This document discusses climate change mitigation potential from USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) conservation practices on working lands. It provides background on climate change and agriculture's role. It then presents data on greenhouse gas reductions and carbon sequestration from various NRCS conservation practices implemented over time, such as conservation tillage, cover crops, and prescribed grazing. Finally, it notes the total estimated mitigation contribution from NRCS practices is between 100.4 to 113.6 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent annually.

1. CLIMATE CHANGE & NRCS CONSERVATION
PRACTICES ~ QUANTIFYING GHG
MITIGATION/CARBON SEQUESTRATION OF
WORKING LANDS CONSERVATION
Dr. Adam Chambers
Co‐Leader, Environmental Markets and Energy Team
USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)
adam.chambers@por.usda.gov

2.  Climate Change and the Role of US Agriculture
 NRCS Conservation Planning and Atmospheric‐
beneficial Conservation Practice Implementation
 Climate Change Mitigation Building Blocks and
numbers, numbers, more numbers

3. Global
Balance
Agriculture and Forestry – 2 x Exposed
Carbon
Sequestration and
GHG Mitigation
Climate Change
Adaptation
Less
Investment
Future
Don’t
Invest
Now
Modest
Investment
Now
More
Investment
Future

4. 1 China
10,385.54
2 United St at es
3 European Union (27)
4 European Union (15)
5 India
6 Russian Federat ion
7 Japan
8 Brazil
9 Germ any
10 Indonesia
11 Iran
12 Canada
13 Mexico
14 Korea, Rep. (Sout h)
15 United Kingdom
16 Au st ralia
17 Sou th A frica
18 France
19 Saudi Arabia
20 It aly
21 Spain
22 Ukraine
23 Turkey
24 Thailand
25 Poland
377.3
407.97
390.35
559.65
545.19
688.25
678.32
926.67
823.41
2,326.19
2,326.10
385.77
381.94
542.1
514.62
627.46
587.53
727
726.63
1,298.89
1,162.62
4,918.07
4,024.09
6,866.92
The U.S Ag. Sector –
528.7**
**Based on the World Resources Institute, Climate Data Explorer, 2010 data
on a GDP basis the U.S. Ag Sector would rank 28th according to World Bank 2007 GDP statistics
Conservation
Opportunity:
Grow food, fiber
and fuel - reduce
emissions?

5. 5

6. 6

7. 7
N
R
C
S
Secretary Vilsack’s Mitigation Building Blocks
NRCS Total Contribution: 100.4 – 113.6

8. Erosion Intensive tillage
Residue removal
Low Productivity
Soil organic
matter
CO2

9. Improved Agricultural Practices –
Reduce Emission and Sequester Carbon (and Adapt)
Conservation tillage
Conservation buffers
Cover crops
Improved rotationsSoil organic
matter
CO2
Avoided Grassland
Conversion

11. ACEP AMA AWEP BCAP CBWI CRP CStwP CTA‐GENRL CTA‐GLC EQIP EWP FRPP GRP RCD WF‐03 WF‐08 WFPO‐RECOV WHIP WRP TOTAL Applied
2004 ‐ 10 ‐ ‐ ‐ 97,841 ‐ 163,940 15 209,271 ‐ 59 ‐ ‐ ‐ 61 ‐ ‐ 384 471581
2005 ‐ 35 ‐ ‐ ‐ 57,402 ‐ 335,742 533 262,147 ‐ 215 ‐ 1 ‐ ‐ ‐ 202 673 656951
2006 ‐ 68 ‐ ‐ ‐ 154,598 ‐ 398,395 2,413 335,431 128 ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ 2,165 462 893660
2007 ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ 180,913 ‐ 372,948 1,588 455,014 ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ 237 ‐ 173 670 1011542
2008 ‐ 3,182 ‐ ‐ ‐ 75,380 ‐ 472,445 41 598,894 ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ 391 1,073 1151405
2009 ‐ 1,284 9,676 ‐ 37,420 21,999 ‐ 431,199 ‐ 549,026 ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ 203 3 245 548 1051603
2010 ‐ 188 43,206 ‐ 56,698 16,258 11,022 484,062 ‐ 642,784 ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ 47 75 1254340
2011 ‐ 1 47,979 ‐ 90,730 53,491 1,041 552,783 ‐ 558,235 ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ 921 189 1305370
2012 ‐ 169 35,487 158 7,933 101,402 9,362 581,448 ‐ 557,722 ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ 82,957 891 1377527
2013 ‐ 8 10,163 829 3,004 44,998 7,735 574,765 ‐ 237,366 ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ 7,077 790 886735
2014 ‐ ‐ 144 ‐ ‐ 37,252 18,958 442,550 ‐ 166,743 ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ 510 666156
2015 ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐
Data Source: NPAD REAP REAP NPAD REAP NPAD NPAD NPAD NPAD REAP NPAD NPAD NPAD NPAD NPAD NPAD NPAD REAP NPAD
Programs (Units for CPS 340 are Acres)
Year

