He will be joined by Maryland Department of the Environment Deputy Secretary Dr. Suzanne Dorsey, who helped conceptualize the project. You can register for the webinar here.
A biography for Dr. Toor can be found on the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources website here, and a biography for Dr. Dorsey can be found on the Maryland Department of the Environment website here.