Cook Agronomy Farm

The class took a trip to the Cook Agronomy Farm Tuesday to discuss the Climate Friendly Farming project with Dr. David Rhys Huggins of Washington State University. Onew of the project's many goals is to test the potential of direct seed, no till farming to return carbon to the top soil. This carbon sequestration could play an important role in the fight against global climate change, as agriculture accounts for about 7% of the carbon released into the atmosphere.

Modern methods of farming have reduced the levels of CO2 in the soil by 30%, Huggins said. He said the situation is even worse on the Palouse because tilling the fields adds to wind and water erosion. The Palouse is the second most erosive area in the country.

No till farming increases carbon in the ground because micro-organisms feed on the residue left in the ground after harvesting. This prevents the carbon from being released into the air as CO2.

Huggins has been working at the farm since 1999, and expects to have hard data on the effects
of no till farming on top soil carbon levels next year. He said only about 10% of the farmers on the Palouse have adopted the method because of the expense of the equipment and the risk required to change farming methods.

Huggins hopes the project will double the levels of carbon in the soil over a ten year period.

Information about other terrestrial carbon sequestration projects can be found at a Department of Energy website: http://cdiac2.esd.ornl.gov/terrestrial.html