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Soil carbon monitoring to detect changes in soil carbon due to implementation of planned rotational grazing

 

Project Details

  • Project Lead: Matthew Wiens (Manitoba Agriculture)

  • Collaborators: Pamela Iwanchysko (Manitoba Agriculture), Marla Riekman (Manitoba Agriculture)

  • Years: 2016-2022

  • Project Status: Ongoing

  • Funding & In-Kind Support: Canadian Agricultural Partnership

  • Location: Brookdale Farm

  • Scope: Demonstration

  • Keywords: Soil Carbon, Climate Resilience, Grazing Management

Approach

Monitor changes in soil organic carbon, bulk density, and soil organic carbon stocks on two grazing strategies (planned grazing and continuous grazing).

Key Findings

Soil organic carbon, bulk density, and soil organic carbon stocks: No significant differences were found between grazing treatment or year. No interaction effect was found between grazing treatment and year.

Soil organic carbon concentration, bulk density, and soil organic carbon stocks as averages of all measurements taken on all six plots over the two sampling periods.

Plant composition, soil cover, and litter layer: No consistent differences were obvious between years or grazing treatments for the types of plant species present, the percentage of bare ground, or the thickness of the litter layer.

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