Interactions of carbon and nutrient programs

Carbon credits
Practice: 
Multi-Objective

Title: The effectiveness of carbon credit programs at reducing nutrient losses: An assessment of public and private conservation programs and their interactions

Location: Statewide

Time Period: 2021 -2023

Research Team: Hongli Feng, Sarah Carlson, Paige Leytem Frautschy, Elizabeth Reaves, Lisa Schulte-Moore, Wendong Zhang

Project Description: There have been intense interests in carbon sequestration and greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction in the agricultural sectors recently. Meanwhile, there have been decades of efforts and investment to reduce nutrient loss from agriculture. From a policy standpoint, carbon and nutrient reduction are inseparable for to two reasons: (a) most conservation practices that reduce nutrient loss also sequester carbon; and (b) both government and private incentives can be used to support the same set of conservation practices. By investigating these links, our team of cross-disciplinary researchers and non-governmental organization (NGOs) partners will evaluate how carbon credit programs will affect nutrient loss reduction with a focus on farmers’ decision-making regarding program participation.

Publications:

Funders: Iowa Nutrient Research Center

Disclaimer: These are active research sites, please contact Hongli Feng prior to planning any site visits.