September Seminar: Soil Carbon Sink Demonstration Project with David Yarrow

September 21, 7:00pm    Carbon Sink Demonstration Project

Rockbridge Conservation (RACC) will host David Yarrow, an agronomist who will describe his Columbia, Missouri project on how to create soil carbon sinks.  Yarrow is leading a Citizen’s Science project that documents improvements in soil.

Soil provides our easiest, largest, and fastest way to drawdown carbon from the atmosphere. Soil is a media that supports and nurtures microbes, plants, and advanced organisms. Increasing organic content in soils has a cooling impact on the local climate.  By adopting practices that create soil carbon sinks, farmers can become Carbon Farmers. These farmers will play a pivotal role in sequestering carbon and reversing global heating. 

Yarrow has taught soil regeneration in his 30-year work with Northeast Organic Farmers Association.  In 2015, at COP 21, France set an international goal to increase soil carbon by .4% per year.  Yarrow’s demonstration project includes three plots that aspire for even higher numbers.  Plot 1 increases organic content by 3% per year for three years (for a total of 9%) by relying on importing soil amendments.  Plot 2 seeks to increase organic content by 1% per year for 9 years (for a total of 9%) by using seed mixes, transplant media, soil drench, and foliar sprays.  Plot 3 seeks to increase organic content by .5%/year over 10 years (for a total of 5%) by creating a Food Forest. This will demonstrate no-till techniques to re-carbonize soils under perennial crops, trees & shrubs. His talk will be given on Zoom. 

Read about Yarrow’s work: