Using a computer model to manage carbon in farm soils

BIOCYCLE WORLD

Developed by the Agricultural Research Service, a new computer model can help to choose management practices that store carbon in the soil. Stored carbon plays a vital role in soil fertility and stability; carbon that's stored in the soil is kept out of the atmosphere, where it forms the greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide.

Named CQESTR, the model takes tillage practices and time periods, and computes how much organic matter would be stored in or lost from the soil for a given scenario. For example, a user could discover whether changing to a different tillage system - or applying more compost to soils - could impact carbon storage.

A unique feature of …