Why is regenerative agriculture important? How do I advance regenerative agriculture? Plant a Climate Victory Garden at home or your community garden see p. Buy regenerative organic, biodynamic, or organic whenever you can. Move to a primarily plant-based diet.

Share this issue of the Green American far and wide. Contact us for additional copies or share our articles online. Ask farmers, food companies, and retailers if the products they sell are rebuilding soil health and sequestering carbon.

Everyone in the food system needs to hear that consumers care! Here are some questions to ask: Ask farmers: Do you know if cover crops, crop rotations, and low tillage was used to grow this food?

to get them started. Ask food companies and retailers: Do you require the producers who make your products to report to you on their soil health and carbon sequestration progress?

What are some regenerative agriculture practices? From Green American Magazine Issue. Healthy Soil, Cool Climate. Healthy Soil, Cool Climate Heal the Soil, Cool the Climate.

Regenerative Agriculture Farms That Harvest the Sun—Twice. Real Gardeners, Real Climate Action. From Slash and Burn to Regeneration in Ghana. Plant-Based Investing, for the Good of Animals.

Breaking Down Barriers to Composting. Eating in a Warming World. Learn about our sponsor. Related News. Three Reasons to support the FABRIC Act. What is the FABRIC Act? A World Without Hazardous Agrichemicals. Green Living. Beyond Lead: Toxins in Toys. Investing in Green Energy. Large food value chain companies are committing to source ingredients produced through regenerative practices.

PepsiCo, the second largest, committed to regenerative practices across 7 million acres by Other companies with regenerative agriculture commitments include Cargill, General Mills, McCain and Walmart. Many partnerships are also being formed to help farmers adopt regenerative agriculture. Syngenta Group and The Nature Conservancy are collaborating on business practices to improve sustainability including soil health, resource efficiency and habitat protection.

Since Moreland Farms began transitioning to no-till farming and constant crop rotation in , there have been consistent yield increases and other environmental and economic benefits.

Regenerative agriculture has the potential to make farming a solution to climate change, which benefits the planet, humanity and all other life on it.

Within that, there are many tangible benefits. Some examples:. Management practices included conservation tillage, cover crops, and precision fertilizer management. Limiting deforestation and grassland conversion. Regenerative agriculture practices help restore degraded farmland through improving soil health.

This can lead to increased yields from existing arable land, preventing the need for farms to expand and cause deforestation as they do so. Along with proper management of soil health, this is enabling the profitable restoration of unproductive, degraded pastures.

The result: with 1 head of cattle per ha to cropland producing One of the goals of regenerative agriculture is to restore threatened biodiversity and enhance natural habitats.

Regenerative agriculture practices such as planting field strips provide habitats for many types of biodiversity from pollinators to birds and small mammals, allowing them to thrive. Practices such as no-till improve soil health, nourishing underground microorganisms and increasing the diversity of creatures living below the surface.

One of the principles of regenerative agriculture is reducing biological and chemical inputs. Digital tools allow farmers to better understand their fields and crops and target applications of products, so reducing the amounts used.

One of the aims of regenerative agriculture is to ensure enough nutritious food for everyone, giving consumers greater food security and improved health. Regenerative practices lead to a more resilient food system, which decreases the risk of empty shelves arising from climate impacts on food production.

As soil health improves, the microorganisms that live in soil help plants access micronutrients and produce phytochemicals that are linked to disease prevention and longer lifespans. Hans-Heinrich Grünhagen is a multi-faceted farmer, both a traditionalist and a trailblazer.

Climate changes are intensifying the problems and there is an intense focus on soil. That means a lot of experimentation with regenerative agricultural practices.

More investment is needed to accelerate the widespread adoption of regenerative agriculture practices, and farmers, policymakers and agricultural companies need to work together. Today, farmers carry a heavy burden of costs — seeds, equipment, overheads, for example - and take much of the risk of growing food crops despite uncertainty about weather, water and market prices.

Changing farm practices brings greater costs at the start. Despite that, larger farms and progressive growers are forging ahead. Subsidies can be restructured to incentivize farmers to phase out soil-degrading practices in favor of approaches that build healthy, fertile soil while sequestering carbon.

The private sector also has an important role. Companies including Syngenta Group can take a lead by delivering a set of starter regenerative solutions that generate measurable results for farmers within one growing season.

At Syngenta Group, we engage farmers by working closely alongside them. We do this both in the field — by bringing them knowledge and tools - and off the land — for example, by helping integrate farmers into the food supply chain via partnerships and collaborations.

Receive Syngenta Group press releases directly per email. Skip to main content. Regenerative Agriculture. Home Regenerative Agriculture. Where innovation meets tradition. Jump to section:. What is regenerative agriculture? What are the principles and practices behind regenerative agriculture?

Regenerative agriculture infographic. Can regenerative agriculture reverse climate change? Can regenerative agriculture feed the world? Can regenerative agriculture restore lost biodiversity?

What is Syngenta Group doing to advance regenerative agriculture? Who is affected by regenerative agriculture? What is needed to accelerate the transition to regenerative agriculture? What are the benefits of regenerative agriculture for farmers, the environment, and consumers?

Goals of regenerative agriculture. Regenerative Agriculture — Where Innovation Meets Tradition. Plants in the ground year round. Principle: Year-round plant coverage prevents soil erosion and increases carbon inputs Practices: Growing cover crops, double cropping Soil health improves when crops are kept in the ground year-round.

