Agroforestry: Working Trees for Carbon Sequestration on Ag-Lands

1. Agroforestry ~ Working Trees for Sequestering Carbon on Ag-Lands Michele Schoeneberger USDA, Southern Research Station National Agroforestry Center www.unl.edu/nac 9th North American Agroforestry Conference 12-15 June 2005 - Rochester, MN

2. DRAFT TECHNICAL GUIDELINES VOLUNTARY REPORTING OF GREENHOUSE GASES (1605b) PROGRAM OFFICE OF POLICY AND INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS UNITED STATE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY MARCH 2005 H: Agricultural Emissions and Sequestration I: Forestry Emissions and Sequestration U.S. Climate Change Strategy

3. DRAFT TECHNICAL GUIDELINES VOLUNTARY REPORTING OF GREENHOUSE GASES (1605b) PROGRAM OFFICE OF POLICY AND INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS UNITED STATE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY MARCH 2005 H: Agricultural Emissions and Sequestration I: Forestry Emissions and Sequestration OFFICE OF POLICY AND INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS UNITED STATE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY MARCH 2005 http://www.pi.energy.gov/enhancingGHGregistry/index.html

4. PNDSA/Entergy Carbon 2002 Agreement Attractive Agroforestry Attributesfor Carbon Sequestration • Pacific Northwest Direct Seed Association (grower-based organization) negotiated an agreement w/ Entergy • Leasing 30,000 tons of CO2 offset credits • Credits generated by the growers in PNDSA • Using direct seed methods for at least 10 years • PNDSA – aggregator (77 producers) & administrator

5. Feeds into future endorsement & investment U.S. Climate Change Strategy DRAFT TECHNICAL GUIDELINES VOLUNTARY REPORTING OF GREENHOUSE GASES (1605b) PROGRAM OFFICE OF POLICY AND INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS UNITED STATE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY MARCH 2005 H: Agricultural Emissions and Sequestration I: Forestry Emissions and Sequestration

6. Hey! Remember me?? Carbon? You want carbon??! Help! I’m getting squashed between these 2 giants!!! USDA’s Carbon Seq. Strategies Agriculture ~ Soil C Forests

7. no political foothold in either Under-Recognition of Agroforestry as a C-Seq. Option Attractive Agroforestry Attributesfor Carbon Sequestration • Limited information-base & tools compared to the decades-worth of investment & accomplishment in forestry & agriculture. • Not being at the policy/program formulation discussion tables. • Ecological foot in both worlds – but not strongly owned or promoted by either.

8. What about silvopasture? New Zealand (2001)~ “Potential Management Practices & Technologies for Reducing Carbon Dioxide Emissions from Agriculture” • Managing grazing land to increase carbon storage requires a larger portion of the carbon fixed in photosynthesis to be returned to the soil. • This is not economically viable as it means reduced product output relative to inputs.

9. DRAFT TECHNICAL GUIDELINES VOLUNTARY REPORTING OF GREENHOUSE GASES (1605b) PROGRAM OFFICE OF POLICY AND INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS UNITED STATE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY MARCH 2005 H: Agricultural Emissions and Sequestration I: Forestry Emissions and Sequestration

10. Agroforestry is n’t ---- Afforestation in that it does not convert agricultural lands to forests; Rather it leaves it in production agriculture.

11. Agroforestry is ---- ….a tree-based conservation/production option within agricultural land use.

12. Forestry-Science but Ag-Land Use: Implications Attractive Agroforestry Attributesfor Carbon Sequestration • Agroforestry, by definition of size, not being a big activity w/in forest land use mitigation strategies. • Those working in ag-lands, not looking to forest Land use activities, for use down on the farm. • Agroforestry practices that fully integrate tree/crop throughout the whole farm (i.e., silvopasture) may not be picked up by either!

13. Here, you do this. It involves trees! Here, you do this! It involves agriculture! FIA NRI USDA

14. Feeds into the Joint Ag-Forest GHG Inventory GHG Policy & Program FIA (USFS-Forest Inventory & Analysis) (USDA-NRCS Natural Resources Inventory) NRI

15. Strong soil emphasis Agricultural Sinks: Recommendations resemble the expertise of those brought to the advisory tables………..

16. CarbOn Management Evaluation Tool for Voluntary Reporting USDA NRCS, CSU and NREL http://www.cometvr.colostate.edu/

21. Reporting toolfor options Comparison toolof options

22. “Working Trees” • can address: • water/air/soil quality • wildlife habitat / fragmentation • econ. diversification • waste management • rural/urban interface • stormwater management

23. CO2 sink Reduction in CO2 emissions Carbon is a Co-Benefit!

24. Carbon Sequestration • Agriculture occurs on half the land in the contiguous U.S. • Opportunities to store carbon can occur through agroforestry on farms/ranches. • Big net gain of carbon per unit of land area

25. Agroforestry... Alley Cropping Silvopasture Forest Farming …Putting the right tree, in the right location, for the right reason. Riparian Forest Buffers Windbreaks

26. Road fatality/Vehicle pile-up: Nebraska City, NE 4/02 Dust Bowl ~ 1930’s Road pile-up/Injuries: Grand Junction, CO ~ 4/02 20 vehicle pile-up/Injuries: Burley, ID ~ 5/6/02 2 deaths/9 injuries: Beaver Crossing, NE ~ 5/22/02 3 deaths/Vehicle pile-up: Big Springs, NE ~ 8/22/02 Dust Storms - 2002 Wind Erosion ~