12. 327 328 329 329A 329B 330 332 340 345 386 393 412 585 601 603 Total Acres (million)
2004 776,336 2,689,413 91,903 1,542,554 1,217,888 381,795 6,225 379,160 30,779 5,033,797 92,277 187,081 20,099 6 481 12.45
2005 591,040 4,439,166 88,653 2,798,412 2,274,731 590,704 9,719 605,253 49,386 12,396,854 70,030 333,690 41,921 9 929 24.29
2006 1,304,931 5,296,142 1,062,310 2,826,465 2,069,898 643,921 8,448 852,133 748,262 17,946,779 86,356 96,212 44,309 7 433 32.99
2007 2,512,293 5,628,567 2,202,965 1,761,250 1,067,756 584,013 5,189 899,585 1,497,304 16,055,864 61,580 82,305 47,654 10 2,726 32.41
2008 1,457,773 6,026,045 2,930,966 1,022,928 519,499 534,364 5,626 1,029,036 1,883,043 14,616,002 56,106 182,856 32,232 13 1,364 30.30
2009 925,776 5,468,473 2,787,249 330,331 209,443 456,527 5,095 996,047 1,749,939 784,335 36,611 79,226 29,559 15 622 13.86
2010 861,550 5,628,375 3,030,920 130,082 138,006 446,636 5,399 1,299,174 1,853,851 403,707 39,586 33,261 20,931 18 641 13.89
2011 1,635,511 5,764,554 2,772,390 93,837 69,505 413,915 4,897 1,439,695 1,656,550 665,639 30,503 74,151 34,303 28 178 14.66
2012 2,091,250 7,004,159 2,790,993 70,384 67,325 432,557 4,593 1,641,036 2,261,021 480,787 39,153 35,595 14,483 29 165 16.93
2013 1,760,805 5,803,935 2,537,013 43,246 38,622 375,438 3,305 1,705,239 1,478,865 153,578 25,172 22,510 18,092 51 344 13.97
2014 1,006,248 4,154,718 1,947,909 20,050 17,385 224,126 1,819 1,525,414 1,048,377 463,246 12,927 11,531 6,863 14 7 10.44
Year
NRCS Conservation Practices (units acres)
Historic NRCS Soil Health Practices (acres)

13. Grazing and Pasture Building Block Practices
512 Forage and Biomass Planting (ac)
528 Prescribed Grazing (ac)
528A Prescribed Grazing (ac)
381 Silvopasture Establishment (ac)
550 Range Planting (ac)
Grazing and Pasture
512 528 528A 550 381 Total Acres (million)
2004 237,435 1,248,818 9,111,552 189,733 ‐ 10.79
2005 1,032,928 5,284,086 10,170,269 291,564 37 16.78
2006 717,317 11,180,080 6,485,500 320,345 3 18.70
2007 1,098,064 15,438,900 5,694,440 419,720 150 22.65
2008 1,196,394 18,228,439 3,651,569 285,398 241 23.36
2009 474,613 18,056,280 1,934,040 164,475 346 20.63
2010 535,279 19,223,759 1,082,798 146,579 239 20.99
2011 360,118 20,073,370 685,273 142,260 496 21.26
2012 384,254 21,750,816 405,078 173,166 351 22.71
2013 331,692 19,303,762 196,452 166,139 271 20.00
2014 248,012 13,631,105 57,793 127,887 298 14.07

14. 14

15. 15
“Conservation Legacy Effect” Example
Forage and Biomass Planting (CPS512)
COMET-Planner Benefit = 0.37 TCO2e/ac/yr
1 acre in
ProTracts
1997 20022001200019991998
1 acre in
ProTracts
1 acre in
ProTracts
1
additional
acre in
ProTracts
Environmental Benefit by year
(in gray):
FY1997 = 0.37 TCO2e
FY1998 = 2 x 0.37
1
additional
acre in
ProTracts
1
additional
acre in
ProTracts
1
additional
acre in
ProTracts
FY1999 = 3 x 0.37
1
additional
acre in
ProTracts
1
additional
acre in
ProTracts
FY2000 = 2 x 0.37 + any
conservation legacy
((0.5 or 0.75 or 1.0)) *0.37)
Contract
Expired, this
acre is no longer
in ProTracts
Conservation
Legacy Explored
Contract
Expired, this
acre is no longer
in ProTracts
Conservation
Legacy Explored
Contract
Expired, this
acre is no longer
in ProTracts
Conservation
Legacy Explored
FY2001 = 1 x 0.37 + any
conservation legacy
((0.5 or 0.75 or 1.0) *0.37)
Contract
Expired, this
acre is no longer
in ProTracts
Conservation
Legacy Explored
Contract
Expired, this
acre is no longer
in ProTracts
Conservation
Legacy Explored
Contract
Expired, this
acre is no longer
in ProTracts
Conservation
Legacy Explored
FY2002 ONLY
conservation legacy
((0.5 or 0.75 or 1.0)
*0.37)

