The Sequestration: Lal Carbon Center Newsletter Summer 2024

Cover of The Sequestration Summer 2024Welcome to the 2024 Summer Edition of The Sequestration, containing in-depth news about events at the Lal Carbon Center (formerly C-MASC) this season.

Click here for a PDF version of this newsletter. 

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1. Top Stories

  1. Rattan Lal Receives the Gulbenkian Prize for Humanity

    The Gulbenkian Prize for Humanity honored three pioneers in sustainable agriculture this year, including Dr. Rattan Lal, Andhra Pradesh Community Managed Natural Farming, and the SEKEM collective. 

  2. Bayer and Our Carbon Efforts

    By Susana Diaz-Amaya

    Climate change is a pressing challenge for humankind with a significant impact on global food security. And when it comes to feeding thet world, healthy soil is key. For Bayer, regenerative agriculture is an outcome-based production model with the core goal of improving soil health, strengthening climate resilience, optimizing water use, and maintaining biodiversity. All this, while increasing yields to improve the economic and social well-being of farmers and their communities. 

  3. A Chance Encounter

    By Helga Flores Trejo

    Last May, I travelled to Brazil to attend a Bayer organized event in the context of the G20 meeting of the Agricultural Chief Scientists. The event inspired me with an outstanding display of innovations that are bringing decarbonization of agriculture to life – you can learn more about these innovations further below

2. In Memoriam

  1. Dr. Klaus Töpfer

    By Rattan Lal

    With deep sadness, I have learned that humanity has lost Dr. Klaus Töpfer, a global leader who supported research and awareness about the importance of soil for human well-being and nature conservation. Both professionally and personally, it was truly a great honor to know him and to work with his team to launch the Global Soil Week initiative.

3. Quarterly Viewpoint

  1. From the Desk of Professor João Carlos De Moraes Sá (Juca Sá)

    By João Carlos De Moraes Sá

    What lessons have we learned from Mother Nature about soil?

    Upon entering, walking through, and collecting a soil sample from any given geographical area under native vegetation, one will invariably encounter three basic scenarios: a) a soil surface permanently covered with organic material in the form of various residue types, b) a high diversity of plant and animal life, as well as microbial activity, meso and macrofauna, and c) a dark, soft, carbon-rich soil filled with roots, indicating optimal health. Are we following these lessons?

4. Center Updates

  1. Farm Bill Internship

    By Sonam Rustagi

    Last semester, I had the privilege to work on the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, with the majority leadership. This internship allowed me to better understand the legislative underpinnings of agricultural policy, and better understand the process of creating a Farm Bill. 

    I spent my time mostly working with the Title II Conservation team and the Title XI Crop Insurance team.

  2. C-FARM: Extension

    Dr. Murumkar and Ms. Oruganti to lead Extension component of the Carbon Farming Alliance for Research and Management (C-FARM) Project

    By Asmita Murumkar and Prasanna Oruganti

    Dr. Asmita Murumkar is an Assistant Professor and Ecosystems Services Field Specialist in the Department of Extension at the Ohio State University, brings extensive expertise in agroecosystem modeling, conservation practices, climate change and data analytics.

  3. OSU Extension Team Organizing Events to Educate Ag Communities About Carbon Farming

    By Asmita Murumkar

    Dr. Asmita Murumkar is leading the extension component of the Carbon Farming Alliance for Research and Management (C-FARM) project, alongside Dr. Elizabeth Hawkins, Mike Estadt, Heather Neikirk, and Prasanna Oruganti. They recently launched the first Carbon Academy event for OSU extension educators in April 2024. This event featured various principal investigators of the project covering a wide array of topics, including the basics of the carbon cycle, carbon farming for agricultural and forest lands, industry initiatives offering carbon credits, policy insights, and available tools for carbon management.

  4. C-FARM: Living Soils of the Americas

    By Carla Gavilan

    As a central factor of the Carbon Farming Alliance for Research and Management (C-FARM) project, monitoring changes in soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks is crucial for identifying sustainable land use practices related to climate change mitigation, food security, and land degradation. Accurately quantifying SOC and modeling its spatial variability is vital for making informed decisions. A major challenge in many developing countries is the lack of data to establish a solid basis for connecting changes in soil carbon sequestration with changes in agricultural activities. 

  5. C-FARM: Exploring Soil Dynamics

    A Research Update from the Lal Carbon Center

    By Md. Nayem Hassan Munna

    Over the past several months, my research as a PhD graduate student at The Lal Carbon Center has achieved significant progress. I have been conducting experiments on plots at Waterman Farm, where I collected core and bulk soil samples to assess the impact of various soil treatments. These treatments included the addition of compost, manure and cover crops.

  6. NIFA: Soil Microbiome Impact

    By Chinmayee Priyadarshini  

    PhD student Chinmayee Priyadarshini is working on the a National Institutite of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) study “Impacts of agricultural systems on the dynamics and functions of soil and tomato-associated microbiome and productivity,” with Dr. Xia Ye and Dr. Rattan Lal. The study focuses on improving the plant health and disease resistance via soil health management. The project aims at investigating the synergistic impact of cover crops, bio stimulants and fungicides on the soil aggregation, soil moisture retention and the C-N dynamics under tomato vegetation.

