Science-Based Crop Rotation Could Boost Profits and Protect Soil

By Bev Betkowski

By choosing which crops to plant in their fields, Canadian prairie farmers may be able to boost their bottom line while also helping the environment.

Switching to certain crop rotations to increase the amount of organic carbon stored in soil could eventually result in higher profits while keeping harmful carbon dioxide emissions out of the atmosphere, new research from a University of Alberta expert suggests.

"It's an opportunity to look down the road to some of the benefits of growing a crop that increases profits further out and improves soil carbon in the long run," says agricultural economist Devin Serfas, an assistant professor in the Faculty of Agricultural, Life & Environmental Sciences.