16. Creating an NRCS Inventory of GHG Emission Benefits and C Sinks from
Conservation Database 2004‐2014
(2015 coming soon)

17. The Secretary’s Building Block Goals compared to
Technical Mitigation Potential Literature

18. How do these results compare to
published literature?

19. 19
Comparing the NRCS Average Conservation Investment with Social Cost of
Carbon and Current Pricing in Carbon Markets

20. “Co-benefits” refers to the “non-climate benefits of GHG
mitigation policies that are explicitly incorporated into
the initial creation of mitigation policies.”
IPCC, Working Group III: Mitigation, 2001

21. 21

22. 22
END

23. 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
0.59 0.75 0.78 0.72 0.73 0.50 0.50 0.40 0.33 0.23 0.15
0.00 0.00 0.01 0.00 0.02 0.00 0.04 0.02 0.02 0.03 0.01
1.91 3.10 3.37 4.13 4.25 3.63 3.70 3.71 3.96 3.49 2.46
2.86 3.94 5.24 6.71 5.64 4.32 4.33 5.22 6.19 5.23 3.54
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
0.59 0.75 0.78 1.16 1.74 2.10 2.63 3.08 3.39 3.66 3.87
0.00 0.00 0.01 0.00 0.02 0.01 0.05 0.04 0.05 0.09 0.07
1.91 3.10 3.37 5.57 8.01 9.91 13.08 16.29 19.26 21.56 23.31
2.86 3.94 5.24 8.85 10.74 13.35 18.39 23.51 27.73 30.02 32.24Soil Health w/ Cons. Legacy
Nitrogen Management w/ Cons. Legacy
Livestock Partnership
Livestock Partnership w/ Cons. Legacy
Grazing Lands and Pasture Lands
Grazing Lands and Pasture Lands w/ Cons. Legacy
Soil Health
Nitrogen Management

