Carbon Farming
A Holistic Review of Efforts to Maximize Carbon Sequestration in Agriculture
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.58445/rars.1737Keywords:
carbon farming, carbon sequestration, soil carbon sequestrationAbstract
Agriculture is ripe with opportunities for carbon capture and sequestration. Carbon farming refers to the management of agricultural land in order to maximize the storage of carbon in soil. Not only does carbon farming have the potential to offset its own sectoral emissions, but it can potentially compensate for emissions in other sectors. This paper synthesizes previous studies on carbon farming to measure its efficacy as a method to sequester carbon. It finds that carbon farming is largely beneficial but requires the implementation of broader incentives and education in order to make it successful in the United States. The paper will discuss additional benefits of carbon farming besides sequestration, including increased biodiversity, the cultural connections that carbon farming techniques encourage, and profits through the carbon market. Obstacles to the mass adoption of carbon farming include accessibility, cost, and education. Additionally, the paper will outline future suggestions towards increasing the implementation of carbon farming–including an increase in government-funded incentives and information surrounding how to participate in the carbon market.
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