green living
In the U.S., we are depleting our topsoil 10 times faster than we are replenishing it. We only have 60 years of farmable topsoil remaining.
~Diana Martin
regenerative agriculture since the 1970s, when Bob Rodale, son of the institute’s founder, fi rst began talking about it. “He said sustainability isn’t good enough. In the U.S., we are depleting our topsoil 10 times faster than we are replenishing it. We only have 60 years of farmable topsoil remaining,” says Martin. T e institute is working with corporate brands in conduct-
Beyond Sustainability Regenerative Agriculture Takes
Aim at Climate Change by Yvette C. Hammett
M
ost people have never heard of regenerative agricul- ture, but there’s plenty of talk about it in the scientifi c and farming communities, along with a growing con-
sensus that regeneration is a desirable step beyond sustainability. T ose that are laser-focused on clean food and a better en-
vironment believe regenerative agriculture will not only result in healthier food, but could become a signifi cant factor in reversing the dangerous eff ects of manmade climate change. T is centers on the idea that healthy soils anchor a healthy planet: T ey contain more carbon than all above-ground vegetation and regulate emis- sions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. “We have taken soils for granted for a long time. Neverthe-
less, soils are the foundation of food production and food security, supplying plants with nutrients, water and support for their roots,” according to the study “Status of the World’s Soil Resources,” by the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations. Most of the world’s soil resources, which also function as the planet’s largest water fi lter, are in fair, poor or very poor condition, the report states. Tilling, erosion and chemicals all play signifi cant roles in soil
degradation. Regenerative agriculture seeks to reverse that trend by focusing on inexpensive organic methods that minimize soil disturbance and feed its microbial diversity with the application of compost and compost teas. Cover crops, crop and livestock rota- tion and multistory agroforestry are all part of a whole-farm design that’s intended to rebuild the quantity and quality of topsoil, as well as increase biodiversity and watershed function. “True regenerative organic agriculture can improve the
environment, the communities, the economy, even the human spirit,” says Diana Martin, director of communications for the Rodale Institute, in Kutztown, Pennsylvania. Rodale, a leader in the organic movement, has been carrying the global torch for
18 Greater Oklahoma/OKC Edition
ing a pilot project on farms around the world to certify food as regenerative organic. It has three pillars that were created with the help of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Organic Program: soil health; animal welfare; and social justice, the latter because people want to know that workers are being treated fairly, Martin says. “In some ways, we felt the organic program could do
more, so we introduced the regenerative organic certifica- tion. It is a new, high-bar label that is very holistic,” says Jeff Moyer, an expert in organic agriculture and the executive director at the Rodale Institute. The pilot phase involves 21 farms with connections to big brands like Patagonia, Lotus Foods and Dr. Bronner’s. “We needed relationships with brands to make this a reality,” Moyer says. Product should be rolling out by this fall. “T ere’s kind of a broad umbrella of things going on,” says
Bruce Branham, a crop sciences professor with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. “No-till farming certainly is a small step toward regenerative ag, because every time we till the soil, we essentially expose a lot of the carbon dioxide, which burns off carbon.” Cover crops can be planted right aſt er harvesting a cash crop
to help regenerate the soil, adding nitrogen and organic matter, he says. “It is a long-term benefi t, so a lot of farmers are hesitant. It takes a while to improve soil fertility through cover crop use.” It doesn’t cost much, but for a corn or soybean farmer making al- most no money right now, every expense matters. “T e real things we are working on are more toward diff erent cropping systems,” he says, in which farmers are growing perennial tree crops that produce nuts and fruits, absorb carbon and don’t require replant- ing or tilling. T ere’s considerable interest in regenerative organic agricul-
ture in Idaho, as many farmers there have already adopted no-till practices, says Sanford Eigenbrode, a professor at the University of Idaho, who specializes in entomology, plant pathology and nema- tology. Farmers want to try to improve retention of soil carbon to both stabilize soils and improve long-term productivity, he says. “T ere are economic and environmental advantages.”
Yvette C. Hammett is an environmental writer based in Valrico, Florida. She can be contacted at
YvetteHammett28@hotmail.com.
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