Winnipeg, MB (June 24, 2020) - Brandon University's Dr. Terence McGonigle feels he is seeing a response in forage fields and pastures via research on "High Performance Management Systems To Reduce Greenhouse Gases in Canada's Forages and Grasslands". But, as the Brandon University soil scientist and professor enters the 2020 research season, McGonigle says he's not quite ready to declare what kind of field or grazing system is providing the most greenhouse gas reductions among the six Manitoba fields he is researching. Not yet, anyway. 

   "More time is needed to say. We are now switching some cores to 100 cm to check for differences in carbon at depth," says McGonigle. "We are also now exploring an alternative measure of microbes based on their activity. Even if the quantity of carbon is slow to respond to planned grazing, functionality may improve. We hope to check for hydrological effects in soil." 

   McGonigle is leading two GHG research projects that closely intertwine. The Canadian Forage & Grassland Association's Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Project (titled above) that utilizes six fields selected and coordinated by Manitoba Forage and Grassland Association that is entering the final field season. McGonigle also leads a Brandon University project funded via Manitoba Agriculture and Resource Development designed to complement the CFGA project "Soil Health Assessment for enhanced productivity and resilience for cattle grazing systems in Manitoba grasslands" 

   According to McGonigle, the 2019 field results were promising regarding the ability of forage sites to sequester carbon. Quantities of both soil organic carbon and microbes were measured in the top 15 cm of soil. Producer fields showed encouraging signs for impacts of bale grazing and other aspect of management. 

   "In summary, the data shows that forage sites behave like grasslands, with about twice as many microbes per unit of soil carbon when compared to a crop field," wrote McGonigle recently. "The likely explanation for this difference is that roots of the forage plants provide a delivery of biomass to the soil microbes that is consistent across time and space in the field. If microbes are taken as a measure of a healthy soil, then forage production keeps the system healthy for carbon."  

   

   Like many of his peers, McGonigle is facing a research season he's never faced before. Still, the broad brush of COVID-19 restrictions on research has not completely shut his research efforts down. Things are different, though.

   

   "Restrictions imposed by the pandemic response at the federal and provincial level have impacted collaborative activity related to this project," says McGonigle. "We will try to collect all the data we can, but some activities could be limited. In turn, research could suffer."