Philippa Lockwood’s Post

Very interesting notes and information related to carbon capture in soil. Thanks for the to the point summary Philippa Lockwood #carboncapture #healthysoil #regenerative #smallholderfarmers

According to studies, agriculture consumes 70% of global water resources, while it emits up to 21% of greenhouse gases and has contributed to 40% of climate damage. So what, exactly, are the causes, types and effects of this contamination? While the scope of that question is far too broad to be answered in an article as brief as this, we will give readers an introduction to the first of those points. Here are a handful of the most common causes of pollution occurring in the farming industry today.

Despite what some think, it turns out grass-finished beef really isn't lowering greenhouse gas emissions, even when you consider soil carbon increases on grazing lands. Here's yet one more study that confirms this. While well-managed grazing systems can be helpful for other reasons -- the best solutions to addressing emissions from beef and dairy production are: (1) cutting consumption, (2) reducing food loss & waste, and (3) improving production practices across the board. #agriculture #climate #beef https://lnkd.in/giHFtWz9

The U.S. government is hoping that farmland practices like planting cover crops and reducing tilling will slash greenhouse gas emissions from the agriculture sector and sequester carbon in the soil. But Leah Douglas at Reuters spoke to some experts who thought the measures will not go far enough to cut emissions on the farm. #climate #agriculture #globalwarming #landconservation https://lnkd.in/eSFWNmhp

Agriculture controls food security globally, and in fact needs to be upscaled to cater to a growing world population. The Paris agreement cites the need to reduce emissions from agriculture and increasing resilience to climate shocks. Agriculture is an economic sector on its own employing hundreds of millions. I wrote a post on agriculture and climate change, impacts and contributions.See more: #agriculture #climatechange #climateaction https://lnkd.in/gTs6hhG6

Healthy soil ecosystems can store “more carbon and for longer periods than above ground vegetation.” In fact, soils can “contain twice as much organic carbon as vegetation.” Some scientists estimate that in as little as 10 years, we could reduce atmospheric carbon levels down to 350 ppm simply by abandoning conventional agricultural practices that abuse the soil (The Carbon Underground brings down-to-earth solution to climate change). “Studies suggest that regenerating soil by turning our backs on industrial farming holds the key to tackling climate change” (Our best shot at cooling the planet might be right under our feet). We need to understand how carbon farming could halt climate change. “New ways of digging the dirt could both deliver more food and slow climate change. And farmers in the developing world are making a difference” (Farms can grow more and slow climate change). “Better farming techniques across the world could lead to storage of 31 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide a year, data shows” (Improving soil could keep world within 1.5C heating target, research suggests).   Soil is the second biggest reservoir of carbon on the planet, next to the oceans. It holds four times more carbon than all the plants and trees in the world. But human activity like deforestation and industrial farming – with its intensive ploughing, monoculture and heavy use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides – is ruining our soils at breakneck speed, killing the organic materials that they contain. Now 40% of agricultural soil is classed as “degraded” or “seriously degraded”. In fact, industrial farming has so damaged our soils that a third of the world’s farmland has been destroyed in the past four decades.

This shows how little confidence we can have in some forms of ‘science’. The details in the article are a bit more nuanced than what the headline suggests, but still — encouraging people to buy fruit and veg grown using (hydrocarbon-based) fertilisers and insecticides, selected so the wonky items are thrown away, transported from afar, chilled in supermarkets, thrown away when damaged/ out of date — all this is better than growing your own produce in your own yard using home-made compost? How ridiculous is that? And how much of the other climate research is similarly blind?

Beef operations practicing lifelong grass diets for cattle may have a 42% higher overall carbon footprint compared to those switching to grain-based diets, according to a new study published in PLOS ONE titled "Carbon opportunity cost increases carbon footprint advantage of grain-finished beef." This conclusion, presented by Daniel Blaustein-Rejto and colleagues, considers factors like soil carbon sequestration and carbon opportunity cost. The research underscores the importance of factoring in land use intensity and carbon opportunity costs in climate mitigation efforts related to beef production, providing valuable information for consumer choices. The study challenges the perception of pasture-finished beef as more environmentally friendly by revealing the significant carbon cost associated with land-intensive operations. #sustainability #climatechange #climateaction #beefcattle #emissionsreduction #agritech

Farmland is carbon negative. What's all the fuss about? #sustainability #farmland #agriculture #climateaction #carbon #energy #water #environment #finance #investment https://lnkd.in/dJkM5UWs

"Scaling soil carbon farming does not occur in a vacuum – it needs a funding mechanism to support landholder initiatives and actions," - Matthew Warnken, Managing Director of AgriProve. As Australia continues its journey towards Net Zero, climate entrepreneur Matthew Warnken believes that carbon offsets offer two distinct opportunities for our country: an economic instrument for putting a price on carbon, and a funding mechanism for research and innovation that leads to practical action. Standing in the way of this opportunity for innovation, however, is the idea that carbon credits offer a 'licence to pollute' for fossil fuel companies. Learn more about this in Matthew's latest op-ed for Beef Central below. https://lnkd.in/dcHufe4f #MediaCoverage #Climate #NetZero #PublicRelations