Australian Study Finds Cover Crops Sequester Up To 22 Percent More Carbon in Vineyard Soils Compared to Herbicided Vines

A new study found that cover crops help vineyards sequester far more carbon than vineyards using under vine herbicides. The study, entitled Cover crops and carbon stocks: How under-vine management influences SOC inputs and turnover in two vineyards, was published in the journal Science of The Total Environment. 

Reported findings: 

"• Soil organic carbon stocks were up to 22.7% higher under cover crop treatments

• Soil microbial respiration was more than twice as high in soil sampled from under both cover crop treatments"

In addition, the team of scientists from the University of Adelaide's Waite Research Institute 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..."