soil :: Dixon Water Foundation

DWF in Recent Episode of Marfa Public Radio’s Nature Notes

July 1, 2022 by Dixon Water Foundation

The central grasslands stretch from Canada to West Texas, and extend into the desert highlands, from Arizona to the Marfa Plateau and Chihuahua. For many Americans, they remain as foreign as they were for Cather’s 19th-century narrator. Grasslands are thought to lack the “charisma” of mountains and forests – to some, they epitomize “fly-over country.”

But the grasslands in fact contain an immense natural and cultural richness. And they’re deeply imperiled. Of the 600 million acres of historic grasslands, two-thirds have been lost or degraded. There’s a growing effort to preserve and restore them. And in Trans-Pecos Texas, the Dixon Water Foundation is committed to that effort…

BCarbon Begins Joint Research Project on Soil Carbon Sequestration with ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company

February 3, 2022 by Dixon Water Foundation

Project involves 20,000 acres of public and private grasslands.

February 3, 2022

BCarbon and ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company (EMRE) will begin a three-year study of nature-based carbon sequestration potential in association with the King Ranch, the EXELL Cattle Company, the Clark Farm, the Dixon Water Foundation, the North Dakota Department of Trust Lands, the New Mexico Department of Agriculture, and the New Mexico State Land Office.

The research will measure variation in carbon sequestration rates between tallgrass, shortgrass, and Texas coastal prairie ecosystems across a variety of climate and soil conditions as well as quantify range management impacts on water and biodiversity. Other key capacity and cost issues will be studied, including new measurement technologies and regional soil carbon analysis infrastructure including data analytics, laboratories, education, and training.

BCarbon is a non-profit carbon credit certification organization based in Houston, Texas that was created in 2020 by a diverse stakeholder group sponsored by the Center for Energy Studies at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy.

Jim Blackburn, CEO of BCarbon said, “Nature-based systems have the potential to significantly reduce our carbon footprint as well as provide far greater resilience for floods and droughts. This is the kind of real-world collaboration we believe will produce lasting results. And make no mistake about it – we are looking to create lasting results on climate, ecology and economics.”

Robert Hodgen, President and CEO of King Ranch, Inc. stated, “This project aligns with several of our core values including innovation, sustainability and support of rural communities. Our team is excited to collaborate with BCarbon and EMRE in this important project to define the natural carbon sequestration capacity of ranchlands across the country.”

Land Commissioner Jodi Smith with the North Dakota Department of Trust Lands added, “The Department manages over 700,000 surface acres of trust lands to provide funds for public schools and other public institutions. Managing these lands to naturally store more carbon could be important for the future funding of public education in North Dakota, and for meeting the state’s goal of carbon neutrality by 2030; however, we need the research to help us plan more effectively.”

Julie Maitland, Division Director for Agricultural Programs and Resources at the New Mexico Department of Agriculture said, “New Mexico is leading important efforts in climate change. Understanding how soil carbon might offer both climate solutions and important new economic revenue streams to our rural areas is critical to our long-term strategy.”

Will Barnes, Deputy Director of the Surface Resources Division of the New Mexico State Land Office added that, “working with state land agricultural lessees to conduct this kind of world class scientific research is vitally important to the protection of resilient rangelands and rural economies in New Mexico and helps the Commissioner’s efforts to create new diverse revenue streams on behalf of New Mexico public schools, universities and hospitals.”

Robert Potts, President of the Dixon Water Foundation offered, “We have supported our own research into soil carbon in the past. We know it occurs. We are very pleased to have a chance to extend our knowledge to areas like our Marfa, Texas ranching operations in drier climates where soil carbon accumulation will be more challenging.”

Dr. H.C. Clark, Owner of the Clark Farm in Texas, appreciates being part of this research project stating, “I’ve been reading about this potential soil carbon market for several years and am excited to be a part of the development of science-based research to help make better-informed decisions.”

“ExxonMobil’s continued investment in R&D plays an important role in developing breakthrough solutions aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions intensity across our businesses,” said Vijay Swarup, Vice President of Research and Development at ExxonMobil. “This collaboration with BCarbon is designed to study the nature-based carbon sequestration potential in grasslands in multiple states, with the potential to be deployed on and around ExxonMobil operations.”

