Livestock Research Group July 2015 Newsletter

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Page 12
The Grassland Research Network (GRN) continues to work on its stocktake of research activities on soil carbon
sequestration and GHG emissions from grasslands (first reported in the December 2014 newsletter).
Grasslands Research Network
In this continuous process, a regional
approach has brought interesting progress
in Europe and Latin America. The European
region has been working on a manuscript
summarizing the assessment of soil C
sequestration in European grasslands, while
the Latin American region listed 53 projects
on grasslands on soil C and GHG emissions.
Scientists from the Latin American region
also held a South Cone workshop at INIA
in Uruguay in May. Participants came
from Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay
and there was also a representative from
the FAO’s Global Agenda for Sustainable
Livestock (GASL).
Outcomes of this meeting included:
• Understanding research developments in
the South Cone region
• Identification of opportunities for linking
the GRN with other networks and the
expansion of the GRN contact list.
• Opportunities of collaboration on the
report of regional stocktaking and
research outcomes in a joint publication,
as well as identifying research limitations
in the region
An opportunity to collaborate with FAO
GASL Focal Area 2: ‘Restoring value to
grasslands’ was discussed at this regional
meeting, where the GRN can contribute
in the production of a booklet identifying
best management practices for grasslands
enhancing soil C sequestration and reducing
GHG emissions. This project was further
discussed at the global level at the joint
LRG and Soil C & N Cross-Cutting Group
workshop that followed the LRG meeting in
Lodi, Italy in June (refer to page 4).
In the next year the GRN will continue
working on the stocktake, enhancing
collaboration between scientists focusing
on the different regional priorities, and
engaging more scientists at the global level
in particular in the Asian region.
F or further information please contact
Fernando Lattanzi ( .
Updates from the Research Networks
Manure Management Network
The Manure Management Network (MMN) is a global forum for scientists focused on reducing greenhouse gas
(GHG) emissions (mainly methane and nitrous oxide) from livestock through improvement of manure management.
The MMN, under its previous coordinator
Theun Velinga, was instrumental in the
launch, in January 2014, of the manure
management component of the Climate and
Clean Air Coalition. Jonathan Levin took over
MMN coordination in 2015 and, following
a meeting of the network in June 2015 at
Reading University (UK), the scope and goals
of the network were defined as follows:
Scope:
• Promote manure as a source of nutrients,
energy and soil organic matter.
• Address the challenges of integrating
measurements and models across the
global scientific community.
• Advocate manure management for
improved nutrient use efficiency to reduce
GHG emissions and enhance carbon
storage.
• To highlight interactions between
different stages of manure management
(feeding, housing, storage, processing
and spreading) and grazing returns.
Goals:
• To exchange research findings,
experiences and data in the field of
manure management.
• To identify research gaps.
• To provide an evidence base for policy
makers, farmers, industry and other
stakeholders about enhanced manure
nutrient utilization and mitigation
potentials.
• To propose appropriate standard
experimental protocols for emission
factor derivation and assessing mitigation
potential.
• Standardised meta-data, units and
reporting.
The network is currently working on
a compilation of mitigation methods
and strategies, on metadata reporting
requirements for different GHG sources
and on harmonizing protocols for GHG
measurements from the different stages of
the manure management chain.
New members are encouraged and
anyone who is interested should contact
Jonathan Levin .