Ep. 338: Agriculture: problem or solution?

Guest: Jeff Seale, Bayer Crop Science

Agriculture and climate are inextricably connected, according to Jeff Seale, the Director of Climate Policy and Strategy at Bayer Crop Science.

Agriculture is the number two contributor to atmospheric greenhouse gases.

The good news, according to him, is that agriculture can be a part of the solution. Seale says, “Essentially, it boils down to the things we can do on the farm to remove CO2 from the atmosphere and store it in the soil. The soil, he says, has the potential to be the second largest carbon sink on the planet behind the ocean.

Seale goes on to ask out loud, "How do we leverage that?" Central to the answer is an understanding of the relationship between growing organisms and carbon in the photosynthetic process. All plants, grasses, trees, fruits, and vegetables utilize carbon as the cornerstone of their structure. The enzyme RuBisCo separates carbon from oxygen and keeps the carbon as the building block of the plant and returns the oxygen to the atmosphere.

Seale says, “The question is, how can we more effectively drive more of that carbon below the ground? As well as, once it's there, how do we keep it there?” He claims one of the exciting aspects of his work is determining how to work with microbial species that exist in the soil below the ground.

We invited agricultural climate specialist Dr. Jeff Seale to join us for a Conversation That Matters, Food For Thought episode, about working with plants to help reduce carbon in the atmosphere.