The project will be underway as of January 15th , 2022, and research updates will be posted here regularly. For further information, contact Jim Blackburn, CEO and Chairman of the Board for BCarbon, at blackbur@rice.edu.

View full press release here.

New resource for teachers

August 31, 2017 by Administrator

“Understanding Soil Health and Watershed Function” is a new teacher’s workbook by Didi Pershouse, now available as a “sneak preview” for educators preparing their fall lessons. The Dixon Water Foundation supported the production of this resource, which was a joint project of the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, the USDA Southern Plains Climate Hub, The Soil Carbon Coalition, and Redlands Community College.

Allen Williams workshop presentations now online

June 23, 2017 by Administrator

Allen Williams, Ph.D., recently shared his experiences as a consultant, rancher and pioneer in grass-finished beef production during a workshop at Dixon Ranches Leo Unit, co-hosted by the Noble Foundation. Williams offered his perspectives on soil health, adaptive multi-paddock grazing and forage management, high attribute pasture-based meat production, and alternative marketing systems. Presentations from this workshop are now online:

Grass Fed Beef Genetics & Finishing [ PDF ] [PowerPoint]
State of Grass Fed Industry [ PDF ] [PowerPoint]
Adaptive Grazing and Relationship to Soil Health [ PDF ] (36MB)

Williams is a 6th generation family farmer and founding partner of Grass Fed Beef LCC and Grass Fed Insights LLC, and a partner in Joyce Farms, Inc. He has consulted with more than 4,000 farmers and ranchers in the U.S., Canada, Mexico and South America on operations ranging from a few acres to more than one million acres. Williams pioneered many of the early grass-fed protocols and forage finishing techniques, and has spent the last 15 years refining them.

Register for Southern Soil Health Conference

December 15, 2015 by Administrator

The Southern Soil Health Conference is coming up on January 12-13 in Ardmore, Oklahoma.

This conference for producers and land owners focuses solely on Soil Health, Cover Crops and Grazing. At least 75% of registrants are people directly involved with the land—production agriculture (crops and/or livestock) and land owners. This conference will also be producer driven with almost all the speakers and presenters being farmers. Keynote speakers will include: Dr. Allan Williams, Steve Tucker, John Heerman, and Darin Williams.

In addition, we will have 8-10 Texas and Oklahoma producers sharing about their individual experiences with Soil Health and how it has affected their farming operations. Some of these speakers are Jimmy Emmons, Craig Watson, Yates Adcock, Max Martin and more…

This conference is about knowledge and learning and not selling products. We will not be having a commercial trade show to promote individual companies or products.

The Southern Soil Health Conference is sponsored in part by the Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, Farm Foundation, No-Till on the Plains, Southern SARE, Texas Grazing Land Coalition, Dixon Water Foundation, Oklahoma Association of Conservation Districts, Oklahoma Conservation Commission, Sand County Foundation, and the Natural Resource Defense Council.

Learn more and register on the Green Cover Seed website.

Soil Carbon Curious

November 18, 2015 by Administrator

Soil Carbon Curious is a new short film from Peter Byck, the producer of Soil Carbon Cowboys and Carbon Nation. It’s about an exciting new collaborative research group, the ASU•Soil Carbon Nation Whole Systems Science Team. As Byck describes:

“Adaptive Multi-Paddock grazing (AMP grazing) is regenerating soils around the world, producing healthy grass-finished beef. But the science on AMP grazing is sparse, to say the least. Now, a group of leading soil, rangeland, bug and social scientists are setting out to fill the science gap. Led by Dr. Richard Teague of Texas A&M, and convened by filmmaker Peter Byck of Arizona State University, the ASU•Soil Carbon Nation Whole Systems Science Team is positioned to do large scale science that’s never been done before.”

The team is working on the 1 Million Metric Tons Pilot Program, which aims to demonstrate the carbon-sequestration potential of soil managed with adaptive multi-paddock grazing.

You can now also view Soil Carbon Cowboys en español.

Cross Timbers Landowner Workshop at Leo on Oct. 2

September 30, 2015 by Administrator

Landowners in Cooke County are invited to a one-day workshop on October 2 with Texas A&M AgriLife at Dixon Ranches Leo Unit. From 7:30am to 4pm, participants will learn about recognizing the cross timbers, wildlife habitat management & tax appraisals, range management, conservation easements, soils, and invasive plants. Admission is $20. CEUs available. For a complete program, download a PDF of the Cross Timbers Landowner Workshop agenda.

