Agriculture is a major industry in the Chesapeake Bay; consequently, increasing agricultural sustainability is a key component of the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay’s mission. Since the Alliance’s founding in 1971 , our work with farmers and rural landowners has expanded to include projects in every watershed state with teams based in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia. In industry, the Alliance works to introduce relevant conservation practices that reduce pollution while making farmers’ jobs easier. All of this critical work is informed by the immense geographic, cultural, and historical diversity of the Chesapeake Watershed.

Climate-based practices leverage innovations in agricultural practices to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Emissions are produced from equipment that burns fossil fuels, ruminant animals like cattle that naturally release methane, decomposition of manure or waste, or over application of fertilizers. Broadly speaking, major sources of emission can be divided into manure management, field practices, and pasture management. However, many sustainability practices also have a positive impact on agricultural carbon emissions. It is important to view greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture as a system-wide issue, with many possible areas of reduction.

Manure Management

a circular structure covered in black plastic

A biogas digester at a dairy farm in Pennsylvania

In animal agriculture, one of the major vectors for greenhouse gas emissions is through manure decomposition. When manure decomposes, it releases methane, an greenhouse gas with a warming effect up to 80 times greater than carbon dioxide. Methane production is especially amplified in the anaerobic, oxygen-poor, environments common in manure lagoons popular on Chesapeake-region dairy farms. By covering a waste lagoon with a layer of impermeable plastic, methane can be captured and burned off, converting methane into less-harmful carbon dioxide through combustion.

Some farmers take it one step further. Using a process called anaerobic digestion to intentionally produce methane from manure or other organic waste matter, farmers can produce usable and renewable natural gas to power on-farm equipment or produce electricity. For smaller farmers, replacing manure lagoons with bedded-pack composting barns also has an effect on carbon emissions; the frequently-aerated composting barns produce less overall methane than traditional manure storage. Each of these practices are becoming increasingly popular in the Chesapeake Region. To support our local dairy farmers, the Alliance partners with dairy cooperatives to provide grant funding that help farmers upgrade their manure management infrastructure to be more climate-friendly.

Field Practices

Improving cropland management can also help reduce on-farm carbon emissions. Through practices like nutrient management and multi-species cover cropping, farmers can reduce their carbon footprint while leveraging advances in agricultural technology to simultaneously increase yields or reduce field time. Nitrogen, the most important nutrient for plant growth, can easily be transformed into the greenhouse gas nitrogen oxide when it is overapplied to field crops. Precision nutrient application practices that aim to use precisely the correct amount of nitrogen or other chemical inputs can prevent the production of nitrogen oxide.

Likewise, growing nitrogen-fixing cover crops – like clover and legumes – in a multi-species mix with traditional cover crops like rye can eliminate the need for any additional nitrogen fertilizer. This nutrient-rich, multi-species mix can then be fed to cattle, or incorporated into the soil to feed future crops in lieu of fertilizer or manure. Multiple state programs support these practices by providing monetary incentives to farmers that plant multiple varieties of cover crops. The Alliance works with farmers by providing additional funding and education on these climate-smart practices, which also have significant water quality benefits.

Pasture Management

Grazing lands are another potential focus area for climate smart agriculture. Most conventionally-managed pasture or hay is made up of a mixture of non-native grass species like orchardgrass, fescue, and bluegrass. These grasses produce food for grazing animals, but are poor at removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere Replacing non-native pasture with deep-rooted native perennial grasses like big bluestem or indiangrass can increase the potential for carbon sequestration while maintaining compatibility with traditional grazing or haying systems.

Agrovoltaics and silvopastures, meanwhile, are more unorthodox ways to reduce the carbon footprint of traditional pasture systems. Agrovoltaics refers to the integration of solar panels into agricultural systems. Solar farms often replace traditional agriculture; agrovoltaics provides an alternative that still allows for agricultural land use. Raising solar panels higher off the ground allows cattle or sheep to graze beneath them, providing shade and shelter in hot weather. In addition, the solar panels produce clean, renewable energy that can be used on-farm or sold offsite. Silvopastures are similar, instead replacing solar panels with hardwood trees. When installed properly, the trees provide shaded areas for livestock to rest, while sequestering carbon dioxide and protecting water quality. Through funding programs in the Shenandoah Valley, the Alliance is working with farmers to explore pasture improvements that benefit the environment while improving farm operations.

sheep standing under solar panels in tall grass

Sheep grazing under solar panels

The alliance’s climate-smart funding model

The Alliance has long been implementing climate-smart agricultural practices in the Chesapeake Bay Region through our unique funding model. While improvements in manure, crop, and pasture management all present opportunities for farmers and landowners to lower their carbon emissions, agriculture’s climate impact is best viewed as a system-wide challenge. Any opportunity to reduce greenhouse gas emissions at any point in the chain, from production to consumption, has a ripple effect throughout the system. When the Alliance awards funding to a farmer or landowner, we require that the funding recipient install a native hardwood tree planting on their land. Thus, no matter what project the Alliance is supporting, it will have some positive impact towards reducing carbon emissions. When we fund climate-based practices, their positive effect is further magnified by pairing them with a tree planting. By leveraging our work with farmers and landowners throughout the Chesapeake Watershed, the Alliance is working to improve the sustainability of our local agricultural community while benefitting both the Chesapeake region and our world’s climate.

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