I've been away. Well, I've been here, but not posting because it's harvest festival time and there have been guests and events and such. Our local Apple Festival had the most impact since it fills our normally sleepy little town (no stop light) with people and vendors in one of those street fair affairs. I go into town and brave the crowds for one reason: to get an apple pie baked by the Women's Community Club. It's tradition. It's also excellent pie.

I'll use this bit of fluff as a warm up post.

Scientists have found that the potential of no-till farming to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from soils, is offset by increased nitrous oxide emissions - at least in some soil types. Nitrous oxide (N2O) is a very potent greenhouse gas. Importantly, the results hint at the fact that biochar may be a better soil conservation strategy when the goal is reducing net emissions, because biochar has been shown to significantly slash N2O emissions in a range of soil types.

Buried later in the post and the referenced study is the fact that this only happens on poorly aerated (i.e. "tight") clay soils, and only until they improve due to no-till methods which increase soil organic matter, and so aeration. I'm all for biochar, but let's have less nonsense advocacy since in my view that discredits the methods and those who speak for them.

The use of no-till is always good. That it is not a cure-all is what we should expect. That's why we speak of agronomic systems comprised of a suite of behaviors that complement one another to achieve superior results. To evaluate such systems requires broad measurements over many seasons. We are neither surprised nor dismayed that soil bacteria thrive in no-till systems and so affect the carbon and nitrogen cycles of soil. The denitrifying bacteria that release N20 and other nitrogen gases are joined by nitrifying bacteria, fungi and soil macro-organisms that all affect the cycles too. This is all good since over time they enrich the soil in a variety of ways including holding more organic matter (carbon) which helps them be better aerated. That in turn helps them hold nutrients, erode less in wind and water, and hold water to better endure dry spells.

If biochar is also used in such an improved agronomic system then benefits further increase. A one-time large application of biochar worked into fields one last time before beginning a no-till system would accelerate soil improvement in soil aeration and so reduce the time needed to get past the heavier N2O emissions phase. Compost or even just manure would help too, but it isn't as durable as biochar since much of it is food for soil microorganisms, leaving a small residue of humus. Best of all, use them all, though that's a major renovation involving many tons of material per acre.

In coming months I hope to talk a lot about this sort of thing due to a project I have in the planning/proposal stages to do a renovation of some tight "adobe" type soil and turn it into dairy quality pasture. It has an added appeal for me since the plot is a former gravel pit that has been refilled with fines washed from sand and gravel still being mined in another area of the same property, and over time the process may be repeated as the mines play out. It's dead dirt now, but I may be allowed to turn it into soil that grows spectacular pasture that supports magnificent cattle and produces wonderful food that is good for the health of people and the environment along the river where the site is located. I already have a year invested in the talking part of the project, trying to seduce the property owner into making this investment (it will cost him), and he finally seems to be getting excited and has asked for a proposal. Even if nothing comes of it in the end I intend to post the proposal since it would be a comprehensive system that uses most every thing I know about my trade. It will be my dissertation, so to speak.