South Carolina fescue farmers needed for climate-smart agriculture study

BLACKVILLE, S.C. - As United States farmers look for ways to improve productivity amid a changing climate, land-grant university researchers are joining forces to help grassland farmers enter the emerging carbon economy while enhancing yields and ecological benefits.

The researchers are engaged in a study focusing on forage systems in the Tall Fescue Belt. This region represents the core of fescue grassland agriculture in the southeastern United States.

Liliane Silva, assistant professor and Cooperative Extension Service livestock and forages specialist at the Edisto Research and Education Center (REC), is leading the charge for Clemson University.

"The goal of this project is to equip and empower grassland farmers to enter the carbon economy while enhancing operation resiliency and optimizing profitability, soil health and biodiversity," she said.

Silva is looking for South Carolina farmers with grazing livestock for the study. Participating farms will be compensated. Farmers can start enrolling in the program in March.

Grasslands are the single largest agricultural land use in the United States and agriculture's largest and most effective carbon-storage system. These lands also offer opportunities to make a strong, positive impact on agriculture across the region and foster engagement in emerging carbon markets.

Carbon markets are trading systems in which carbon credits are bought and sold. Several markets have emerged in the United States.

"Even modest changes in management practices can have a tremendous impact on soil carbon, greenhouse gas emissions and associated economic implications for producers," Silva said.

The study involves implementing management practices such as establishing native warm-season grasses, using prescribed burn, interseeding legumes as an alternative nitrogen source, improving grazing management and establishing a perennial pollinator buffer on participating farms in the fall. Other management practices used in the study include silvopasturing and amending soil with biochar or gypsum.

Installation and maintenance guidelines will be provided for each practice. Silva will collect data from participating farms to determine carbon accumulation and other responses to the practices implemented.

For information on how to participate in this study, contact Liliane Silva at [email protected]. Information can also be found at https://grasslandspartnership.org/.

This study is funded by a $30 million grant from the United States Department of Agriculture's Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities. In addition to Clemson University, other land-grant partners include the University of Arkansas, Alabama Cooperative Extension, University of Kentucky, University of Missouri, North Carolina State University, Purdue University, University of Tennessee, Tennessee State University, Virginia State University and Virginia Tech University.

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Corporate partners for this study are Tyson Foods, Inc., JBS Foods, Corteva, Farm Credit Mid-America, Ecosystem Services Marketing Consortium, American Forage and Grassland Council and the National Grazing Lands Coalition.

Also partnering in the project are the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, the United States Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, multiple state cattle associations, American and Tennessee Farm Bureau Federations, The Nature Conservancy, American Bird Conservancy, Monarch Joint Venture, National Bobwhite Conservation Initiative, Tennessee Department of Agriculture, Missouri Department of Conservation and Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation.