Climate-Friendly Farming Strategies Can Improve the Land and Generate Income for Farmers

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I direct a transdisciplinary team called C-CHANGE , funded by USDA, that is working with farmers to create and expand market-based value chains for perennial grasses. We are helping farmers plant mixtures of native perennial grasses and forbs to build soil health where it has been eroded and protect environmentally sensitive areas. The grasses can ultimately be harvested and processed in biodigesters – devices that break down organic materials to produce energy – along with manure or food waste. This cycle will yield electricity or biomethane from renewable sources that can displace fossil-based energy sources on or off of farms. It also will produce liquid and solid materials that can be used as organic fertilizers, along with other valuable products . Replacing fertilizer made from synthetic nitrogen is important for the climate because making it consumes enormous quantities of natural gas and releases methane into the atmosphere. Methane is another powerful greenhouse gas, 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide. Biodigestion is widely used in Europe but underdeveloped in the U.S. We expect that the value chain we’re creating will embed it in a larger cycle that creates a market for protective perennial crops, reduces fossil fuel use and […]

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