The Dirt by Loam : Recent Episodes
Dan Reid
Brought to you by Loam, 'The Dirt' takes a closer look at how new technologies, science, and land management strategies can increase soil organic carbon (SOC) and turn your dirt into healthy agricultural soils. Dan Reid from the Loam Carbon Markets team talks to our Loam Carbon Agronomists about the basics of increasing carbon build, integrating new technologies on-farm, and participating in carbon projects and markets.
Loam’s Dan Reid is chats with Loam's first SecondCrop grower Steve Nicholson, while at the Australian National Field Days at Borenore near Orange.
Steve farms at Wirrinya, in-between Forbes and Grenfell in the central west of NSW. Steve spent many years as District Agronomist with the Department of Agriculture and has been farming at Wirrinya for the past 22 years.
Steve is the first grower to partner with Loam in a SecondCrop soil carbon project, with the program launching this year. Steve applied CarbonBuilder Canola and CarbonBuilder Barley to his crops this year, and just begun harvest, eager to see the results in yield and soil carbon build.
This episode covers:
- How the crops in Steve's Second Crop Soil Carbon Project are looking with harvest just begun
- Building soil carbon is a combination of several on farm practices with carbon builder a key cog in the wheel
- Steve had a tour through Loam's Soil Lab
- What Steve's experience as the first grower in the first year of SecondCrop soil carbon projects has been like
Please send in your curly carbon questions to the team through twitter, facebook or instagram.
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Dan talks to Torben Heinzel about all the Steps in a SecondCrop Carbon Project.
Grower Feasibility Survey, Meet with Loam, Mapping, Land Management Strategy, Eligible Land Management Activities, Contract with Loam, Register with the Clean Energy Regulator, Farm Emissions Profile, Baseline Soil Sampling, T1 Soil Sampling and ACCU credits.
Link to Grower Feasibility Survey
Calculation for soil organic carbon
Using a measure of bulk density the amount of carbon per hectare in a given depth of soil can be calculated as shown.
The amount of organic carbon to 10cm depth in soil with a carbon value of 1.5% and bulk density of 1.3g/cm 3 is: 15 (g C/kg soil) x 1 300 000 (kg soil/ha) = 19.5t C/ha or 1.5 x 1.3 x 10 = 19.5t C/ha
Soil Carbon Project activities and eligibility requirements - Projects must introduce one or more of the following activities:
- apply nutrients to the land
- apply lime to remediate acid soils
- apply gypsum to remediate sodic or magnesic soils
- undertake new irrigation
- re-establish or rejuvenate a pasture by seeding establishing or pasture cropping
- establishing, and permanently maintaining, a pasture where there was previously no or limited pasture, such as on cropland or bare fallow
- alter the stocking rate, duration or intensity of grazing
- retain stubble after a crop is harvested
- convert from intensive tillage practices to reduced or no tillage practices
- modify landscape or landform features to remediate land
- use mechanical methods to add or redistribute soil
- use legume species in cropping or pasture system, or
- use a cover crop to promote soil vegetation cover or improve soil health or both.
CER - Clean Energy Regulator
ERF - Emissions Reductions Fund
Soil Carbon Projects Factsheet
Land Management Strategy
Estimating soil organic carbon sequestration using measurement and models method
Understanding your Soil Carbon Project
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**Loam’s Grower Communications Manager Dan Reid is out on farm at Canowindra, NSW with grower Stuart McDonald, who has entered into a carbon project with Loam to build soil carbon.
This episode covers:**
- Why did you decide to go into a carbon project with Loam?
- Why is building soil health important?
- What is enterprise stacking?
- What would you say to a farmer who wants to know more about carbon?
Please send in your curly carbon questions to the team through twitter, facebook or instagram.
Web www.loambio.com
Facebook www.facebook.com/LoamBio/
Twitter @loambio
Instagram @loambio
**Loam’s Grower Communications Manager Dan Reid chats to Loam’s Carbon Agronomists Guy Webb and Phil Peterson.
This episode covers:**
- What does Loam's endophyte fungi actually do to improve soil?
- How long does carbon last in the soil?
- How fast can I store carbon?
Please send in your curly carbon questions to the team through twitter, facebook or instagram.
