The secret to curbing farm emissions is buried in the Stone Age
Reduced tilling, cover crops, and more trees can pull more carbon from the air and into the ground. (Patrick Leger/)Along a stretch of rural highway in the coastal plains of North Carolina sits an unusual forest. The viridian-green branches of loblolly pines rise 60 feet above a carpet of soft, tufted grasses, rippling slightly in the breeze. The trees are widely spaced, 20 to 30 feet apart, with their lower limbs removed, creating an airy, cathedral-like canopy speckled with sunlight filtering through the needles.The woodland has a strangely serene, primeval feel. A sudden wave of grunting reveals large black shapes moving in the distance. A pickup approaches, further breaking the reverie, and out hops a slender middle-aged man in a ball cap.“Buron Lanier,” he says, extending a hand. “Sorry I’m late. I was just finishing up with a calf.”The shapes, Lanier’s Red Angus cattle, amble over. This forest, 100 acres...