CASE 2: Corn Belt Soil Carbon & Other Options

Iowa Climate

Soil texture

Historic landcover 1840’s Current landcover 1990’s

Iowa’s Agriculture -2003 Livestock Principal Crop Area – 1st Hogs – 1st Eggs – 1st Milk – 12th Sheep – 9th Principal Crop Area – 1st Corn production – 1st (1.8 billion bu) Soybean production – 2nd (337 million bu) Alfalfa Hay – 4th Total Value of Agriculture – 3rd

Carbon Cycle Grain produced on farms is fed to livestock for meat, eggs, or milk Product is exported for consumption Manure is applied to land area as a “nutrient resource” Tillage systems are predominantly fall-chisel with spring operations, reduced tillage on less than 10% of cultivated area

21.2 MMTC yr-1 on 149 Mha cropland Century 21.2 MMTC yr-1 on 149 Mha cropland Paustian et al.

Land Use for C Sequestration Management Strategies

Corn Belt Soil Carbon & Other Options Biophysical Opportunities Baseline and Uncertainity: Joel Brown Permanence and Soil Equilibria: Tris West Economics and Policy Cathy Kling and Lyubov Kurkalova Implementation Experience Gordon Smith