Soil Carbon Sequestration: A Systems Perspective --- May 18, 2021 --- ONLINE

What is the capacity of agriculture to reduce its emissions and at the same time go carbon negative, sequestering carbon out of the atmosphere into the soil?
What are the implications for farmers in regard to the crops they are growing, and to our own menus impacting the food we eat?

To prepare for our discussion, please review the materials you will find in the reference section, here. Please also take a look at the websites of our panel members for further details.

“We hope that policymakers and industry get to work and explore where they can help to restore our soils with carbon and mitigate climate change.”
Johannes Lehmann, Liberty Hyde Bailey Professor of Soil Biogeochemistry
at Cornell College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

Topics of the Discussion

The economics of Regenerative Agriculture and Soil Carbon Sequestration:

Agriculture impacts on food security and the food supply chain
Monitoring methods and accuracy of measurements and data in soil organic (carbon) content
Resiliency of soil and importance in flooding, drought, humanitarian crisis, desertification, and food supply
Regenerating the earth and what the soil can contribute (importance of soil depth contributions)
Why soil carbon sequestration can have a significant impact on climate restoration

Moderators:

Introduction by Joel Stone, BCL Advisory Board, BCL Chemical Sector Lead
Klaus Mager, BCL Ag Sector Lead
Finian Makepeace, Co-Founder of Kiss the Ground

Panelists:

Cristine Morgan, Chief Scientific Officer, the Soil Health Institute
Hunter Stone, Data Scientist & Senior Agronomist, the Farmers Business Network
Trey Hill, CEO and President, Harborview Farms

Speakers

TREY HILL, PANELIST
Trey Hill is the owner and manager of Harborview Farms in Rock Hall, Maryland. A fourth-generation grain farmer, he and his family sustainably produce corn, wheat, and soybeans for the Mid-Atlantic region. A graduate of Perdue University with a degree in Farm Management and Economics, Hill has been committed throughout his career to innovative agriculture sustainability. At Harborview Farms, he and his team are breaking new ground with innovative and creative farming techniques—combining the wisdom of traditional practices with forward-thinking, environmentally conscious solutions that are shaping the future of the agricultural industry.

KLAUS MAGER, MODERATOR
Klaus Mager has 40+ years of international work experience in F&B, including 21 years for the Walt Disney Co. developing a wide range of concepts for F&B operations in the Theme Parks and Hotels. He was leading teams to create the food systems for Disney's California Adventure and for Hong Kong Disneyland, from ideation, concepting, supply chain development, to operational startup. Klaus also worked for 4 1/2 years for Metro C&C, a self-service wholesaler based in Germany with at the time 700+ locations in 30 countries. In his role as Head of Corporate Target Group Marketing, his teams were responsible to set strategy for Hospitality sales for 6,000+ sales reps.

FINIAN MAKEPEACE, MODERATOR
Finian Makepeace is the Co-Founder, Policy Director, and Lead Educator of Kiss the Ground and a renowned presenter, media creator, and thought leader in the field of regenerative agriculture and soil health. He has developed training programs, workshops, and talks designed to empower people to become confident messengers and advocates for this growing movement. He has worked with leading experts, policymakers, farmers, and businesses to make rebuilding soil, through the adoption of regenerative agriculture, a key solution to our world’s biggest crises. His greatest hope is that, through awakening to the opportunities of regeneration, people know they can help change the world. He believes that with enough new advocates promoting the ancient wisdom, pioneering holistic thinking, and new science of regenerative agriculture and ecosystem restoration we can heal our planet - together.

DR. CRISTINE MORGAN, PANELIST
Cristine Morgan is responsible for establishing research priorities to advance soil health and developing the scientific direction, strategy and implementation for soil health research programs. Prior to joining the Institute, Dr. Morgan was a tenured professor of Soil Science at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, where she was recognized for outstanding collaboration, teaching, research, and mentoring. Dr. Morgan is a Fellow of the Soil Science Society of America, she served as a member of the Soil Science Society of America board of directors, and currently serves on the board of the North American Plant Phenotyping Network. Dr. Morgan earned her M.S. and Ph.D. in Soil Science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Soil Science Department. Her B.S. degree is in Plant and Environmental Soil Sciences from Texas A&M University.

HUNTER STONE, PANELIST
Hunter Stone is an agronomist, data scientist, and entrepreneur advancing farm profitability and sustainability through accessible and practical applications of data, science, and technology. He currently serves as Senior Agronomist and Data Scientist at Farmers Business Network working on digital agronomy and sustainable practice tools and technologies. Hunter attended Auburn University earning a BS in Agronomy and Soils and MS studies in Soil Science. Hunter has a blended applied science/data science background with expertise in agricultural systems modeling, commodity markets, GIS & remote sensing, machine learning & statistics, precision agronomy, and regenerative agriculture. Hunter is a certified crop adviser (CCA) with wide-ranging experience in field and specialty crop agronomy practice.

JOEL STONE, MODERATOR
Joel Stone is the President of ConVergInce Advisers and serves as Executive Vice President of Lee Enterprises Consultants, the world’s premier bio-economy consulting group, focused on commercialization assistance for advanced technology clients in renewable chemicals, biochemicals, biofuels, and agricultural and biobased ingredients for food and consumer products. As the former President of Green Biologics, Inc., he led the development of the commercial platform of the company in North America for renewable n-butanol and acetone for use in the renewable specialty and performance chemical markets. He earlier led Osage Bio Energy in establishing new product and business opportunities and ushering BioRefining to the forefront of biofuel facilities. Joel has served as the Chief Operating Officer for both AS Alliances Biofuels, LLC and Abengoa Bioenergy Corporation. Joel also serves as a Board Advisor for the Biorenewable Deployment Consortium and serves on the Advisory Board Business Climate Leaders. He has also been selected to the Biofuels Digest Top 100 in Bioeconomy: #58 in 2015, #59 in 2014. READ MORE