Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Marginal cost to increase soil organic carbon using no-till on U.S. cropland

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Recent global agreements on greenhouse gas emission reductions have reinforced the need to develop cost-effective offset programs that can be implemented to help augment emission reductions. One approach to offset carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions may be to increase soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks by reducing soil disturbance by changing from conventional tillage (CT) to no tillage (NT). In this analysis, the cost to increase SOC sequestration achieved on cropland by changing from CT to NT is estimated. The marginal cost of increasing SOC is determined by the amount SOC can be increased and the difference in profit of changing from conventional to no-till. Landowner costs and profit are derived from crop enterprise budgets, county yield data, and regional crop prices. A risk factor is also used to increase the cost of no-till adoption to account for the apparent reluctance of landowners to adopt no-till. The SOC sequestration potential on corn (Zea mays) and soybean (Glycine max) cropland combined is about 49.1 Tg CO2 year−1 (1 Tg = 1012 g) of which 47.6 Tg CO2 year−1 (nearly 97%) could be attained for less than $20-Mg−1 CO2 (1 Mg = 106 g). When the risk factor is included in the assessment, over 19.7 Tg CO2 year−1 could be attained for less than $20-Mg−1 CO2. The analysis demonstrates that SOC sequestration through changes from CT to NT on corn and soybean land could economically offset a portion of CO2 emissions.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abreu SL, Godsey CB, Edwards JT, Warren JG (2011) Assessing carbon and nitrogen stocks of no-till systems in Oklahoma. Soil Tillage Res 117:28–33

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Antle J, Capalbo S, Mooney S, Elliot ET, Paustian KH (2001) Sensitivity of carbon sequestration costs to soil carbon rates. Environ Pollut 116:413–422

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Antle JM, Capalbo SM, Paustian K, Kamar Ali M (2007) Estimating the economic potential for agricultural soil carbon sequestration in the Central United States using an aggregate econometric-process simulation model. Clim Chang 80:145–171

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boden TA, Marland G, Andres RJ (2017) Global, regional, and national fossil-fuel CO2 emissions. Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Department of Energy, Oak Ridge. https://doi.org/10.3334/CDIAC/00001_V2017

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Bruce JP, Frome M, Haites E, Janzen H, Lal R, Paustian K (1999) Carbon sequestration in soils. J Soil Water Conserv 54:382–389

    Google Scholar 

  • Cole CV, Flach K, Lee J, Sauerbeck D, Stewart B (1993) Agricultural sources and sinks of carbon. Water Air Pollut 70:111–122

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • DeFelice MS, Carter PR, Mitchell SB (2006) Influence of tillage on corn and soybean yield in the United States and Canada. Crop Management 5(1). https://doi.org/10.1094/CM-2006-0626-01-RS

  • De La Torre Ugarte DG, Hellwinckel CM, Larson JA (2004) Enhancing agriculture’s potential to sequester carbon: a framework to estimate incentive levels for reduced tillage. Environ Manag 33(1):S229–S237

    Google Scholar 

  • Derpsch R, Friedrich T, Kassam A, Hongwen L (2010) Current status of adoption of no-till farming in the world and some of its main benefits. Int J Agric Biol Eng 3(1):1–25. https://doi.org/10.3965/j.issn.1934-6344.2010.01.001-025

  • Diagana B, Antle J, Stoorvogel J, Gray K (2007) Economic potential for soil carbon sequestration in the Nioro region of Senegal’s Peanut Basin. Agric Syst 94:26–27. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2005.08.010

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Doraiswamy PC, McCarty GW, Hunt ER Jr, Yost RS, Doumbia M, Franzluebbers AJ (2007) Modeling soil carbon sequestration in agricultural lands of Mali. Agric Syst 94:63–74. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2005.09.011

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • EIA (2015) Frequently asked questions: how much carbon dioxide is produced per kilowatthour when generating electricity with fossil fuels? Online available at https://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.php?id=74&t=11. Accessed 17 Feb 2016

  • EIA (2016) US energy-related carbon dioxide emissions in 2015 are 12% below their 2005 levels. Available at https://wwweiagov/todayinenergy/detailphp?id=26152 Accessed 10 Aug 2016

  • Eve MD, Paustian K, Follett R, Elliot ET (2001) A national inventory of changes in soil C from National Resources Inventory Data. In: Lal R, Kimble JM, Follett RF, Stewart BA (eds) Assessment methods for soil C. Lewis Publishers, Boca Raton, pp 593–610

