Climate Friendly Farming – Final Report

Improving the Carbon Footprint of Agriculture in the Pacific Northwest

The WSU Center for Sustaining Agriculture & Natural Resources established the Climate Friendly Farming Project in 2003 with an initial grant from the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation.This report represents the culmination of research and assessment of the potential for improved management and technology deployment to reduce agricultural greenhouse gas emissions in the Pacific Northwest. The Report Summary provides overal context, research highlights and project acknowledgements, while the individual chapters under the project section headings provide extensive details on the work of the project team and our collaborators. The individual chapters have been published or submitted for publication in part or in whole to peer-reviewed scientific journals as well as other venues.

Report Summary

Executive Summary (pdf)

Project Summary (pdf)

Project Overview and Context (pdf). (Ch. 1) G. Yorgey, C. Kruger, D. Granatstein, C. Stöckle, D. Huggins, H. Collins, S. Chen, C. Feise, C. Frear, S. Higgins, C. MacConnell and K. Painter

Dairy Anaerobic Digestion (AD)

Introduction to Anaerobic Digestion (pdf). (Ch. 2) C. Frear and G. Yorgey

Economic Evaluation of Commercial Dairy Anaerobic Digester (pdf). (Ch. 4) C. Bishop, C. Frear, R. Shumway, and S. Chen

Development of Co-Digestion Software Models to Assist in Plant Design and Co-Digestion Operation (pdf). (Ch. 5) U. Zaher, R. Li, P. Pandey, T. Ewing, C. Frear and S. Chen

Pretreatment of AD-Treated Fibrous Solids for Value-Added Container Media Market (pdf). (Ch. 6) C. MacConnell, C. Frear and W. Liao

Phosphorous Recovery Technology in Conjunction with Dairy Anaerobic Digestion (pdf). (Ch. 7) Q. Zhao, T. Zhang, C. Frear, K. Bowers, J. Harrison, and S. Chen

Integrated Ammonia Recovery Technology in Conjunction with Dairy Anaerobic Digestion (pdf). (Ch. 8) A. Jiang, T. Zhang, Q. Zhao, C. Frear and S. Chen

Purification Technologies for Biogas Generated By Anaerobic Digestion (pdf). (Ch. 9) Q. Zhao, E. Leonhardt, C. MacConnell, C. Frear and S. Chen

Application of AD Dairy Manure Effluent to Fields and Associated Impacts (pdf). (Ch. 10) H. Collins, J. Streubel, C. Frear, S. Chen, D. Granatstein, C. Kruger, A. Alva and S. Fransen

Development of New Digester Technologies for Improved Adoption and Cost Reduction (pdf). (Ch. 11) C. Frear, W. Liao, Z. Wang, J. Ma, U. Zaher, T. Ewing, C. Li, L. Yu and S. Chen

Lessons Learned About Anaerobic Digestion (pdf). (Ch. 12) C. Kruger and C. Frear.

Dryland Cropping System

Dryland Agriculture’s Impact on Soil Carbon Sequestration in the Pacific Northwest (pdf). (Ch. 13) T. Brown and D. Huggins

Field Heterogeneity of Soil Organic Carbon and Relationships to Soil Properties and Terrain Attributes (pdf). (Ch. 14) D. Huggins and D. Uberuaga

Comparative Analysis of Nitrous Oxide Fluxes in Dryland Cropping Systems (pdf). (Ch. 15) D. Huggins and S. Higgins

Site-Specific N Management for Direct-Seed Cropping Systems (pdf). (Ch. 16) D. Huggins

Yield, Protein and Nitrogen Use Efficiency of Spring Wheat: Evaluating Field-Scale Performance (pdf). (Ch. 17) D. Huggins, W. Pan and J. Smith

Irrigated Cropping System

Monitoring Carbon Sequestration and Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Irrigated AgroEcosystems. (Ch. 18) H.Collins

Monitoring Soil Carbon Pools and Fluxes Following Land Conversion to Irrigated Agriculture in a Semi-arid Shrub Steppe Ecosystem (pdf). (Ch. 19) R. Cochran, H. Collins, A. Kennedy and D.Bezdicek

Reduced Tillage in an Irrigated Potato Rotation (pdf). (Ch. 20) H. Collins, A. Alva and R. Boydston

Greenhouse Gas Fluxes from Irrigated Sweet Corn (Zea mays L.) and Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) (pdf). (Ch. 21) H. Collins, S. Haile-Mariam and S. Higgins

Bioenergy

Bioenergy as an Agricultural GHG Mitigation Strategy in Washington State (pdf). (Ch. 22) G. Yorgey, C. Kruger, H. Collins, C. Frear, D. Huggins, C. MacConnell and K. Painter

Biophysical and Economic Modeling

CropSyst Simulation of the Effect of Tillage and Rotation on the Potential for Carbon Sequestration and on Nitrous Oxide Emissions in Eastern Washington (pdf). (Ch. 23) C. Stöckle, S. Higgins, A. Kemanian, R. Nelson, D. Huggins, H. Collins, K. Painter, J. Marcos and H. Collins

An Economic Analysis of the Potential for Carbon Credits to Improve Profitability of Conservation Tillage Systems Across Washington State (pdf). (Ch. 24) K. Painter

Life Cycle Assessment of the Potential Carbon Credit from No- and Reduced-Tillage Winter Wheat in the U.S. Northwest (pdf). (Ch. 25) U. Zaher, C. Stöckle, K. Painter, and S. Higgins

C-Farm: A Simple Model to Evaluate the Carbon Balance of Soil Profiles (pdf). (Ch. 26) A. Kemanian and C. Stöckle

Soil Carbon Under Dryland Agriculture in the Columbia Basin of the Pacific Northwest as Assessed by C-Farm (pdf). (Ch. 27) C. Stöckle, A. Kemanian, D. Huggins, S. Higgins

Report Citation

Kruger, C., G. Yorgey, S. Chen, H. Collins, C. Feise, C. Frear, D. Granatstein, S. Higgins, D. Huggins, C. MacConnell, K. Painter, C. Stöckle. 2010. Climate Friendly Farming: Improving the Carbon Footprint of Agriculture in the Pacific Northwest. CSANR Research Report 2010-001. Washington State University: Climate Friendly Farming Final Report.

This Project was funded in large part by a grant from the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation.