Integrated crop-livestock farms have higher topsoil nitrogen and carbon than crop-only farms in Chilean Mediterranean climate volcanic soils

Leah L.R. Renwick, Ayleen Celedón, Francisco Nájera, Juan-Pablo Fuentes Espoz, Daniela Celedón, Claudia Arellano and Osvaldo Salazar

Agricultural Systems, 2025, vol. 222, issue C

Abstract: Crop-livestock reintegration could reduce the environmental footprint of decoupled crop and livestock production related to biogeochemical cycles. Previous experiments showed that replacing fallow periods in annual crop rotations with grazed cover crops increases total nitrogen (N) and organic carbon (SOC), based on topsoil sampling and stocks compared by equivalent soil depth. Stock comparisons based on topsoil sampling or equivalent soil depth, rather than whole-profile sampling or equivalent soil mass, can erroneously report stock gains that have not occurred. Evidence of crop-livestock integration effects on commercial farms is needed.

Keywords: Cover crop grazing; Pasture-crop rotations; Soil carbon storage; Carbon footprint; Equivalent soil mass; Andisol (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:agisys:v:222:y:2025:i:c:s0308521x24003226

DOI: 10.1016/j.agsy.2024.104172

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