Grant for soil microbe research in the news

July 3, 2015 by Administrator

Hardin-Simmons University researchers recently received a Dixon Water Foundation grant to explore how land management affects the subterranean world of soil microbes on a Runnels County ranch. Learn more in this article from Ballinger News and the video below from Abilene Fox affiliate KXVA. KRBC meteorologist Scott Cook also featured the research project on Abilene’s NBC affiliate.

Grantee examines soil microbes

July 3, 2015 by Administrator

ABILENE—Under every farm and ranch around Abilene, a universe of microorganisms is toiling in the soil. Hardin-Simmons University researchers recently received a Dixon Water Foundation grant to explore how land management affects this subterranean world on a Runnels County ranch.

Karissa Olson, Isaiah Longoria, and Michael Flud collecting soil samples from the wildlife pasture at Newman Ranch. (Photo by Marla Potess)

Hardin-Simmons University students Karissa Olson, Isaiah Longoria, and Michael Flud collecting soil samples from the wildlife pasture at Newman Ranch. Photo by Marla Potess

“Our food, our water resources, and many other ecosystem services start with soil,” said Marla Potess, an HSU environmental science professor leading the research. “Over the last 100 years, we’ve been really hard on our soils. Even with good, scientifically based management, soils are degrading, and many ecosystems are moving from highly productive to less productive. So I’m very interested in managing soils to improve microbial biodiversity, which may impact water retention and plant biodiversity and productivity.”

In what they hope will become a long-term study, Potess and HSU biology professor Jennifer Hennigan are examining soil microorganisms on the Newman Ranch in Runnels County, about 40 miles south of Abilene. HSU professor emeritus and trustee George Newman invited the university to use his ranches as outdoor laboratories and created an endowment to fund research on his family property.

HSU environmental science students Karissa Olson, Michael Flud, Isaiah Longoria with professor emeritus Dr. George Newman and a weather station at Newman Ranch. (Photo by Marla Potess)

HSU environmental science students with professor emeritus Dr. George Newman by the weather station at Newman Ranch. Photo by Marla Potess

“For the past 40 years, as time and finances have allowed, I have been converting my cropland back into native grassland,” Newman said. “I feel that my philosophy of land stewardship closely mirrors that of the Dixon Water Foundation and I am very appreciative of their support for this program.”

The Newman Ranch study sites have the same soil type but have been managed very differently, Potess explained. For example, one site is a cultivated hay grazer field, while another is being restored to native prairie grasses. Potess and Hennigan are looking for differences in the soil microbial communities at each site, which they eventually hope to correlate with different management techniques used in each pasture.

HSU students have been actively involved in the research, collecting and analyzing soil samples and drafting research proposals related to the project. The Dixon Water Foundation grant will fund DNA sequencing that will provide a snapshot of the microbial diversity at each study site.

A soil core sample. Photo by Marla Potess

The Dixon Water Foundation grant will be used to analyze DNA from soil core samples collected earlier this year. Photo by Marla Potess

“It’s exciting for students to participate in a project that’s asking really important questions and filling in real information gaps,” says Potess. “The preliminary data this spring indicates we’re on the right track, so we’re really excited to see what we find this summer when the DNA is extracted and processed.”

Ultimately this research could help farmers and ranchers better understand how their actions aboveground affect the microscopic world underground.

“The hypothesis is if soils have diverse, healthy microorganisms, they can hold more water,” Potess said. “And that has important implications for drought resistance for crops and restoring grasslands.”

Those implications helped attract support from the Dixon Water Foundation, which promotes healthy watersheds through sustainable land management. The foundation funds research and education projects tied to this mission and demonstrates sustainable grazing management on its four ranches in North and West Texas.

“We hope this research will help farmers and ranchers improve the economic productivity of their land by building healthier soils and healthier watersheds,” said Robert Potts, the foundation’s president and CEO.

Patrick Holden on Holistic Management

May 27, 2015 by Administrator

Patrick Holden, director of the Sustainable Food Trust and former director of the Soil Association, explains how Holistic Management and regenerative agriculture can heal many of society’s problems in this video interview from the Savory Institute. Holden is a dairyman in the UK raising heritage breed cows and producing some of the finest raw milk cheese in the world.