24. 24

25. Previous work – Secretary’s Climate Mitigation Building Blocks
(2004‐Present)
ACEP AMA AWEP BCAP CBWI CRP CStwP CTA‐GENRL CTA‐GLC EQIP EWP FRPP GRP RCD WF‐03 WF‐08RECOV WHIP WRP TOTAL Applied
2004 ‐ 335 ‐ ‐ ‐ 97,841 ‐ 163,940 15 116,468 ‐ 59 ‐ ‐ ‐ 61 ‐ 58 384 379,160
2005 ‐ 672 ‐ ‐ ‐ 57,402 ‐ 335,742 533 209,741 ‐ 215 ‐ 1 ‐ ‐ ‐ 274 673 605,253
2006 ‐ 783 ‐ ‐ ‐ 154,598 ‐ 398,395 2,413 293,491 128 ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ 1,863 462 852,133
2007 ‐ 467 ‐ ‐ ‐ 180,913 ‐ 372,948 1,588 342,216 ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ 237 ‐ 546 670 899,585
2008 ‐ 1,366 ‐ ‐ ‐ 75,380 ‐ 472,445 41 478,567 ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ 166 1,073 1,029,036
2009 ‐ 2,309 1,268 ‐ 26,473 21,999 ‐ 431,199 ‐ 511,646 ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ 203 3 401 548 996,047
2010 ‐ 928 14,174 ‐ 42,157 16,258 11,022 484,062 ‐ 730,314 ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ 183 75 1,299,174
2011 ‐ 1,371 33,719 ‐ 92,588 53,491 1,041 552,783 ‐ 704,122 ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ 390 189 1,439,695
2012 ‐ 455 53,715 158 29,494 101,402 9,362 581,448 ‐ 811,673 ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ 52,439 891 1,641,036
2013 ‐ 103 61,308 829 13,454 44,998 7,735 574,765 ‐ 967,802 ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ 33,455 790 1,705,239
2014 ‐ 393 45,109 ‐ 6,407 37,252 18,958 442,550 ‐ 952,897 ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ 21,338 510 1,525,414
2015 ‐ 124 2,558 ‐ 591 ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ 167,859 ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ 75 ‐ 171,207
Data Source: NPAD REAP REAP NPAD REAP NPAD NPAD NPAD NPAD REAP NPAD NPAD NPAD NPAD NPAD NPADNPAD REAP NPAD
Programs (Units for CPS 340 are Acres)
Year
327 328 329 329A 329B 330 332 340 345 386 393 412 585 601 603 Total Acres (million)
2004 776,336 2,689,413 91,903 1,542,554 1,217,888 381,795 6,225 379,160 30,779 5,033,797 92,277 187,081 20,099 6 481 12.45
2005 591,040 4,439,166 88,653 2,798,412 2,274,731 590,704 9,719 605,253 49,386 12,396,854 70,030 333,690 41,921 9 929 24.29
2006 1,304,931 5,296,142 1,062,310 2,826,465 2,069,898 643,921 8,448 852,133 748,262 17,946,779 86,356 96,212 44,309 7 433 32.99
2007 2,512,293 5,628,567 2,202,965 1,761,250 1,067,756 584,013 5,189 899,585 1,497,304 16,055,864 61,580 82,305 47,654 10 2,726 32.41
2008 1,457,773 6,026,045 2,930,966 1,022,928 519,499 534,364 5,626 1,029,036 1,883,043 14,616,002 56,106 182,856 32,232 13 1,364 30.30
2009 925,776 5,468,473 2,787,249 330,331 209,443 456,527 5,095 996,047 1,749,939 784,335 36,611 79,226 29,559 15 622 13.86
2010 861,550 5,628,375 3,030,920 130,082 138,006 446,636 5,399 1,299,174 1,853,851 403,707 39,586 33,261 20,931 18 641 13.89
2011 1,635,511 5,764,554 2,772,390 93,837 69,505 413,915 4,897 1,439,695 1,656,550 665,639 30,503 74,151 34,303 28 178 14.66
2012 2,091,250 7,004,159 2,790,993 70,384 67,325 432,557 4,593 1,641,036 2,261,021 480,787 39,153 35,595 14,483 29 165 16.93
2013 1,760,805 5,803,935 2,537,013 43,246 38,622 375,438 3,305 1,705,239 1,478,865 153,578 25,172 22,510 18,092 51 344 13.97
2014 1,006,248 4,154,718 1,947,909 20,050 17,385 224,126 1,819 1,525,414 1,048,377 463,246 12,927 11,531 6,863 14 7 10.44
Year NRCS Conservation Practices (units acres)

26. Climate Change Mitigation Building
Block
Conservation Practice Standard
Soil Health
327 Conservation Cover (ac)
328 Conservation Crop Rotation (ac)
329 Residue and Tillage Management, No Till (ac)
329A Strip Till (ac)
329B Mulch Till (ac)
330 Contour Farming (ac)
332 Contour Buffer Strips (ac)
340 Cover Crop (ac)
345 Residue and Tillage Management, Reduced Till (ac)
386 Field Boarder (ac)
393 Filter Strips (ac)
412 Grassed Waterways (ac)
585 Stripcropping (ac)
601 Vegetative Barriers (ft)
603 Herbaceous Wind Barriers (ft)
NRCS Soil Health Conservation Practices that Build Soil Carbon

27. 512 528 528A 550 381 Total Acres (million)
2004 237,435 1,248,818 9,111,552 189,733 ‐ 10.79
2005 1,032,928 5,284,086 10,170,269 291,564 37 16.78
2006 717,317 11,180,080 6,485,500 320,345 3 18.70
2007 1,098,064 15,438,900 5,694,440 419,720 150 22.65
2008 1,196,394 18,228,439 3,651,569 285,398 241 23.36
2009 474,613 18,056,280 1,934,040 164,475 346 20.63
2010 535,279 19,223,759 1,082,798 146,579 239 20.99
2011 360,118 20,073,370 685,273 142,260 496 21.26
2012 384,254 21,750,816 405,078 173,166 351 22.71
2013 331,692 19,303,762 196,452 166,139 271 20.00
2014 248,012 13,631,105 57,793 127,887 298 14.07

28. Working with NRCS’s Databases
Adam Chambers and Laura Morton – multi‐year effort

29. Quantifying Atmospheric Benefits and Documenting Legacy Effect
Adam Chambers, Laura Morton, Steven Wallander (ERS)

30. Combined – NRCS Conservation Inventory, USDA
Building Blocks, and 4 per 1000 for U.S. Soils

31. Creating an NRCS Inventory of GHG Emission Benefits and C Sinks from
Conservation Database 2004‐2014
(2015 coming soon)
‐Internal USDA Document and not for distribution‐

32. 32