Envu, USGS Look At Pasture Management & Carbon

A new collaborative study from Envu and the United States Geological Survey shows the impact of annual grass invasion on soil carbon loss in American rangelands.

“What they found was during this very exhaustive study that when an ecosystem converts to an annual grass monoculture or an annual grass ecosystem, if you will, we lose up to 49% of the carbon, which could equal 75 metric tons per acre of carbon that was once very stable and sequestered in that soil," said Justin Hossfeld, a sixth-generation rancher from Wyoming, and national sales manager for Envu Range & Pasture.  "These perennial plants have a very deep, long root system, and they can nodulize that carbon, very stablely and very deep.  But, when the annual grasses move in and they start to remove that perennial presence or reduce that perennial presence, then that carbon starts to become at risk and be exposed.”

Hossfeld noted this study took a much deeper look at the soil, rather than the typical 30cm, looking at depths of three meters.

“Grazing actually promotes the plant to regrow, and when a plant regrows, it puts on more roots," he pointed out.  "And so, it actually has more of a warehouse underneath. But it needs to be proper, proper and sustainable grazing.  So, when we take a look at like our product, Rejuvra, which can help us stop that invasion and stop that conversion from, from a perennial system to an annual system, that along with targeted well managed grazing, can help that perennial ecosystem create that warehouse underground and start to put that carbon back.”

Hossfeld added this study will better equip ranchers to continue being professional stewards of the land.

“If we're not a good steward of that land, we're not profitable and we've always been in that space, for generations we've been in that space.  And so this is going to give ranching a great opportunity to show that when we introduce these kind of management systems and when we do our job correctly, we are a great stakeholder. And we are, we are going to be that key entity in here to help protect our ecosystem and protect our environment.” 

Click Here to read that study.  And if you have specific questions for your property, or you'd like to learn more about Envu, you can chat with Hossfeld in person.  He’ll be at the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association's annual meeting in Pendelton December 5th-7th.

If you have a story idea for the PNW Ag Network, call (509) 547-1618, or e-mail glenn.vaagen@townsquaremedia.com