  7. Stark County Projects Updates

    By Lauren Baldarelli and Gunadhish Khanal

    Updates for The Stark Sustainable Soil Initiative, led by researcher Dr. Baldarelli and funded by Herbert W. Hoover Foundation, and Cover Crop Impacts on Soil Carbon Inferred by Modeling and Soil Optical Properties, led by researcher Dr. Khanal in collaboration with Kent State University.

  8. Special Presentation @ Ecology on Tap

    By Anna Kolganova

    On July 20th, I had the opportunity to present a talk at the Ecology on Tap event. The main goal of Ecology on Tap is to educate a lay audience on ecology topics and bring attention to major environmental issues. My presentation, titled “A Burp Away from a Climate Catastrophe,” focused on explaining and addressing a series of questions: What is the mechanism of climate change? How do dairy cows contribute to climate change?

5. Arrivals & Departures

  1. Welcome to the Center: Alexander Jones

    By Alex Jones

    Alexander M. Jones holds an M.S. in Environmental Studies with a focus on sustainable agroecological systems and a B.S in Environmental and Plant Biology from Ohio University. He previously served as Director of Cultivation where he helped design an award-winning controlled environment agriculture facility. Prior, he managed production at an all-year tropical greenhouse and nursery specializing in rare and exotic plants.

  2. Visitors from NHK

    The Lal Carbon Center was so pleased to welcome three filmmakers from Japan – Shu Hirayama, Nagamitsu Endo, and Kazue Shirai – who visited the Center to interview Dr. Rattan Lal for an upcoming documentary about chernozems for the Japanese Broadcasting Company, Nippon Hōsō Kyōkai (NHK).

    We hope that our guests had a lovely time speaking with our Center Members, recording with Dr. Lal in the field, and listening to a lecture that he gave that week entitled “Soil and Ecosystem Services.” We are all so excited to see the final documentary when it is released next year! •

6. The Lal Carbon Center Near & Far

  1. MACS-G20

    May 15, 2024 • Brasília, Brazil

    At the annual Meeting of Agricultural Chief Scientists for the G20 countries (MACS-G20), Dr. Lal addressed attendees with a lecture entitled Global Environmental and Food Security: Importance of Agriculture focused on the intersection of science, war, and the health of our planet: “Global peace is also a matter of science.”

  2. Meeting of Leaders of Rurality of the Americas

    Strengthening Rurality through Sustainable, Resilient, and Inclusive Production

    April 17, 2024 • San Jose, Costa Rica

    The first ever meeting of the Leaders of Rurality of the Americas was organized by the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) and held at its headquarters in San Jose, Costa Rica with 40+ leaders from more than 20 countries in attendance.

  3. 31st Dr. B.P. Pal Memorial Lecture

    May 29, 2024 • New Delhi, India

    This annual lecture is given in honor of esteemed Indian agronomist, Benjamin Peary Pal, who served as the director of the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), as well as the first Director General of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research.

  4. National Meeting of the Direct Planting System (FEBRAPDP)

    July 7, 2024 • Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil

    Dr. Lal addressed 800+ attendees at the National Meeting of the Direct Planting System in Brazil on July 7, 2024, and event held every two years for the Brazilian Federation of Direct Planting Systems (FEBRAPDP), with a lecture entitled Carbon Farming as the Pathway for Ecosystem Services and Nature-Positive Agriculture.

7. Quarterly Publications

  1. Sustainability Volume 16 Issue 13

    Handheld In Situ Methods for Soil Organic Carbon Assessment by Nancy Loria, Rattan Lal, and Ranveer Chandra is available in Sustainability Volume 16, Issue 13. 

    Article available here: go.osu.edu/in-situ

  2. List of Publications

    Refereed Journal Articles
    Chapters in Multi-Authored Books
    Keynote Presentations

  3. C-FARM: Soil Health Logbook

    The Lal Carbon Center and the Carbon Farming Alliance for Research and Management (C-FARM) are pleased to announce the launch of a new tool for farmers tracking the health of their soils. 

    Conceived by Dr. Rattan Lal and Healther Neikirk of the Stark Sustainable Soil Initiative (SSSI) with the input of C-FARM Co-PI Asmita Murumkar, the Soil Health Logbook is contains copies of the Ohio Soil Health Card designed by Alan Sundermeier for Extension at The Ohio State University. The Ohio Soil Health Card allows farmers to easily track key soil properites such as structure, crusting, drainage, nutrient levels, and organic matter. 

    Compiling several copies of the health card in one book allows farmers and agriculturalists to track soil health over several fields and seasons in a convenient manner. The book provides a straightforward soil-color chart to estimate soil organic content percentage, as well as detailed instructionsoh how to use the soil health card, links to additional soil resources from Ohio State and Extension, some useful conversions, and pages for additional notes. A PDF version of the Soil Health Logbook will also be available online in the future. 

8. A Parting Thought

  1. A Bird in the Hand is Worth Two in the ... Helmet?

    Senior Researcher Klaus Lorenz spotted a guest outside Kottman Hall in early May of 2024. A robin chose a cozy bike helmet left by SENR students to lay her eggs in. By all accounts the babies safely hatched a few weeks later. Hopefully, they can grow up to become excellent stewards of their environment with the benefit of nearby education! 

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