{"692777":{"#nid":"692777","#data":{"type":"news","title":" Researchers Confirm Common Soil Treatment Can Improve Farm Crop Yields and Remove Carbon","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EFor centuries, farmers have relied on simple minerals to balance soil pH and grow stronger crops. Only recently have scientists realized that this practice, known as liming, may in many cases remove more carbon dioxide than it releases. But proving that requires tracking carbon far beyond the field itself.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn a \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41586-026-11040-2\u0022\u003Elandmark study\u003C\/a\u003E published in \u003Cem\u003ENature\u003C\/em\u003E, 11 researchers tracked the impacts on the carbon cycle across the Mississippi watershed and its 11 states after almost a century of liming. The results show that while liming can initially release carbon, it becomes a carbon sink after a few decades, effectively removing the greenhouse gas from the atmosphere.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cFarmers have been doing enhanced weathering in U.S. agriculture for a little over a half century,\u201d said\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/reinhard.gatech.edu\/chris-reinhard.html\u0022\u003EChris Reinhard\u003C\/a\u003E, an associate professor in the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/eas.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences\u003C\/a\u003E and an author on the paper. \u201cThis is a giant natural experiment that\u0027s been going on for decades that allows us to figure out how much carbon makes it all the way through the watershed system.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe study grew out of a U.S. Department of Energy Earthshot Initiative\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/environment.yale.edu\/news\/article\/yale-awarded-energy-earthshot-study-natural-carbon-capture\u0022\u003Egrant\u003C\/a\u003E focused on understanding the role agricultural liming could play in long-term carbon removal.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETracking Carbon\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhen limestone or other carbonate minerals are added to soil, the effects don\u0027t stop at the field\u0027s edge. The minerals\u2019 reaction with the ground\u2019s acidity results in chemical products that move through rivers and eventually reach the ocean. While carbon-related changes can be measured in the field, tracing them across an entire watershed is far more difficult.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBut data from decades of agricultural lime applications, fertilizer usage numbers, and river alkalinity measurements at the mouth of the Mississippi helped researchers piece together the larger picture. By analyzing more than a century of agricultural and river records, the team found that liming in the Mississippi River Basin has acted as a net carbon sink.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe findings also challenge how liming\u0027s climate impacts are typically measured. Current carbon accounting often treats lime application itself as a source of emissions. But the researchers say this approach misses an important part of the picture: Fertilizers can make soils more acidic over time, creating the need for liming. When the team accounted for both processes, they found that liming removed carbon in the long term, but fertilizer causes acidity and drives emissions.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EModeling a Better Future\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EReinhard and colleagues also\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/gmd.copernicus.org\/articles\/15\/4959\/2022\/gmd-15-4959-2022.html\u0022\u003Ecreated\u003C\/a\u003E a\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/news\/2025\/08\/19\/farming-future-planet-how-liming-could-be-key-carbon-removal\u0022\u003Emodel\u003C\/a\u003E that captures the physics and chemistry of agricultural soils. The model can determine liming\u2019s theoretical carbon-removal potential, testing its predictions against the historical data. In this case, about 90% of the carbon-removal benefit predicted from the model ultimately appeared in the records of river chemistry from the Mississippi River Basin.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe long-term goal for the model is to develop a way for farmers to plan and be able to answer questions like, \u2018How do I stagger the application of lime so I\u0027m helping the crops while also emitting as little carbon as possible?\u2019\u201d Reinhard said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBeyond its climate implications, liming could help strengthen the long-term resilience of the agricultural industry. The findings suggest that managing soil pH can improve soil health and crop yields, while simultaneously reducing net greenhouse gas emissions. If managed well, one of agriculture\u0027s oldest soil management practices may offer a rare double benefit: helping farmers grow healthier crops while reducing the industry\u0027s climate footprint.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECITATION : Suhrhoff, T.J., Reinhard, C.T., Kanzaki, Y. \u003Cem\u003Eet al.\u003C\/em\u003E Agricultural liming is a carbon sink in the Mississippi River Basin. \u003Cem\u003ENature\u003C\/em\u003E (2026). https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1038\/s41586-026-11040-2\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EScientists used the Mississippi River Basin\u2019s 100-year record to show that liming, long considered a source of carbon emissions, may actually remove carbon overall.\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Scientists used the Mississippi River Basin\u2019s 100-year record to show that liming, long considered a source of carbon emissions, may actually remove carbon overall."}],"uid":"34541","created_gmt":"2026-09-23 14:46:24","changed_gmt":"2026-09-23 20:09:12","author":"Tess Malone","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2026-09-23T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2026-09-23T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"681237":{"id":"681237","type":"image","title":"AdobeStock_2112119057.jpeg","body":null,"created":"1790174927","gmt_created":"2026-09-23 14:48:47","changed":"1790174927","gmt_changed":"2026-09-23 14:48:47","alt":"Mississippi River agricultural landscape on open data satellite image","file":{"fid":"265605","name":"AdobeStock_2112119057.jpeg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/09\/23\/AdobeStock_2112119057.jpeg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/09\/23\/AdobeStock_2112119057.jpeg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":12985849,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2026\/09\/23\/AdobeStock_2112119057.jpeg?itok=rCi-n5Yf"}}},"media_ids":["681237"],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39531","name":"Energy and Sustainable Infrastructure"},{"id":"193657","name":"Space Research Initiative"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ETess Malone, Senior Research Writer\/Editor\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003Etess.malone@gatech.edu\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}