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OMAFA: Cover crops and nitrous oxide emissions

Cover crops help build soil carbon, reduce erosion, and can offset crop nitrogen fertilizer requirements. But when it comes to nitrous oxide (N2O) – a greenhouse gas that contributes about half the total warming effect from agriculture in Canada – there is a question mark surrounding their benefit.

The primary driver of nitrous oxide emissions from agricultural soils is denitrification, which is promoted by wet soils, ample available mineral nitrogen (e.g. nitrate), the presence of carbon sources and freeze-thaw cycles. Cover crops influence each of these conditions. A 2014 meta-analysis found that cover crops decreased N2O emissions in 40 per cent of studies and increased them in the other 60 per cent.

The following factors determined cover crop effects on emissions:

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EP 73 Diversity is Resiliency – Stories of Regeneration Part 6

Video: EP 73 Diversity is Resiliency – Stories of Regeneration Part 6

During the growing season of 2023 as summer turned into fall, the Rural Routes to Climate Solutions podcast and Regeneration Canada were on the final leg of the Stories of Regeneration tour. After covering most of the Prairies and most of central and eastern Canada in the summer, our months-long journey came to an end in Canada’s two most western provinces around harvest time.

This next phase of our journey brought us to Cawston, British Columbia, acclaimed as the Organic Farming Capital of Canada. At Snowy Mountain Farms, managed by Aaron Goddard and his family, you will find a 12-acre farm that boasts over 70 varieties of fruits such as cherries, apricots, peaches, plums, pears, apples, and quince. Aaron employs regenerative agriculture practices to cultivate and sustain living soils, which are essential for producing fruit that is not only delicious but also rich in nutrients.