Biochar and Fertilization

If you are going to be in Iowa next week, the Iowa State University (ISU) is going to have field-tours of their biofuel crops and biochar enriched fields. The ISU Ag Engineering and Agronomy Research Farm is near Ames, and the tours are open to the public for a $5 fee. Tours will be August 25th and August 29th, just before and just after the nearby Farm Progress Show in Boone. The tours will also feature a talk about ISU’s New Century Farm, the first integrated, sustainable biofuel feedstock production farm and processing facility in the U.S.

I’m looking forward to reading reports on this project, especially — of course — the biochar part. From what I’ve read in other contexts, this is not likely to be a case where dramatic visual differences can be seen in the biochar treated soil, versus untreated soil. Biochar seems to have the greatest benefit where the original soil is the poorest. With already rich soil, the benefits are more long-term. Certainly the carbon sequestration is important in any context. With rich soils (such as I assume they still have in Iowa) it is the reduced run-off of nutrients into the groundwater, better moisture retention during low-precipitation periods, and less frequent need for additional fertilizer, that are the important factors. All of those factors can be measured; one hopes they are doing so at ISU.