71st SWCS International Annual Conference July 24-27, 2016 Louisville, KY

1. AssessingtheGreenhouseGasBalanceof
CaliforniaSpecialtyCropswithCOMET-FarmTM
Soil and Water Conservation Society
Annual Conference, July 2016
Mark Easter, Amy Swan,
Kevin Brown, Mary Carlson,
Lucas Thompson, Steve
Williams and Keith
Paustian
Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory & Dept.
Soil and Crop Sciences
Colorado State University
Fort Collins, CO
Adam Chambers
Natural Resources Conservation Service
Environmental Markets Leader
Portland, OR
Kerri Steenwerth
Agricultural Research Service
Davis, CA
Xia Zhu‐Barker
Dept of Land, Air and Water Resources
University of California ‐ Davis
Davis, CA

2. Outline
• Introduction to COMET‐FarmTM and COMET‐PlannerTM
• Existing COMET tools capabilities in California
• Process for adding California Specialty Crops to COMET‐FarmTM
• Results and Deployment Schedule
• Wrap‐Up

3. Global
Balance
Agriculture and Forestry – 2 x Exposed
Carbon
Sequestration and
GHG Mitigation
Climate Change
Adaptation
Less
Investment
Future
Don’t
Invest
Now
Modest
Investment
Now
More
Investment
Future

4. 1 China
10,385.54
2 United St at es
3 European Union (27)
4 European Union (15)
5 India
6 Russian Federat ion
7 Japan
8 Brazil
9 Germ any
10 Indonesia
11 Iran
12 Canada
13 Mexico
14 Korea, Rep. (Sout h)
15 United Kingdom
16 Au st ralia
17 Sou th A frica
18 France
19 Saudi Arabia
20 It aly
21 Spain
22 Ukraine
23 Turkey
24 Thailand
25 Poland
377.3
407.97
390.35
559.65
545.19
688.25
678.32
926.67
823.41
2,326.19
2,326.10
385.77
381.94
542.1
514.62
627.46
587.53
727
726.63
1,298.89
1,162.62
4,918.07
4,024.09
6,866.92
The U.S Ag. Sector –
528.7**
**Based on the World Resources Institute, Climate Data Explorer, 2010 data
on a GDP basis the U.S. Ag Sector would rank 28th according to World Bank 2007 GDP statistics
Conservation
Opportunity:
Grow food, fiber
and fuel - reduce
emissions?

5. What are COMET-FarmTM and COMET-PlannerTM?
Web‐based Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Inventory Tool Whole System GHG Inventory and Conservation Scenario Analysis

6. Baseline Scenario
(Business as Usual)
Tillage
Reduction
Improved
Fertilizer
Management
Add
Cover Crops
Compare GHG
Benefits on
the Same
Balance Sheet
COMET‐FarmTM
COMET‐PlannerTM
Business as Usual
Conservation
Practice
Practice
Benefit=
Conservation
Practices
• Entity level
• User‐specific
• Dynamic &
Empirical Models
(“Tier 3”)
• Synergisms of
Multiple Practices
• Reduced
Uncertainty
• More Data Entry
• Regional, alignment
with COMET‐FarmTM
• Higher Uncertainty
• 3‐Click Tool
Whole System Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Accounting

7. • Implements the peer‐reviewed, USDA‐sanctioned entity‐level
inventory methods.
• Soil‐related GHG emissions: DayCent dynamic model, also
used in the National GHG Inventory.
• Livestock‐related GHG emissions: statistical models based
on USDA and university research, largely consistent with
models used in the National GHG Inventory.
• Forest/Orchard/Vineyard emissions: FIA‐based statistical
growth models (Forests), other empirical models
(orchards/vineyards), again used in the National GHG
Inventory.
• Energy‐related GHG emissions: based on the models used
in the USDA/NRCS Energy Tool along with supplemental
peer‐reviewed research results, consistent with EPA models
used in the National GHG Inventory.
GHG Inventory Methods: COMET-FarmTM is a Modeling Platform
DayCent
+
44
Empirical
Models

8. Why This Effort?
All
Croplands
Crops that can
currently be modeled
in COMET‐FarmTM
shown in brown
• ~ 10 million acres of
cropland in California
• COMET‐FARMTM
currently covers crops
grown on ~60‐65% of
cropland in California1
• Specialty Crops Gap:
35‐40% of cropland in
California1
1Sources: NASS, Cropland Data Layer

9. California Croplands
Strawberries
Lettuce Broccoli
Cauliflower
Almonds
Walnuts PistachiosGrapes
Citrus
Peaches/
Nectarines
Prunes/
Plums
• Currently covers tomatoes, cotton,
other commodity crops
• Working with California Dept. of
Food and Agriculture to add and
improve 14 specialty crops
• Work started in Dec. 2015 and is
planned to be completed by June
2017
Processing
Tomatoes Cotton

10. Parameterizing the DayCent Model
Learning Tours Literature
Reviews
Model
Parameterization,
Testing
Web Site
Modifications,
Deployment

11. Integration into COMET-FarmTM – Management
Cropland Management in
COMET‐FarmTM:
• Planting and harvest
• Tillage
• Nitrogen Fertilizer
Application
• Manure/Compost
Application
• Irrigation
• Liming
• Burning
• Mineral vs organic
fertilizers
Specialty Crop
Management:
• Novel irrigation systems
• Orchard renewal
• Orchard pruning and
thinning
• Mulches
• Cover Crops

12. California Croplands
Crops in
COMET‐FarmTM
after adding
specialty crops
After this effort, over
85% of California
cropland may be
modeled in COMET‐
FarmTM
Crops that can
currently be modeled
in COMET‐FarmTM
shown in brown

13. California Specialty Crop Inclusion in COMET-FarmTM
Crop Compiled
Experiments
Model
Parameterization
Model
Verification
Publish to COMET‐
Farm Site
Almonds 5 In Process TBD Fall, 2016
Citrus 3 TBD TBD Fall, 2016
Cole Crops (Broccoli, Cauliflower, etc) 5 Complete In Process August, 2016
Cotton (improve current crop in COMET) 7 Complete In Process August, 2016
Lettuce 1 In Process TBD August, 2016
Stone Fruits 3 TBD TBD Winter, 2016/2017
Strawberries In Process TBD TBD Winter, 2016/2017
Table Grapes In Process TBD TBD Winter, 2016/2017
Tomatoes (improve current crop in COMET) 11 Complete In Process August, 2016
Walnuts 3 In Process TBD Fall, 2016
Wine Grapes 17 In Process TBD Fall, 2016

14. Kerri Steenwerth
Davis
Adam Chambers – Portland
California State Office Staff
Bill Hohenstein, Marci Baranski
OCE ‐ CCPO, Washington, DC
Xia Zhu‐Barker, Will
Horwath et al., Davis
College of Ag Sci
Fort Collins
Amrith Gunasekara
Sacramento
Keith Paustian, Mark Easter, Amy Swan
et al., Fort Collins
Specialty Crops Collaboration Partners

15. Thank You!

16. DayCent
Parameterization
Improving DayCent with
Experimental Data:
‐ Using measurement data
from research plots and
farms
‐ Most studies in CA, with a
few sites in other states