Weston Roundtable: Alfred Hartemink

The role of soil organic carbon in maintaining soil conditions is well established. A digital soil mapping project in the Central Sands of Wisconsin revealed that there were considerable differences in topsoil depth. The carbon stocks were three to four times higher in agricultural fields than beneath forests or grasslands. These elevated stocks are the result of high rates of irrigation and inorganic nitrogen that have enhanced crop production and returned considerable carbon to the soil.