BioChar: Standards, Methods, and Opportunities

I want to thank the Sacramento Black Carbon panelists (March 4, 2009) for a great hour of discussion on our unfolding understanding of black carbon in soil. Clearly there is much interest within NSCSS to dig deeper: we are developing guidance for NSCSS members on BioChar: Standards, Methods, and Opportunities. To see our current progress, click on the What is Biochar link at the bottom of this page.

Bibliographies

Several attendees requested a bibliography. I rely on two:

• Terra Preta bibliography, maintained by panelist Tom Miles, and contributed to by an army of biochar enthusiasts.
• International Biochar Initiative bibliography, being developed by IBI.

For a solid introduction to the basics, this annotated bibliography is my favorite:

• Reference Sources: Amazonian Dark Earths, Terra Preta de Indio (PDF). Courtesy Donna Marie (and thousands of bees), Moorehead City, NC

Biochar Application Rate

The panelists were asked several times how much biochar is needed to achieve the effects, to reap the benefits. We think that is the right question, but it is not a simple one to answer. Minute amounts, in conjunction with mycorrhizal inoculation, and starter fertilizer, banded with wheat on an ultisol, had great effect on yield (Blackwell, 2007). Large amounts applied to corn on mollisols had no effect on yield the first year. In the context of land application of waste, stormwater treatment, and the environmental protection and restoration work that most of our members engage in, less is understood. Beyond that, we are more interested in soil dynamics that go well beyond simple yield comparisons and first-year term effects. We will explore this further in future articles.

Panelists

These folks remain available to NSCSS members, and look forward to discussing your biochar project.

Richard T. Haard Ph.D.
Plant Propagation Manager
Fourth Corner Nurseries
5652 Sand Road
Bellingham, Washington, 98226
richrd@nas.com
www.fourthcornernurseries.com
profile - http://www.linkedin.com/pub/a/42/377
360-592-2250, Todd Jones, General Manager

Tom Miles
T R Miles Technical Consultants, Inc.
503-292-0107
503-780-8185 c
503-292-2919 f
tmiles@trmiles.com
www.trmiles.com
profile - http://www.linkedin.com/pub/3/17b/839

Larry Simpson
Director of Education and Training
Mycorrhizal Applications, Inc.
PO Box 1181
Grants Pass, OR 97528
707-599-4367
707-839-2673 (Fax)
larry@mycorrhizae.com
www.mycorrhizae.com

Frank Shields
Soil Control Lab
42 Hangar way
Watsonville, CA 95076
831-724-5422 tel
831-724-3188 fax
frank@compostlab.com
www.compostlab.com