Deep-rooted grass seed plants provide several environmental benefits. They remove nitrogen and other nutrients from the soil, break up soil compaction and enhance water quality by holding topsoil in place.
Reclamation managers utilize grass crops to stabilize soil after fires and other natural disasters. Midwest corn and soybean farmers in recent years have been using grass seed as a cover crop to condition soil and prevent erosion during winter months.
Grass seed is an environmentally friendly crop to produce: It often is grown as a perennial and left in place for stretches of two to four years at a time. This helps prevent erosion by reducing tillage and holding soil in place during rainy winter months. Orchardists and Christmas tree farmers utilize the deep-rooted crop to keep soil in place while their crops mature.
Grass crops capture and retain carbon while releasing oxygen into the atmosphere, helping mitigate global warming. Each acre of grass produces enough oxygen for 64 people a day.
