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Plowing Carbon Into the Fields

OzPeter writes "A wheat farmer in Australia has eliminated adding fertilizer to his crop by the simple process of injecting the cooled diesel exhaust of his modified tractor into the ground when the wheat is being sown. In doing so he eliminates releasing carbon into the atmosphere and at the same time saves himself up to $500,000 (AUD) that would have been required to fertilize his 3,900 hectares in the traditional way. Yet his crop yields over the last two years have been at least on par with his best yields since 2001. The technique was developed by a Canadian, Gary Lewis of Bio Agtive, and is currently in trial at 100 farms around the world."

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  1. The Canadian story ... by jginspace · · Score: 5, Informative

    Funny this sounded familiar, I submitted the story about the Canadian farmer three years ago. That article says it was developed by a farmer named Darrel Carlisle and is generally more informative.

    1. Re:The Canadian story ... by jginspace · · Score: 5, Informative
      And some informative articles, mentioning the involvements of Darrel Carlisle and Gary Lewis and the timeline:

      Makers tout exhaust as nutrient, despite critics
      http://www.agweek.com/articles/index.cfm?article_id=13745&property_id=41

      Recycled tractor exhaust appears to improve farmland: farmer
      http://www.cbc.ca/canada/manitoba/story/2007/08/28/tractor-emissions.html

      Tractor exhaust fertilization system causing dispute
      http://www.minotdailynews.com/page/content.detail/id/514706.html?nav=5010&showlayout=0