Project Overview
Commodities
Practices
- Crop Production: conservation tillage, cover crops
- Education and Training: demonstration, farmer to farmer
- Natural Resources/Environment: carbon sequestration, riparian buffers
- Soil Management: soil quality/health
Abstract:
The Project’s goals included 1) support a collaborative training process to introduce Conservation Districts and technical partners to USDA planning tools that encourage adoption of conservation practices focused on on-farm carbon sequestration, build agriculture sustainability at the farm level, and cultivate farm resilience to more variable weather; 2) provide resources to NC Conservation Districts to establish Carbon Farm demonstrations designed to raise awareness of climate-resilient conservation practices through community engagement; and 3) foster development of producer networks to promote future information exchange on climate resilience benefits of agricultural conservation practices that promote on-farm carbon sequestration.
The Foundation partnered with the Carbon Cycle Institute, Cultivating Resilience, and the NC conservation partners to revise California’s Carbon Farm planning process for use in the Southeast, with a geographic focus targeting Southern Appalachian and NC conventional farming systems. The training introduced technical advisors to a set of NRCS-identified conservation practices that enhance soil health, increase per acre production values, and increase farm resilience to more variable weather while also reducing greenhouse gas emissions and increasing biological carbon sequestration (the capture and storage of carbon by plants and soil). Example sustainability agriculture (conservation) practices that are part of a soil health management system focused on increasing carbon sequestration include cover crops, no-tillage, riparian buffers, field borders, with conservation management practices including crop rotation and prescribed grazing. The project featured USDA climate change adaptation guidance, leveraged USDA Climate Hub resources, and taught participants how to use COMET-Planner, an online NRCS resource that assesses carbon sequestration at the farm level per conservation practice. The technical advisors targeted outreach to the conventional agricultural community, bringing an emphasis to agriculture sustainability in the Southeast.
In 2015, agriculture leaders in North Carolina formed the NC Adaptation Working Group (NC-ADAPT) to explore the potential benefits of coordinated statewide climate change adaptation planning for agriculture and forestry. This project addresses a top NC-ADAPT producer recommendation to develop planning tools with producer input that are adapted to NC physiographic provinces by piloting a conservation planning tool that is underutilized in the Southern Appalachians. The demonstration farmers will be active participants in the Carbon Farm planning process by working with a local technical advisor and their support team, noting the process benefits on their farm and recommending how to improve the process for other producers. Through regular evaluations, participants will help to tailor the training program. By placing a motived producer and the Conservation District in the center of the process with a demonstration farm, they serve as an information hub for future years and increase the number of producers learning about soil health and carbon sequestration. At the conclusion of the project, the western NC agricultural community will have the benefit of a knowledge sharing network made up of producers and technical advisors with experience in Carbon Farm planning and on-farm adoption of climate-resilient conservation practices. Project partners and supporters will leverage established networks to share information regarding adapting the Carbon Farm planning process throughout the Southeast.
This project faced many challenges beyond the pandemic. During August 2021, Tropical Storm Fred dropped more than 10 inches of rain in western North Carolina (with some areas having already received upwards of six inches of rain in the three days leading up to that). This created a flash flood emergency, left catastrophic damage (including for one of the champion farms) and severely affected the outcome of the program in the participating mountain teams. Early drafts of a carbon farm plan were crafted by five of seven teams by late 2021, however, with existing workload and then Tropical Storm Fred, attention was redirected to supporting recovery efforts. Additionally, two counties lost staff that originally went through the training. The replacement staff did not wish to participate so those two teams did not finish drafts of the plans. The Halifax team created their final draft of a plan for the champion farmer in Halifax County, in partnership with Roanoke Cooperative. This plan is in final review by technical staff and will be made public should the farmer be willing to do so. The Halifax team held a field day in March 2022 with 50 people at the demonstration farm. It was very well received by both participants as well as the host farmer. The Foundation created a video of the Halifax demonstration farm, which can be viewed here:
https://youtu.be/HUdB0Fn-Pfc and is in the process of creating an additional video to further showcase the farmer's soil health journey. Despite only one farm having received a carbon farm plan, all seven teams were able to install best management practices on farms to increase agriculture resilience and carbon sequestration opportunities. Carbon Cycle Institute has provided data to reflect the carbon sequestration potential of the installed best management practices on the 7 farms. Those results, along with the list and location of the best management practices, are included in the supporting documents.
Project objectives:
- Foster a Carbon Farm Planning process suited to the Southeast, adapted from an NRCS prototype that the California Resource Conservation Districts utilize.
1.a. Establish a design team to oversee training development and delivery, with the following organizations confirmed – Carbon Cycle Institute; Cultivating Resilience LLC; Organic Growers School; NRCS East Technology Center, Soil Health Division and the state office; NC Association of Conservation Districts; and the Thomas Jefferson Conservation District in Virginia.
1.b. Offer a series of webinars and in-field trainings to introduce the USDA tools that promote weather resilient farms to a class of 40 technical advisors, including those that will continue to grow the training capacity in the Southeast. Share the webinars to a broader audience by promoting and posting the presentations online.
1.c. Solicit input from the first class to inform adaptive management for future training offerings. Share lessons learned through Carbon Farm plans specific to classic North Carolina production systems. Recommend a Southeast prototype standard to NRCS state office.
- Provide resources to North Carolina Soil and Water Conservation Districts to establish Carbon Farm demonstration and promote agriculture resilience through broader community engagement.
2.a. Work with a minimum five Conservation Districts to engage a producer whose operation will serve as Carbon Farm demonstrations. Selected producers will be motivated to explore weather resilience, Greenhouse Gas reductions and carbon sequestration.
2.b. Complete a Carbon Farm Plan per demonstration farm. Embed the Carbon Farm Plan into an overall Conservation Plan that meets NRCS standards. Share a summary of the plans online.
2.c. Work with participating producers to secure state, federal, or private cost-share resources to implement a soil health management system and other conservation practices as recommended in the Carbon Farm plan.
- Foster development of producer networks to promote future information exchange through broader community engagement.
3.a. Offer field days and classroom style discussions with each Carbon Farm demonstration at the center of the events; an estimated attendance impact is 250 overall, assuming an average of 50 attendees per outreach meeting.
3.b. Create a series of YouTube styled videos, focused on telling the story of participating producers and their local partners. Share the videos across online platforms and promote the resource at meetings across the broader conservation partnership.
3.c. Host a series of discussions with participating producers and producers solicited from the outreach events to solidify a producer network around agriculture resilience. Release a summary report on recommended best practices regarding building agriculture resilience farmer networks.