Field Trip to USDA-ARS North Great Plains Research Lab- May 2008
The work of the USDA's Agricultural Research Service (ARS) has been essential to the development of our program. The staff of the Carbon Credit Program welcomed the chance to tour the North Great Plains Research Lab and learn more about their continued vision of "the development of economically and environmentally sustainable crop and livestock management systems to help preserve the family farm."
L-R Bev Watkins (Carbon Program Coordinator), Liz Mathern (Carbon Program Specialist), Mark Holkup (Farm Management Coordinator, Bismarck State College), Dr. Mark Liebig (Research Soil Scientist, USDA-ARS)
Touring the Lab
Learning about the USDA-ARS GRACEnet effort.
"flux" tower (records GHG flux- this one in a native pasture)
The pasture in the exclosure has not been grazed since at least 1912, and provides an important comparison opportunity.
At the NGPRL they can control the rain- the roof of the building slides on tracks.
This serious of gridded plots allows the scientists to study different crop rotations.