When learning about sustainability, regenerative farming is a topic that really is fascinating. Growing up in a farming community and North Dakota being mostly farmland, it is exciting to know that regenerative agriculture is a key tool in combating climate change.
Regenerative agriculture is a collection of farming methods that help restore the land in conjunction with bringing food to our tables. A large part of regenerative agriculture comes down to ecology. All living things affect other living things. That includes the soil, plants, insects, animals, humans, and our planet as a whole. Let’s look at 5 ways regenerative agriculture is pretty darn cool.
1. Culture: Bringing Back Native American’s Different Cultures through the land
It is important to consider the past, to understand the current setting. Consider the Great Plains 500 years ago, before the land was colonized, Native American tribes did many practices that are often referred to as regenerative practices. Native Americans have lived for over 12,000 years in North America before it was colonized.
The land was their way of life. Between 30-60 million buffalo would roam the land until it was colonized. When determining how to take the land during the Buffalo War, General Dodge stated “Kill Every Buffalo You Can! Every Buffalo Dead Is an Indian Gone.” According to an article by the Smithsonian Magazine, “By the end of the 19th century, only 300 buffalo were left in the wild”. A key part of the Native American’s livelihood and culture. As of today, there are am estimated 200,000 buffalo in North America, many of which are on ranches.
Regenerative agriculture practices goes so much deeper than just changing the way we farm. It brings life back to those large pieces of land and encourages that connection with our environment.
2. No-Till Farming: Changing the “look” of a thriving farm
Tilling is a practice used by many farmers today that is done prior to the next year’s planting. It digs up the left over crop and leaves those typical black fields you are used to seeing. Tilling releases large amounts of carbon and puts it into the atmosphere. Carbon in the atmosphere is a big deal. I recommend checking out my article Carbon Neutral Overview: A Key Piece to the Puzzle for more info on this topic.
No-till leaves the soil untouched besides slicing into the ground during planting season to insert the seeds.
On top of the carbon releasing into the atmosphere, tilling breaks up the microrganisms and root systems present within the soil, lessening the overall soil health. If the soil health is lower, the plant doesn’t not operate as optimally, which will then lead to the plant pulling less carbon out of the atmosphere. No till started to gain momentum after the dust bowl, when soil health really came to light.
As I was researching what books to read on sustainability, I was so happy to find Gabe Brown’s book. Gabe Brown is a farmer from the Bismarck, North Dakota area who transitioned from industrial farming practices to regenerative agriculture. His book is so well thought out and written. I highly recommend it! Gabe Brown’s amazing book Dirt to Soil has me looking out the window while driving across North Dakota looking for untilled fields and I even get bummed seeing the tilled fields.
3. Cover Crops are the Swiss Army Knife of Regenerative Agriculture
Plant Diversity is an important aspect of regenerative farming. It is done by planting cover crops. Cover crops are additional plants that are planted alongside the crop you wish to grow.
These plants are specifically curated for that farmer based on their current soil needs. They are typically a cocktail of upwards of 9 different types of plants all planted together.
Cover crops help improve the soil by adding organic matter to the soil, pulling carbon into the soil, and helping with water infiltration.
Cover crops also can be planted outside of the growing season for grazing animals to consume and help give additional protection and nutrients to the soil. Pretty cool huh?
4. Animals Help Shape this Ecosystem
Just like when the 30-60 million buffalo roaming the Great Plains, grazing animals help with regenerative farming practices. Animals can eat some of the crops, which actually helps plant growth. The farm animals that do this are considered grass fed. Grass fed livestock is something more and more consumers are looking for.
If there are no pesicides on the crops, which is another regenerative practice, then that is less pesticides that end up on someone’s plate who would later eat that animal.
Allowing animals to graze on portions of the crop enables them to gather their own food. The animals are often guided from one area of the field to the next, to ensure they don’t trample all of the crop. This mimics what herds did long ago as they traversed the plains to keep away from predators, not returning to the same location to avoid creating patterns.
The more plant diversity is brought to the land brings more diversity for other living things too. The more animals and insects (including pollinators) are brought back to the land as well.
5. More Water, Less Problems
Regenerative farming helps with soil erosion, overland flooding, and droughts. This is due to the healthy soil. The top soil is not dried up and dusty causing it to blow away. When rainstorms come, the water can absorb much more quickly and hold more water than damaged soil. That wet soil then can fuel that plant longer given it has more water to give which can help outlast droughts. How freaking cool.
In a fantastic article by Susan Tallman, about Gabe Brown’s regenerative practices, they stated when Gabe Brown was doing industrial farming practices in 1993 (tilling, no cover crops, pesticides and fertilizers) his soil could take in .25 inches of rain each hour. In 2012 after doing many regenerative practices, they received 12 inches of rain in a short amount of time and 8 inches was absorbed before any overland flooding occurred.
Conclusion
I am trying to keep my blog posts shorter, but there is so much more I would like to discuss on this topic. There is also so much more to learn! Learning what I have from books like Gabe Brown’s Dirt to Soil or documentaries like Gather and Kiss the Ground, I am really excited to see what farmers will do to help with climate change and help restore lands. It has really encouraged me to start looking for farmers that are doing it and finding ways to help them through my purchases.
Resources and Recommendations to Check out:
