Earth Sciences Commons^™

Farmer Perspectives On Administrative Burdens And Potential Compensation Structures: A Short Summary Report Of Farmer Interviews From Spring 2022. Vermont Payment For Ecosystem Services Technical Research Report # 3c, Ellen Friedrich, Nour El-Naboulsi, Alissa C. White, Heather M. Darby

UVM Extension Faculty Publications

Interviews with 35 Vermont farmers explored their perspectives on compensation associated with a soil health payment for ecosystem services (PES) program in 2022. This report summarizes thematic analysis of those interviews. Farmers’ willingness to participate in a soil health PES is linked to both the burden of enrollment paperwork and the payment level, among other factors.

If deciding whether to participate in a soil health PES program, nearly all farmers said they would weigh the time and energy put into the administrative workload against the perceived benefits and value of the program, i.e., the payment level or technical assistance provided. …

Whole Farm Net Zero: Approaches To Quantification Of Climate Regulation Ecosystem Services At The Whole Farm Scale. Vermont Payment For Ecosystem Services Technical Report #7, Christopher Bonasia, Lindsey Ruhl, Benjamin Timothy Dube, Alissa C. White, Heather M. Darby

UVM Extension Faculty Publications

In this report, approaches to the quantification of climate mitigation ecosystem services at the whole farm scale are reviewed and summarized for easy comparison. Eight quantification tools, and three case studies demonstrating possible tool applications, are summarized to fulfill the requirements of the Technical Services Contract—Task 7. Information from a combination of literature review and expert interviews served to document the inputs, outputs, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats for each quantification tool. This research was conducted in service to the Vermont Soil Health and Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) Working Group (VT PES working group). It is our hope that …

Valuation Of Soil Health Ecosystem Services. Vermont Payment For Ecosystem Services Technical Research Report #5, Benjamin Timothy Dube, Alissa C. White, Taylor H. Ricketts, Heather M. Darby

UVM Extension Faculty Publications

In this report, we present estimates for ecosystem services from soil health using two approaches for four different services. One approach generates estimates based on soil-health practices, and the other approach is based on improvements in soil-health indicators. For soil- health practices, such as adopting best-management practices on annual corn, we utilize a set of off-the shelf empirical models widely used to estimate ecological functions on farm landscapes. For soil-health indicators, we make estimates by linking these tools with soil data and statistical models describing how soil-health parameters influence the interaction of soils with water and their environment. We provide …

Results Of The 2022 Vermont Farmer Conservation & Payment For Ecosystem Services Survey. Vermont Payment For Ecosystem Services Technical Research Report #3a, Alissa C. White

Reports and Policy Briefs

This survey was commissioned by the Vermont Soil Health and Payment for Ecosystem Services Working Group (VT PES Working Group) to gather farmer input on the development of payment for ecosystem services (PES) in Vermont for agriculture. In particular, the survey was intended to help set appropriate levels of compensation for participation in a soil health PES program, although additional information was gathered in the survey to inform the development of a new incentive program. The VT PES Working Group has explored the potential for a performance-based soil health PES program that would compensate farmers on the basis of environmental …

Field Scale Soil Health Scenarios. Vermont Payment For Ecosystem Services Technical Report #2, Alissa C. White, Heather M. Darby, Lindsey C. Ruhl, Bryony Sands, Sara Ziegler,, Juan P. Alvez, Sarah Brickman

UVM Extension Faculty Publications

This report illustrates how changes in management on Vermont farms can influence soil health metrics at the field scale. We’ve used regionally relevant science-based scenarios to demonstrate how selected soil health metrics that are associated with ecosystem services could change on farms in response to management practices at the field scale. These field scale management scenarios demonstrate that many practices in use by farmers in Vermont can have positive impacts on the soil health indicators of interest to the Vermont Soil Health & Payment for Ecosystem Services Working Group. The scenarios document potential for tradeoffs among soil health properties. Specifically, …

