Cover Crops Key to Storing More Soil Organic Carbon

By John Dobberstein posted on November 18, 2014 | Posted in Soil Health

No-till practices alone may not sequester as much organic carbon in soil profiles as previously thought, but seeding cover crops could help rebuild it, says University of Illinois researcher Ken Olson.

Ken Olson doesn’t dispute that no-till can sequester organic carbon in the soil, or provide numerous other benefits to farmers.

But no-tillers may not be storing as much soil organic carbon (SOC) in their soil profiles as they may have been led to believe, says the University of Illinois soil scientist, who published a controversial study on the topic this year.

After working with a team of senior researchers to review more than 120 research…

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KEYWORDS carbon's benefits to farmers losing organic carbon stocks sequestering organic carbon in the soil SOC sequestration rates soil organic carbon levels
John dobberstein2

John Dobberstein

John Dobberstein is senior editor of No-Till Farmer magazine and the e-newsletter Dryland No-Tiller. He previously covered agriculture for the Tulsa World and worked for daily newspapers in Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Joseph, Mich. He graduated with a B.A. in journalism and political science from Central Michigan University.

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