No surprise that cover crops sequester carbon, but this study quantifies how much is stored under the vines. Worth noting that this is a primary principle of biodynamics and it’s something we’ve been doing since we came to Niagara over 15 years ago. The study says, “We found that cover crop-managed soil under-vine sequesters up to 23% more soil organic carbon (SOC) as the traditional, herbicide practice over a five-year period of growth. Microbial activity increased by more than double in cover crop soils, owing to an increase in DOC and that there is evidence for more resistant C in cover crop soils.” Cool!