Soil Carbon Storage And Sequestration In Vermont Agriculture, Alissa C. White, Heather M. Darby, Donald Ross

UVM Extension Faculty Publications

In 2021, The State of Soil Health (SOSH) project measured indicators of soil health on 221 farm fields across the state of Vermont through a collaborative effort among many organizations. Soil carbon stocks to 30 cm depth were assessed on 191 of those fields. In this brief we share a summary of this new soil carbon stock data alongside data from a national assessment of soil carbon stocks performed by the NRCS from 2010 and highlight its relevance to current policy conversations within the state of Vermont.

Key Ideas

• The protection of existing soil carbon stocks and support for increased …

The State Of Soil Health In Vermont: Summary Statistics From Vermont Agriculture In 2021, Alissa C. White, Heather M. Darby, Lindsey Ruhl, Erin Lane

UVM Extension Faculty Publications

This report shares the summary statistics of the soil health indicators evaluated in the 2021 State of Soil Health project on farms in Vermont. The aim of this report is to share the data in a simple format that can be accessed by farmers, advisors and policy makers.

The State of Soil Health in Vermont is an initiative to measure soil health and soil carbon on farms across the state of Vermont. This project is coordinated by UVM Extension and has relied on field support, in kind- donations and data sharing from partnering organizations. The project has five primary objectives: …

Soil Invertebrates In Agriculture: Assessing Ecosystem Services, Biodiversity Impacts, And Farmer Perceptions, Eva Kinnebrew

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Harmonizing biological diversity and crop production is a major goal towards building more sustainable food systems. Soil invertebrates are diverse and abundant organisms in agriculture, but relatively little is known about their benefits or how agricultural management impacts them. In this dissertation, I dig into the complex interactions between agricultural land use and soil invertebrate biodiversity to better inform farmer decision-making. I find that soil invertebrate communities have major potential contributions to agroecosystems (Chapter 2) and are shaped heavily by agricultural land use (Chapters 3, 4), but remain too uncertain to contribute to farmers’ management choices (Chapter 5). First, I …

Ghgs From Bmps: Examining The Factors That Mediate Soilborne Greenhouse Gas Emissions From Agricultural Best Management Practices, Sarah Brickman

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Agricultural best management practices (BMPs) promote soil health and achieve multiple positive environmental outcomes. However, practices that are intended to solve one environmental challenge may have unintended climate impacts, therefore presenting a potential tradeoff. For example, manure injection is a BMP that can reduce runoff and nitrogen loss as ammonia gas (NH3) but can increase N2O and CO2 emissions compared to manure broadcast application. This thesis explores how CO2 and N2O emissions from manure injection compare to other soil fertility practices as well as the conditions that may enhance or reduce these greenhouse gas (GHG) fluxes. First, during a two-year …

Measuring Ecosystem Services From Soil Health. Vermont Payment For Ecosystem Services Technical Research Report #1, Alissa C. White, Heather M. Darby, Benjamin Timothy Dube, Bryony Sands, Joshua W. Faulkner, Meredith Albers, Maggie Payne

UVM Extension Faculty Publications

There are a multitude of approaches to evaluating soil health and the soil processes influenced by soil health. As the state of Vermont explores innovative programs that compensate farmers for soil health and associated ecosystem services, the selection of soil health indicators and quantification methods is a foundational first step that influences other aspects of program design. What is measured determines the ecosystem services that can be inferred, the accuracy of data that informs decisions, and programmatic transaction costs. Simply put, what is measured matters. The PES Working Group identified organic matter, bulk density, aggregate stability, greenhouse gas flux from …

Organic Amendments Alter Soil Hydrology And Belowground Microbiome Of Tomato (Solanum Lycopersicum), Taylor Readyhough

