Greenhouse mitigation strategies for agronomic and grazing lands of the US Southern Great Plains

Authors: SINGH, HARDEEP - Oklahoma State University; Northup, Brian; BAATH, GURJINDER - Oklahoma State University; Gowda, Prasanna; KAKANI, VIJAYA - Oklahoma State University

Submitted to: Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/11/2019
Publication Date: 10/23/2019
Citation: Singh, H., Northup, B.K., Baath, G., Gowda, P.H., Kakani, V.G. 2019. Greenhouse mitigation strategies for agronomic and grazing lands of the US Southern Great Plains. Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11027-019-09894-1.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11027-019-09894-1

Interpretive Summary: Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are large contributor to increasing climatic variability and approximately 80% of these are contributed by agricultural systems including soil management and enteric fermentation from livestock. As the management practices followed in Southern Great Plains (SGP) conducive for GHG emissions and their potential mitigation strategies are not well defined. This paper discusses main hotspots of GHG emissions in the SGP and reviews the existing literature to identify potential mitigation strategies that would be helpful to reduce GHG emissions without affecting crop and livestock productivity. The different management practices reviewed include different tillage and fertilizer management practices, crop rotation systems, and grazing management. Results from these published studies have been synthesized and analyzed to assess if these practices have potential in mitigating GHG emissions in the SGP.

Technical Abstract: Challenges to sustainable agriculture are increasing with the forecasts for greater climate variability, including rising temperatures, extreme precipitation events, and prolonged droughts. One important factor that contributes to the increasing climate variability is greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, considerably from agricultural systems. The United States Environment Protection Agency indicates soil management and enteric fermentation from livestock contribute ~80% of total GHG from the agriculture sector. Management practices conducive to GHG emissions, and possible mitigation strategies for the agricultural systems of Southern Great Plains (SGP), an integral part of the U.S. beef industry, have not been thoroughly defined. This paper reviews and synthesizes the literature regarding management practices conducive to emissions (CO2, CH4, and N2O) from croplands and grazing lands of the SGP, and potential mitigation strategies for the region. The options reviewed to reduce CO2, CH4, and N2O from croplands and grazing lands focus on: tillage practices, fertilizer management, crop rotation systems, grazing management, and fertilizer amendments. The results from different published studies evaluating these management practices have been analyzed to assess if these practices have potential in mitigating GHG emissions from croplands and grazing lands. The mitigation strategies discussed require testing at the systems-level before they can be implemented to advise applied policies for the SGP region. The system-level approach is necessary due to the complexity of agricultural systems, and reducing emissions using strategies in one sector should not stimulate higher emissions in other sectors.