    Google Scholar 

  • Eve MD, Sperow M, Howerton K, Paustian K, Follett RF (2002) Predicted impact of management changes on soil carbon stocks for each agricultural region of the conterminous US. J Soil Water Conserv 57(4):196–204

    Google Scholar 

  • Federal Register (2015) Carbon pollution emission guidelines for existing stationary sources: electric utility generating units; Final Rule Fed Reg 64661–65120 (October 23, 2015) Print (available at https://wwwgpogov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2015-10-23/pdf/2015-22842pdf, Accessed 15 March 2016)

  • Franzluebbers AJ (2010) Achieving soil organic carbon sequestration with conservation agricultural systems in the southeastern United States. Soil Sci Soc Am J 74:347–357

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • González-Ramírez J, Kling CL, Valcu A (2012) An overview of carbon offsets from agriculture. Ann Rev Resour Econ 4:145–160

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grace PR, Aggarwal AJ, PK OS, Paustian K, Basso B (2012) Soil carbon sequestration and associated economic costs for farming systems of the Indo-Gangetic Plain: a meta-analysis. Agric Ecosyst Environ 146:137–146

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Horowitz J, Ebel R, Ueda, K (2010) “No-till” farming is a growing practice. USDA-ERS Economic Information Bulletin Number 70

  • Huggins DR, Reganold JP (2008) No-till: the quiet revolution. Scientific American, July (2008), 70–77

  • IPCC (1997) Revised 1996 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories reporting instructions (volume 1). In Houghton JT, Meria Filho LG, Lim B, Treanton K, Mamaty I, Bonduki Y, Griggs DJ, and Callender BA (eds), Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

  • IPCC (2005) In: Metz B, Davidson O, de Coninck HC, Loos M, Meyer LA (eds) IPCC special report on carbon dioxide capture and storage. Prepared by Working Group III of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge and New York 442 pp

    Google Scholar 

  • IPCC (2006) In: Eggleston HS, Buendia L, Miwa K, Ngara T, Tanabe K (eds) 2006 IPCC guidelines for national greenhouse gas inventories. Prepared by the National Greenhouse Gas Inventories Programme. Published: IGES, Japan

    Google Scholar 

  • Knowler D, Bradshaw B (2007) Farmers’ adoption of conservation agriculture: a review and synthesis of recent research. Food Policy 32:25–48

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kumar S, Kadono A, Lal R, Dick W (2012) Long-term no-till impacts on organic carbon and properties of two contrasting soils and corn yields in Ohio. Soil Sci Soc Am J 76:1798–1809

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lal R, Kimble JM, Follett RF, Cole CV (1998) The potential of US cropland to sequester carbon and mitigate the greenhouse effect. Sleeping Bear Press, Inc, Chelsea

    Google Scholar 

  • Lal R, Follett RF, Kimble J, Cole CV (1999) Managing US cropland to sequester soil carbon. J Soil Water Conserv 54:374–381

    Google Scholar 

  • Lam SK, Chen D, Mosier AR, Rousch R (2013) The potential for carbon sequestration in Australian agricultural soils is technically and economically limited. Sci Rep 3:2179. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep02179

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lewandrowski J, Peters M, Jones C, House R, Sperow M, Eve M, Paustian K (2004) Economics of sequestering carbon in the US agricultural sector. USDA-ERS Technical Bulletin Number 1909, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • López-Fando C, Pardo MT (2011) Soil carbon storage and stratification under different tillage systems in a semi-arid region. Soil Tillage Res 111:224–230

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Manley J, van Kooten GC, Moeltner K, Johnson DW (2005) Creating carbon offsets in agriculture through no-till cultivation: a meta-analysis of costs and carbon benefits. Clim Chang 68:41–65

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCarl B, Schneider U (2001) Greenhouse gas mitigation in US agriculture and forestry. Science 294:S2481–S2482

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Merkel TC, Lin H, Wei X, Baker R (2010) Power plant post-combustion carbon dioxide capture: an opportunity for membranes. J Membr Sci 359(1-2):126–139. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.memsci.2009.10.041

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mishra U, Torn MS, Masanet E, Ogle SM (2012) Improving regional soil carbon inventories: combining the IPCC carbon inventory method with regression kriging. Geoderma 189-190:288–295