Web www.loambio.com
Facebook www.facebook.com/LoamBio/
Twitter @loambio
Instagram @loambio
Loam’s Grower Communications Manager Dan Reid chats to Loam’s Senior Carbon Agronomist Phil Peterson.
Dan chats to Phil about some of the common questions that they hear from growers when discussing soil carbon.
This episode covers:
- What's the dirt on soil carbon?
- What is CO2e?
- Does tillage affect carbon stocks?
**Send in your curly carbon questions to the team through twitter, facebook or instagram.
Calculations**Soil Organic Carbon (%) x 10,000 (m2) x Bulk Density (g/cm3) x soil depth (m) = Tonnes SOC/ha
For more detail; https://www.soilquality.org.au/factsheets/organic-carbon
For example:
SOC 1.2%
BD 1.3g/cm3
Soil sample depth 100cm
1.2% x 10,000 (m2) x 1.3 (g/cm3) x 0.1 (m) = 1560T/ha
or a carbon build of 0.002%/yr
0.002% x 10,000m x 1.3g/cm3 x 0.1m2 = 2.6T SOC/ha/yr
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A short form casual chat with Loam’s Carbon Agronomists answering questions from growers about building soil carbon and improving the health of their soils.
Learn how to build the health of your soil to improve the health of your crops and reduce input costs. Loam’s Grower Communications Manager Dan Reid chats to Loam’s Senior Carbon Agronomist Phil Peterson.
Phil has over 30 years agronomic experience in Central and Southern NSW, and Northern Victoria specialising in soil and plant health working with broadacre cropping and pastures.
Phil says “building carbon in your soils is like building a ‘carbon silo’. You get to benefit from the stored carbon; through improved water infiltration and retention, greater nutrient availability for your crops and pastures, leading to improved production and savings on synthetic inputs. You can trade or bank the market value of the extra stored carbon, but the carbon never leaves your silo.”
Phil has experience in supporting growers who are looking to increase the carbon sequestration capability of their enterprise and building long-term stable carbon in their soils.
This episode covers
- What's the ‘dirt’ on soil carbon?
- What is CO2e?
- Does tillage affect carbon stocks?
Send in your curly carbon questions to the team through twitter, facebook or instagram.
From a grower's soil test or Loam's Lecco (dumas) machine OC%.
Soil Organic Carbon (%) x 10,000 (m2) x Bulk Density (g/cm3) x soil depth (m) = Tonnes SOC/ha
for more detail; https://www.soilquality.org.au/factsheets/organic-carbon
e.g.
SOC 1.2%
BD 1.3g/cm3
soil sample depth 100cm
1.2% x 10,000 (m2) x 1.3 (g/cm3) x 0.1 (m) = 1560T/ha
or a carbon build of 0.002%/yr
0.002% x 10,000m x 1.3g/cm3 x 0.1m2 = 2.6T SOC/ha/yr
Web www.loambio.com
Facebook www.facebook.com/LoamBio/
Twitter @loambio
Instagram @loambio
The Dirt is a short form podcast hosted by Loam’s Grower Communications Manager Dan Reid.
In this introductory episode, Dan chats to one of the founders of Loam in agronomist Guy Webb. Guy has decades of experience in the Australian grain farming industry, and has a real passion for ensuring farmers have healthy soils now and into the future.
This episode covers
- What Loam does
- Why the company was started
- Who the founders are that came together to form Loam
- How Loam can help farmers build soil carbon and be paid for it
Web www.loambio.com
Facebook www.facebook.com/LoamBio/
Twitter @loambio
Instagram @loambio
Loam’s Grower Communications Manager Dan Reid chats to Loam’s Senior Carbon Agronomist Phil Peterson.
Following on from the previous episode, Dan chats to Phil about some of the regular questions that they hear from growers when discussing soil carbon.
This episode covers
- How do you measure soil carbon?
- What’s the difference between Soil carbon & organic matter?
- Is carbon as important as NPK?
Send in your curly carbon questions to the team through twitter, facebook or instagram.
Web www.loambio.com
Facebook www.facebook.com/LoamBio/
Twitter @loambio
Instagram @loambio