Carbon & Soil Organic Matter

Climate Friendly Farming Policy Considerations for the Inland Pacific Northwest

By Doug Finkelnburg, Area Extension Educator – Dryland Cropping Systems, University of Idaho Extension Efforts are underway at the federal level to combat climate change on the agriculture front. USDA has just finished a “listening period” to help develop and refine actions they may implement to accomplish this. Just what those actions may be and what […]

Farmer and NRCS soil conservationist looking at a shovelful of soil in a harvested wheat field with standing residue

Developing Biochar Markets in the Pacific Northwest

By Embrey Bronstad This is part of a series highlighting work by Washington State University (WSU) researchers through the Waste to Fuels Technology Partnership between the Department of Ecology and WSU during the 2017-2019 biennium. This partnership advances targeted applied research and extension on emerging technologies for managing residual organic matter. Biochar has the potential […]

The structure of the facility (left) and a front loader by a mound of chipped wood

Municipal Compost Use in Agriculture: A Question of Cost and Value

By Karen Hills This is part of a series highlighting work by Washington State University (WSU) researchers through the Waste to Fuels Technology Partnership between the Department of Ecology and WSU during the 2017-2019 biennium. This partnership advances targeted applied research and extension on emerging technologies for managing residual organic matter. Composting rather than landfilling organic waste, […]

Boutique Biochars: Exploring Engineering Strategies to Increase Phosphate Adsorption

By Karen Hills This is part of a series highlighting work by Washington State University (WSU) researchers through the Waste to Fuels Technology Partnership between the Department of Ecology and WSU during the 2017-2019 biennium. Biochar is produced by pyrolysis of woody (technically, lignocellulosic) materials. By controlling the conditions under which it is produced, researchers […]

Researcher in lab.

Check it Out: Can Biochar Be Used for Carbon Dioxide Drawdown in Washington State?

By Karen Hills This is part of a series highlighting work by Washington State University (WSU) researchers through the Waste to Fuels Technology Partnership between the Department of Ecology and WSU during the 2017-2019 biennium. In a recent study, Jim Amonette at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and Washington State University Center for Sustaining Agriculture […]

Bag full of biochar, a black gravelly material

Check it out: New Resource on Cropland Soils’ Capacity to Store Carbon Through Improved Management

By Georgine Yorgey When you work at a land grant university, people sometimes reach out to you with questions.  I love this aspect of my job, as it often gives me a chance to bridge the divide between research and the real world.  In 2019, one of the questions I got most often was “How […]

Exploring the Frontier of Improved Soil Health in Potato Production in the Columbia Basin

By Athena Loos, Field Representative, McCain Foods During the 3.5 years that I have worked with growers in my role as a Field Representative with McCain Foods, I have met numerous growers who are playing an active role in exploring the biological component of soil health. (Growers generally have a good understanding of the chemical […]

Bare field being tilled using a dammer-diker pulled by a tractor

Soil Health in Potato Production: Oxymoron or Opportunity?

By Karen Hills A frequently used—at least, by soil scientists—definition for soil health is “the continued capacity of soil to function as a vital living system […] to sustain biological productivity, maintain the quality of air and water environments, and promote plant, animal, and human health” (Doran et al. 1996). Many different indicators—chemical, physical, and […]

Potato field with two harvesters and two trucks

Check it out: The Black Box of Soil Organic Matter and Soil Health

By Sonia A. Hall A number of recent AgClimate.net articles focused on soil health (see for example this article on a soil health NRCS resource and one on decomposition of wheat residues research). These articles commented on why soil health is important from a climate change perspective: more carbon-rich organic matter in the soil contributes to […]

Two men bent over a shovelful of soil in a harvested wheat field.