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nielsen ASE, Plantinga AJ, Alig RJ (2014) New cost estimates for carbon sequestration through afforestation in the United States. USDA Forest Service General Technical Report PNW-GTR-888, March 2014

  • Nordhaus W (2014) Estimates of the social cost of carbon: concepts and results from the DICE-2013R model and alternative approaches. J Assoc Environ Resour Econ 1(1/2):273–312

    Google Scholar 

  • Nusser SM, Goebel JJ (1997) The National Resources Inventory: a long-term multi-resource monitoring programme. Environ Ecol Stat 4:181–204

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Olsson A, Campana PE, Lind M, Yan J (2014) Potential for carbon sequestration and mitigation of climate change by irrigation of grasslands. Appl Energy 136:1145–1154. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2014.08.025

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parton WJ, Schimel DS, Ojima DS, Cole CV (1994) A general model for soil organic matter dynamics: sensitivity to litter chemistry, texture and management. In: Bryant RB, Arnold RW (eds) Quantitative modeling of soil forming processes. SSSA Special Publication 39 Soil Science Society of America, Madison, pp 147–167

    Google Scholar 

  • Paustian K, Andren O, Janzen HH, Lal R, Smith P, Tian G, Tiessen H, Noordwijk MV, Woomer PL (1997a) Agricultural soils as a sink to mitigate CO2 emissions. Soil Use Manag 13:230–244

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Paustian K, Collins HP, Paul EA (1997b) Management controls on soil carbon. In: Paul EA, Paustian K, Elliot ET, Cole CV (eds) Soil organic matter in temperate agroecosystems: long-term experiments in North America. CRC Press, Boca Raton, pp 15–49

    Google Scholar 

  • Pittelkow CM, Linquist BA, Lundy ME, Liang X, van Groenigen KJ, Lee J, van Gestel N, Six J, Venterea RT, van Kessel C (2015) When does no-till yield more? A global meta-analysis. Field Crop Res 183:156–168. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fcr.2015.07.020

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Powlson DS, Bhogal A, Chambers GJ, Koleman K, Macdonald AJ, Goulding KWT, Whitmore AP (2012) The potential to increase soil carbon stocks through reduced tillage or organic material additions in England and Wales: a case study. Agric Ecosyst Environ 146:23–33

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Six J, Ogle SM, Breidt FJ, Conant RT, Mosiers AR, Paustian K (2004) The potential to mitigate global warming with no-tillage management in only realized when practiced on the long-term. Glob Chang Biol 10:155–160

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith P, Powlson DS, Glendining MJ, Smith JU (1998) Preliminary estimates of the potential for carbon mitigation in European soils through no-till farming. Glob Chang Biol 4:679–385

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sperow M (2007) The marginal costs of carbon sequestration: implications of one greenhouse gas mitigation activity. J Soil Water Conserv 62(6):367–375

    Google Scholar 

  • Sperow M (2014) An enhanced method for using the IPCC approach to estimate soil carbon storage potential on U.S. agricultural soils. Agric Ecosyst Environ 193:96–107

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sperow M (2016) Estimating soil carbon sequestration potential on US agricultural topsoils. Soil Tillage Res 155:390–400

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sperow M, House RM, Paustian K, Peters M (2002) Economic feasibility of soil C sequestration in US agricultural soils. In: Kimble J, Lal R, Follett R (eds) Agriculture practices and policies for carbon sequestration in soil. Lewis Publishers, Boca Raton, pp 337–348

    Google Scholar 

  • Sperow M, Eve M, Paustian K (2003) Potential soil C sequestration on U.S. agricultural soils. Clim Chang 57:319–339

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • The White House (2016) United States mid-century strategy for deep decarbonization. Available at https://wwwwhitehousegov/sites/default/files/docs/mid_century_strategy_report-finalpdf, Accessed 28 Nov 2016

  • Toliver EK, Larson JA, Roberts RK, English BC, De LaTorre Ugarte DG, West T (2012) Effects of no-till on yields as influenced by crop and environmental factors. Agron J 104:530–541

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) (2016) Paris agreement. Text Available at http://unfcccint/paris_agreement/items/9485php Accessed 20 April 2016 ALSO http://www.cop21gouvfr/en/195-countries-adopt-the-first-universal-climate-agreement/).

