The goal of this six-year project is to understand if dairy feed production systems using advanced soil health management practices can sequester as much carbon as they emit, essentially becoming ‘net zero’. In addition to quantifying soil carbon sequestration, the study will also evaluate soil health, surface and subsurface water quality, greenhouse gas emissions from the soil, and crop yield. Climate, soils, and farming systems are different throughout the country, and UVM’s portion of the project will focus on the Northeast, and more specifically, Vermont. Soil health management practices investigated will include cover crops, no-till, manure injection, and usage of low-phosphorus manure.
![image description: a black cow with white on her head and on her legs stands in a pasture near a barn and looks towards the camera, under a grey sky](https://legacy.drup2.uvm.edu/sites/default/files/styles/16_x_9__max_width_533px/public/The-Center-for-Sustainable-Agriculture/images/dairy_cow_cropped.jpg?itok=tlN2xV6M)
Through a project formally titled, “Dairy Soil & Water Regeneration: building soil health to reduce greenhouse gases, improve water quality and enable new economic benefits", a team of UVM researchers led by Dr. Joshua Faulkner is engaging in a six-year study to improve the environmental impacts of the dairy industry.
More information about the project
![image description: a green grassy field with dried post-harvest corn stalks among the growing plants](https://legacy.drup2.uvm.edu/sites/default/files/styles/infoband_image/public/The-Center-for-Sustainable-Agriculture/images/cover_crops_for_dnz_project_dairy.jpg?itok=_CD6pm-O)
- Diving Deep on the Impacts of Dairy (Center for Sustainable Agriculture Fresh from the Field Newsletter, August 2021)
- Optimizing Soil Health to Fight Climate Change (UVM Communications, July 2021)
- FFAR Grant Enhances Dairy Industry Sustainability (Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research announcement, June 2021)
Interested in knowing more about the Center's work or do you have a question we haven't answered here? Contact us via email or 802-656-5459 and we'll do our best to help.