27. Woodlands /Specialty Products Riparian Buffers Waste Treatment Green Infrastructure Waterbreaks Agroforestry ~ Working Trees for Water Quality

28. Agroforestry as an Attractive Carbon Sequestering Practice • Multiple co-benefits • Permanence • Big net gain of carbon per land unit area • Generally no leakage/additionality issues

29. Carbon Pools1605(b) Voluntary GHG Reporting • Live trees • Understory vegetation • Standing dead trees • Forest floor • Soil carbon • Harvested materials (in use/burned for energy/emissions – not for energy) Easy Reliable Economical Default Tables

30. Aboveground: • Readily observed • Nondestructive • Equations • Belowground: • Not readily observed • Destructive • Chemical analyses • Highly variable

31. Carbon BalanceNE Pine Forest vs Grassland • Total ecosystem C increased from ~2,700 g/m2 in grassland to 10,800 g/m2 in the 70 yr-old forest. • Aboveground biomass in forest accounted for 90% of this increase. (Wedin, D. et al. 2000)

32. SOM Dynamics in Afforestation • (E.A. Paul et al. 2002, SSAJ Special Issue) • Up to 30% of seq-C may be in soil pools • -0.07 to 0.58 Mg/ha/yr afforested deciduous • -0.85 to 0.56 Mg/ha/yr afforested conifer

33. Major Carbon Sinks & Sources in Windbreaks

34. Agroforestry Carbon Pools1605(b) Voluntary GHG Reporting Easy Reliable Economical • Live trees • Understory vegetation • Standing dead trees • Forest floor • Soil carbon • Harvested materials (in use/burned for energy/emissions – not for energy)

35. Live Tree: • Readily observed • Majority of C sequestered • Baseline ~ ZERO • Cost-effective • Nondestructive via • equations

36. Biomass equations for “edge” forests

37. Trunk Branch Total Regional Forest Eq Shelterbelt Data/Eq Shelterbelt aboveground biomass (dry kg/100 m length) Trunk Branch Total Trunk Branch Total Figure 3 Comparison of regional forest-derived equations with shelterbelt-derived equations for shelterbelt network biomass estimations of individual species and the three species together. (Zhou, Brandle, Schoeneberger, Mize & Awada 2005)

38. John Kimble (USDA NRCS) “However, in most cases, policy development will go on without more research.” USDA Symposium on Natural Resource Management to Mitigate Greenhouse Gas Emissions – Nov 2002 Raleigh, North Carolina

39. John Kimble (USDA NRCS) “However, in most cases, policy development will go on without more research.” What do they need to know today? Realistic Potential

40. Agroforestry Potential in the Carbon Balance - Nebraska • Carbon Sequestration, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, & NE Agriculture-Background & Potential (Dec. 2001) • Rpt of the NE DNR to NE Unicameral - Recommendations of the NE Carbon Sequestration Advisory Committee

41. CO2 – million metric tons (at age 20) PRACTICE Field Windbreaks 11.7 – 23.4 Living Snowfences 5.4 – 10.8 Riparian Forest Buffers 9.2 – 18.4 Center Pivot Corners 15.1 – 30.2 TOTAL 41.4 – 82.8 mmt Agroforestry Potential to Store Carbon on Nebraska Farms

42. Carbon Sequestration Potential – 2 OptionsMead Farm – Nebraska (50 years) *COMeT (Brenner et al.)

43. Readily monitored/verified • Does not change land use • Provides OTHER benefits Carbon Sequestration Potential – 2 OptionsMead Farm – Nebraska (50 years) 5 7,416 *COMeT (Brenner et al.)

44. CO2 Group Limited/Origin Energy Carbon Agreement - (11/04) Attractive Agroforestry Attributesfor Carbon Sequestration • CO2 Limited – to supply carbon credits though to 2012 • Largest agreement in Australia -- $20 million • 6,500 ha. of eucalyptus plantations in NSW – “integrated with cereal cropping systems” • Plantings in place for 100+ years • Carbon + mitigation of salinity, biodiversity, soil conservation, water catchment protection & employment opportunities

45. EBEX21: Emissions/Biodiversity Exchange Project • Initiated in 2001 by Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research Institute in NZ • Fear of massive conversion of marginal agricultural lands to forest plantations • Catalyze business action on GHG emissions and restoration of biodiversity No Agroforestry

46. Attractive Agroforestry Attributesfor Carbon Sequestration • Identified agroforestry as an activity that “can sequester carbon and have beneficial effects on biodiversity because it creates more biologically diverse systems than conventional agricultural lands.” (Gitay et al. 2002)

47. Feeds into joint Ag-Forest GHG Inventory Proposal to use agroforestry definition (Gold et al. 2000) in combination w/ woody perennial crops as the basis for land with tree cover that should be considered cropland in GHG inventories.

48. Efforts being initiated to see how tree-based plantings can be incorporated “easily, reliably & economically” into COMET VR. Feeds into joint Ag-Forest GHG Tools (policy & program)

49. CO2 – million metric tons (at age 20) PRACTICE ? ? Field Windbreaks Living Snowfences Riparian Forest Buffers Center Pivot Corners TOTAL Agroforestry Potential to Store Carbon in Minnesota

50. Agroforestry ~ Working Trees for Sequestering Carbon on Ag-Lands Questions? 9th North American Agroforestry Conference 12-15 June 2005 - Rochester, MN