  • USDA-ERS (2000) Farm resource regions. Agricultural Information Bulletin Number 760, Washington, DC (available at http://webarchivescdliborg/waybackpublic/UERS_ag_1/20111128200045/http://wwwersusdagov/publications/aib760/aib-760pdf, Accessed 2 Febr 2015)

    Google Scholar 

  • USDA-ERS (2010) Agricultural resource management survey (ARMS): resource regions. Available at http://webarchivescdliborg/waybackpublic/UERS_ag_1/20111128195215/http:/wwwersusdagov/Briefing/ARMS/resourceregions/resourceregionshtm, Accessed 2 Febr 2015

  • USDA-NASS (2013a) Agricultural statistics 2013. United States Government Printing Office, Washington, DC Available at http://wwwnassusdagov/Publications/Ag_Statistics/2013/chapter01pdf Accessed 5 May 2015

  • USDA-NASS (2013b) Agricultural statistics 2013. Available at http://quickstatsnassusdagov/ Accessed 24 Febr 2013

  • USDA-NASS (2014) Agricultural resource management survey US Soybean Industry. NASS Highlights, No 20141. Available at http://wwwnassusdagov/Surveys/Guide_to_NASS_Surveys/Ag_Resource_Management/ARMS_Soybeans_Factsheet/ARMS_2013_Soybeanspdf, Accessed 8 June 2015

  • USDA-NRCS (1994) 1992 National resources inventory digital data United States Department of Agriculture. Natural Resources Conservation Service, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • USDA-NRCS (2014a) Environmental quality incentives program. Available at http://www.nrcsusdagov/wps/portal/nrcs/main/national/programs/financial/eqip/, Accessed 19 Febr 2014

  • USDA-NRCS (2014b) FOTG (field office technical guide) county locator. Available at http://efotgscegovusdagov/efotg_locatoraspx Accessed 19 Febr 2014

  • US-DOE (US Department of Energy) (2015) US carbon storage Atlas, fifth edition. Available at http://wwwnetldoegov/File%20Library/Research/Coal/carbon-storage/atlasv/ATLAS-V-2015pdf Accessed 5 Nov 2016

  • US-EPA (2015a) The emissions & generation resource integrated database (eGRID). Available at https://wwwepagov/energy/egrid, Accessed 13 Oct 2015

  • US-EPA (2015b) The social cost of carbon. EPA Fact Sheet, available at https://www3epagov/climatechange/Downloads/EPAactivities/social-cost-carbonpdf Accessed 17 Oct 2015

  • US-EPA (2016a) Inventory of US greenhouse gas emissions and sinks: 1990–2014. Report EPA 430-R-16-002. Available at https://wwwepagov/sites/production/files/2016-04/documents/us-ghg-inventory-2016-main-textpdf, accessed 15 Nov 2016

  • US-EPA (2016b) Clean power plan for existing power plants. Available at https://wwwepagov/cleanpowerplan/clean-power-plan-existing-power-plants Accessed 18 April 2016

  • Varner BT, Epplin FM, Strickland GL (2011) Economics of no-till versus tilled dryland cotton, grain sorghum, and wheat. Agron J 103:1329–1338

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Varvel GE, Wilhelm WW (2011) No-tillage increases soil profile carbon and nitrogen under long-term rainfed cropping systems. Soil Tillage Res 114:28–36

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Villarino SH, Studdert GA, Laterra P, Cendoya MG (2014) Agricultural impact on soil organic carbon content: testing the IPCC carbon accounting method for evaluations at county scale. Agric Ecosyst Environ 185:118–132. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2013.12.021

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Virto I, Barré P, Burlot A, Chenu C (2012) Carbon input differences as the main factor explaining the variability in soil organic C storage and no-tilled compared to inversion tilled agroecosystems. Biogeochemistry 108:17–26

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Funding

This work was supported by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Hatch Project 1014586. Scientific Article No. 3335 of the West Virginia Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station, Morgantown, WV. Funding for this research was partially provided by a grant from the United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service and the West Virginia Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Natural Resources, West Virginia University, P.O. Box 6108, Morgantown, WV, 26508-6108, USA

    Mark Sperow

Authors
  1. Mark Sperow
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mark Sperow.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Sperow, M. Marginal cost to increase soil organic carbon using no-till on U.S. cropland. Mitig Adapt Strateg Glob Change 24, 93–112 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11027-018-9799-7

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11027-018-9799-7

Keywords

Search

Navigation