Impacts of soil carbon sequestration on life cycle greenhouse gas emissions in Midwestern USA beef finishing systems

Stanley, Paige; Rowntree, Jason E.; Beede, D.K.; DeLonge, Marcia S.; Hamm, Michael W.

doi:10.1016/j.agsy.2018.02.003

Cited by 194 publications

(127 citation statements)

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“…A historical study [44] did not find any improvement from rotational grazing in cattle productivity. However, more recent studies assessing rotational grazing systems or better grazing management systems have found positive benefits in terms of forage and animal productivity and soil health parameters [43,[45][46][47][48]. Improved water quality and soil health from cattle exclusion of vulnerable areas in pastures have also been reported in previous…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

Strategic Grazing in Beef-Pastures for Improved Soil Health and Reduced Runoff-Nitrate-A Step towards Sustainability

et al. 2020

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Generally, improvement in the soil health of pasturelands can result in amplified ecosystem services which can help improve the overall sustainability of the system. The extent to which specific best management practices have this effect has yet to be established. A farm-scale study was conducted in eight beef-pastures in the Southern Piedmont of Georgia, from 2015 to 2018, to assess the effect of strategic-grazing (STR) and continuous-grazing hay distribution (CHD) on soil health indicators and runoff nitrate losses. In 2016, four pastures were converted to the STR system and four were grazed using the CHD system. Post-treatment, in 2018, the STR system had significantly greater POXC (by 87.1, 63.4, and 55.6 mg ha−1 at 0–5, 5–10, and 10–20 cm, respectively) as compared to CHD system. Soil respiration was also greater in the STR system (by 235 mg CO2 m-2 24 h−1) and less nitrate was lost in the runoff (by 0.21 kg ha−1) as compared to the CHD system. Cattle exclusion and overseeding vulnerable areas of pastures in STR pastures facilitated nitrogen mineralization and uptake. Our results showed that the STR grazing system could improve the sustainability of grazing systems by storing more labile carbon, efficiently mineralizing soil nitrogen, and lowering runoff nitrate losses.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

Strategic Grazing in Beef-Pastures for Improved Soil Health and Reduced Runoff-Nitrate-A Step towards Sustainability

et al. 2020

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“…A comparative life cycle assessment was performed for pasture or feedlot beef finishing systems in the Upper Midwest, USA (Stanley et al, 2018). The assessment accounted for GHG emissions from enteric methane, feed production and mineral supplement manufacture, manure, on-farm energy use, and transportation.…”

Section: Comprehensive Assessmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The potential SOC sink in the pasture treatment was estimated using SOC accumulation data in pasture soils from a 4-yr, on-farm study in Michigan. They concluded that the pasture finishing treatment, which employed rotational stocking using a variable stocking rate, may offset GHG emissions, resulting in a net C sink (Stanley et al, 2018). However, the assumed SOC accumulation rate used in the assessment (3.59 Mg C ha −1 yr −1 ) was very high relative to values commonly reported for perennial grasslands in temperate zones (0.7 Mg C ha −1 yr −1 ) (Soussana and Lemaire, 2014), and the assessment did not account for increasing C saturation of the soil over time, which would decrease SOC accumulation rate.…”

Section: Comprehensive Assessmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Grassland Management Affects Delivery of Regulating and Supporting Ecosystem Services

et al. 2019

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Ecosystem services (ES) are the direct and indirect contributions of ecosystems to human well‐being. Grassland ecosystems cover >40% of Earth's ice‐free terrestrial surface, and grassland management affects the ES provided. Our objective was to synthesize the existing literature assessing management effects on regulating and supporting ES provided by grasslands, explore the related mechanisms, and determine which practices favor ES delivery. Current literature supports the following conclusions. Increasing management intensity of grasslands through planting more productive species or increasing fertilizer inputs generally increases soil organic C (SOC) accumulation. Increasing the number of plant species or functional groups, especially when legumes are added, often increases SOC accumulation. Grazed grasslands generally accumulate SOC more rapidly than undefoliated grasslands. Low or moderate stocking rates favor SOC accumulation relative to high stocking rates, especially in lower‐rainfall environments. Short‐term SOC accumulation rates observed after conversion of cropland to perennial grassland do not continue indefinitely. More digestible forages defoliated at optimal maturity may decrease CH4 emitted per unit of feed consumed or per unit of animal product. Substituting legumes for N fertilizer and reducing livestock N excretion through diet manipulation reduce N2O emissions. Managing grazing to increase uniformity of excreta deposition increases efficiency of nutrient cycling. Species‐rich grasslands with flower‐rich legumes and forbs increase foraging opportunities for pollinators. Finally, to optimize delivery of grassland ES, management practices that sustain ecosystem function likely need to replace those that maximize short‐term resource utilization or economic return. To encourage adoption, such practices may need to be incentivized.

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“…For the second case, a soil organic C level 35% higher (Ampt and Doornbos 2011) than the base case was used. For the best‐case scenario, a multiplier from a study in a midwestern USA beef system (Stanley et al 2018) was used, which found that the rate of soil C sequestration was approximately 10 times higher in regenerative agriculture grazing systems (Stanley et al 2018) compared with industrial agriculture. The sum of all 3 sources of C sequestration (aboveground biomass, fossil fuel replacement, and soil C) for the different cases (soil C levels; percentage allocated to biodiversity, bioenergy, or a combination of both; and fossil fuel substitution) were then calculated, and the totals were compared with the total on‐farm emissions from sheep production.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Delta Life Cycle Assessment of Regenerative Agriculture in a Sheep Farming System

Colley

Olsen

Birkved

et al. 2020

Integr Envir Assess & Manag

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Regenerative agriculture is being used by a small number of innovative farmers in Australia and elsewhere, using a range of holistic methods that work with the land and climate, such as short duration time of controlled grazing with long rest periods for the paddock and higher proportions of aboveground biomass, to improve soil health and farm profitability. This paper uses a delta life cycle assessment, focusing only on the differences between regenerative and conventional production systems to assess the potential impact of regenerative agriculture on a full range of midpoint impact categories and end‐point areas of protection for an extensive sheep system in Australia. We assess the potential improvement to the water, carbon, and biodiversity footprints of sheep production, and find that regenerative agriculture has the potential to improve environmental performance compared with current industrial agricultural practices. In particular, there seems to be considerable potential to offset a significant proportion of the on‐farm climate change impacts through a combination of biosequestration in soils and aboveground biomass and using harvested biomass to offset fossil fuel use. The assessment highlights the need for additional data to confirm the findings and the potential contribution that regenerative agriculture can make to sustainability of ruminant livestock production. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2020;16:282–290. © 2019 SETAC

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Impacts of soil carbon sequestration on life cycle greenhouse gas emissions in Midwestern USA beef finishing systems

Cited by 194 publications

References 50 publications

Strategic Grazing in Beef-Pastures for Improved Soil Health and Reduced Runoff-Nitrate-A Step towards Sustainability

Strategic Grazing in Beef-Pastures for Improved Soil Health and Reduced Runoff-Nitrate-A Step towards Sustainability

Grassland Management Affects Delivery of Regulating and Supporting Ecosystem Services

Delta Life Cycle Assessment of Regenerative Agriculture in a Sheep Farming System

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