Excerpt
As communities and a country, we have a monumental task to solve the energy and global climate change problems, while maintaining our capacity to produce food, feed, and fiber for an ever increasing world population. The severity of these problems is exacerbated by the universal desire for an increased standard of living, which invariably translates to more energy use, greater demand for products, and higher quality diets (usually in the form of more fresh fruits and vegetables and more animal protein). Agriculture and forestry are in a unique position as we attempt solve these opposing problems in the most beneficial manner. To address the food and feed issue, agriculture will likely consume more energy and aggravate the energy consumption and climate change situation, at least in the short term. However, soils have a tremendous capacity to sequester carbon (C) (Figure 1), if managed wisely, offering agriculture an exceptional opportunity to remove carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, from the atmosphere. Use of agricultural biomass for energy can also be part of our energy solution. Research is being conducted to determine how much, when and where biomass can be removed without soil and/or environmental degradation. A balanced, sustainable approach is critical …
Footnotes
Jane M-F Johnson is a soil scientist at the USDA-ARS North Central Soil Conservation Research Laboratory in Morris, Minnesota. Don Reicosky is a soil scientist at the USDA-ARS North Central Soil Conservation Research Laboratory in Morris, Minnesota. Ray Allmaras is a retired soil scientist at Soil and Water Management Unit, USDA-ARS, and the University of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minnesota. Dave Archer is an agricultural economist at the USDA-ARS North Central Soil Conservation Research Laboratory in Morris, Minnesota. Wally Wilhelm is a plant physiologist at the USDA-ARS Soil and Water Conservation Research Unit in Lincoln, Nebraska.
- Copyright 2006 by the Soil and Water Conservation Society
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