Just watched a PBS special on "Global Warming". Their main concern was CO2 concentrations and the resultant relationship on temp increase. I agree with their findings, but; Why doesn't anyone take our "conventional" farming practices and subsequent higher limestone usage. Organic farming uses the organisms in the soil as a buffer to pH and appear to use less limestone per acre per year than conventional. Liming of Acid soils releases CO2 into the atmosphere as part of the neutralization process.
CaCO3 - chemical weight = 95 , CO2 given off as a % of total, almost 47%
If farmers average use of 400 # lime per acre/year. (2Ton/Ac. every 10 years)
That equals 197# CO2 per acre per year
Convert that to all the tillable acres that are farmed from the Mississippi River on East. Thats a lot of Greenhouse gas yearly. Some is tied up in the soils carbon cycle, specially on organic production fields, but still a sizable tonnage released yearly.
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