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Manure-derived organic amendments are a cost-effective tool that provide many potential benefits to plant and soil health. For example, amendment applications may increase soil fertility, improve soil structure, stimulate microbial activity, and suppress plant pathogens. Yet, responses to these applications may have unintended consequences. Inherent variability in the physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of these materials can result in inconsistent outcomes observed after their application. These differences are manifested in plant growth, soil physiochemical properties, and soil microbial community composition. Popular manure-derived organic amendments include dairy manure compost and poultry manure pellets. Dairy manure is an abundant resource on many …

Residual Soil Phosphorus In Tropical Oxisols: An Opportunity To Enhance Fertilizer Use Efficiency?, Lauren Bomeisl

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Phosphorus (P) is essential to life on Earth and often the limiting nutrient in agricultural systems. P fertilizer is thus an essential resource to maintain food security. In the last half century, agricultural intensification has led to an increase in P fertilizer consumption from 4.6 to 17.5 Tg of P/year to meet rising global food demand. Mineral P (i.e., phosphate rock) is a non-renewable resource in the context of the Anthropocene, and its price is vulnerable to global market fluctuations. Increased efficiency of P use on farms is considered the most effective strategy to conserve P. The soybean industry demands …

Edge-Of-Field Water And Phosphorus Losses In Surface And Subsurface Agricultural Runoff, Laura B. Klaiber

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Quantifying effectiveness of soil management practices on surface and subsurface water quality at the field scale is becoming increasingly important in the Lake Champlain Basin and other agricultural watersheds. During 2012 and 2013, field plots (22.9 x 45.7 m) were established at the Lake Alice Wildlife Area in Chazy, NY to begin a long-term water quality monitoring study. Plots were established in a cool season grass field (1 ha) leased and managed by the William H. Miner Agricultural Research Institute in Chazy, NY. The soil type transitions from an excessively drained outwash soil on the upslope to a very poorly …

Ecological Dynamics In Compost-Amended Soils And The Resulting Effects On Escherichia Coli Survival, Anya Cutler

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Escherichia coli (E. coli) are common and typically innocuous copiotrophic bacteria found in the mammalian gut microbiome. However, over the past 30 years, pathogenic E. coli have been responsible for several outbreaks of foodborne illness linked to contaminated produce. The introduction of Escherichia coli to an agricultural soil, via contaminated water, compost, or raw manure, exposes the bacterium to a medley of ecological forces not found in a mammalian gut environment. This study assesses a variety of abiotic and biotic soil factors that influence the ability of an "invasive" copiotrophic coliform bacterium to survive in compost-amended agricultural soil. The study …

Biological Indicators Of Compost-Mediated Disease Suppression Against The Soilborne Plant Pathogen Rhizoctonia Solani, Lynn Fang

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Compost can suppress soilborne plant pathogens that cause significant damage on globally important food crops. However, reports of plant pathogen suppression are inconsistent likely because there are no established standards for feedstock material, application rate, and maturity age upon application. Excellent results can be achieved in greenhouse trials, but field applications are much less reliable. Disease suppression occurs through the activity of biocontrol organisms (direct antagonism), and general microbial competition. Biocontrol species are hypothesized to colonize the pile during the curing phase, but single species may not be as important as microbial consortia. Substrate composition during maturation may give rise …

An Evaluation Of Vermicompost As A Fast-Acting Nitrogen Amendment To Mitigate Nitrogen Deficiencies In Organic Vegetable Production, Peter Dalton Austin

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

For sustained production, organic agriculture depends on plant needs being synchronized with the release of nutrients from organic amendments during decomposition within the soil. Because decomposition is strongly dependent on soil moisture and temperature, nutrient needs may not always be met as planned or synchronous with plant need. Unlike conventional agriculture, fast acting amendments are not readily available. Much of the evidence that vermicompost benefits crop production comes from studies on seed germination and production of starts in greenhouses. Yet, there is a dearth of information derived from field studies. Soil, soil and water nitrogen, plant development, and marketable yield …