GRAIN, USBI and the Biochar Carbon Revolution

Support for biochar adoption is no longer an underground phenomenon. The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and its Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) have developed several web-based tools to help users of biochar make the best use of it. There are different soil types, different biochar types and traits and different application rates. All of this may sound complicated but here we’re going to talk about the new online applications that can help you navigate these variables. This type of support is part of the effort to back wider adoption of biochar. Additionally, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and its Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) office now have financing programs (incentives in the form of payments) for agricultural producers in order to help them implement sustainable practices on their lands. In other words, the use of biochar will have financial support. And this is not going away anytime soon.

Prairie lands are under threat from habitat loss, invasive species, and agricultural intensification. When biochar is added to prairie conservation then carbon sequestration is included into the equation.

Mycorrhiza sounds like an opaque scientific word but it means fungal root or more specifically, fungi that have a symbiotic relationship with the roots of many plants. You may not know it because most of us have never seen mycorrhiza even though they can be found in soil all the time and everywhere. The fungi that typically develop mycorrhizal associations with plants are found underground. Many mycorrhizal fungi are symbiotic and so cannot succeed in nature for long periods of time without their host. Because the fungus and the plant have a symbiotic relationship, both gain from one another. The association has no negative consequences for either the host plant or the fungus. Ongoing research on soil, plants, mycorrhiza, and biochar suggests biochar’s porous structure provides shelter from fungal grazers and increases soil microbial diversity, promoting mycorrhizal interactions. 

At ARTi, we are always interested in advancing the science of biochar for environmental solutions. In collaboration with Rodale Institute, a leader in organic agricultural research, we recently had the chance to initiate a research project at their Midwest Organic Center in Marion, IA that addresses the question, “in a vegetable production system, what is the impact that biochar has on crop yield, nutrient leaching, and soil health?

Pure biochar, that is only the carbonized material, must be inoculated with nutrients by mixing it with compost or any other organic matter to unlock its full benefits in the garden or for farming or any other soil remediation project. Raw biochar lacks beneficial microbial life. By inoculating biochar, you infuse it with essential microbes that enrich the soil. 

Scott Booher’s Four Winds Farm began in April 2020 to amend their soil with compost and biochar to improve soil carbon content (increase organic matter), nutrient availability, structure, and biology. Together with ARTi, 16 cubic yards of DDG biochar was added to the farm soil along with 204 cubic yards of compost (200 cy of Miscanthus Compost and 4 cy of Chicken Litter Compost). DDG biochar is from dried distillers’ grain, a byproduct of the fermentation of corn. The compost and biochar added 24 US tons of organic carbon to the soil (2 tons from biochar and 22 from compost). This increased the organic matter from 2.98% to 6.04% in 3 years. Other positive results were also seen in soil pH and nutrient availability which we will detail.

Our now global civilization needs to change or the world we live on will change for us right under our feet. In fact, in many ways this has begun already. And we are not even just talking about climate change. We also mean soil health and biodiversity as well as where all of our waste products go. Like we said, all the behaviours behind these issues need to change or the change will happen for us.