Diversify crops in time and space. Principle: Diversifying crops in space and time supports resilience, productivity, and diversity Practices: Crop rotation, interseeding, relay planting and biodiversity strips or agroforestry Planting the same crops on the same fields, year after year, strips soil of nutrients and allows pests and weeds to flourish.

Interseeding is when cover crops are planted between commercial crop rows Relay planting means inserting the seeds of the next crop even as the first one is still growing Biodiversity strips at the margins of fields or trees and shrubs around the boundaries of farmland agroforestry create habitats for pollinators and other beneficial wildlife.

Optimize application of biological and chemical inputs. Principle: Reducing biological and chemical inputs Practice: Precision agriculture Data-driven precision farming is a key part of regenerative agriculture.

Integrate livestock when possible. Principle: Livestock can help create a virtuous circle of soil health Practice: Managed grazing Livestock — cows, goats, sheep, chickens, and pigs — are walking bioreactors, transforming plant material into rich organic matter through manure production.

Global land under cultivation could store 1. Farmer's perspectives. Dry Land Gets New Life. Can a pioneering farming family really combat climate change with regenerative agriculture?

Lorenz Mayr family farm case study. Can Regenerative Agriculture Feed the World? Regenerative Agriculture can Improve Both the Quantity and Quality of Food Crops.

Research shows that building soil organic matter through regenerative practices can improve yields. Regenerative farming practices build up organic matter in the soil, so that it is better able to retain water and nutrients.

During long periods of drought, crops can survive for longer periods in soil that retains moisture. Studies of high-tech row crop farming in the US which applied regenerative practices maintained similar yields versus conventional practices.

Instead, as beneficial insects and wildlife return and diverse crop and livestock rotations disrupt weed cycles, the ecosystem becomes more resilient. And with fewer toxic chemicals, there are reduced human health risks as well as increased financial independence from avoiding the recurring costs of synthetic inputs.

Farm manager Noland Johnson shows handfuls of tepary beans grown at Papago Farm on the Tohono O'odham Nation in southern Arizona.

The drought-resistant beans are native to the southwestern United States and Mexico and have been farmed since pre-Columbian times. Many regenerative farmers begin their practice with the aim of growing healthy food for their families and communities.

They consider it essential to treat their farmworkers, apprentices, and other laborers with respect, and to provide on-farm staff with fair wages and a seat at the decision-making table.

And many of these growers have a deep appreciation of the social and historical contexts in which they operate. They acknowledge how unjust policies have shaped American agriculture, even though our food systems were built by Black and Indigenous communities. For many practitioners, regenerative agriculture is an approach to remedying long-standing social injustices, including systemic discrimination that has denied farmers and ranchers of color access to land tenure and support services.

Back in , there were nearly one million Black farmers in the United States. But after more than a century of land theft, racist polices, and discrimination , that number is closer to 45, today—out of an estimated 3. Department of Agriculture USDA.

White farmers, by contrast, now own 98 percent of the land in America. At the federal level, steps have been taken to address equitable access to land, training, and credit and to support underserved producers —including funding and directives to shift the decades-long legacy of racial discrimination at USDA.

But significant work remains. The care and creativity regenerative growers showcase yield benefits on and off the land. They grow food and fiber, draw down carbon, conserve water, replenish waterways, grow healthier foods, reduce their use of synthetic inputs, employ people within their communities, and ensure the long-term vitality of the land.

Plantation Park Heights Urban Farm PPHUF hosts an event in Baltimore. Founded by a group of Caribbean American residents, PPHUF focuses on positive change for local young adults along with food production and distribution throughout the community.

There are many practices that fulfill a regenerative philosophy. Note that this list is not comprehensive, and not all regenerative growers use all of these practices. A roller crimper is used to terminate cover crops so they can act as mulch in a no-till field on a farm in Evansville, Indiana.

Marvin Hayes, founder of Baltimore Compost Collective, holds fresh compost at the Filbert Street Community Garden in Baltimore. Agriculture plays a significant role in contributing to climate change. Our food systems are also suffering enormous consequences from rising temperatures and increases in extreme weather events like droughts and floods.

The regenerative agriculture movement addresses the climate crisis with practices that sequester more carbon in the soil and help make farmland—and local communities—more resilient. In fact, farming and ranching can play an important part in natural climate solutions, as described below. Abby Zlotnick shows the roots of a plant grown with regenerative practices on her farm, Juniper Farm, on leased public lands in Pitkin County, Colorado.

As flood, drought, and other extreme weather patterns become more frequent, farmers and ranchers are preparing their land to be more resilient. Healthy soils with high amounts of organic matter are able to absorb more water during a flood—to the benefit of the farmer and downstream communities—and even help maintain water security during a drought.

Ranchers can also help prevent wildfires by grazing livestock to control brush. NRDC and Incredible Beast Omnimedia teamed up with Nick Offerman to make sad soil smile again through climate-friendly regenerative farming.

Tell your reps to take action to support healthy soil and a healthy planet: nrdc. Our climate and health depend on ending our reliance on fossil fuel—based fertilizers and pesticides.

Farmworkers, primarily Latino and immigrant workers, and their communities are in constant danger of exposure to these chemicals, putting them at risk of suffering acute and chronic health issues. More than 1. Leslie Wiser at Radical Family Farms in Sebastopol, California, where she and her wife, Sarah Deragon, grow fruits, vegetables, herbs, and flowers using regenerative techniques.

About 10 percent of U. greenhouse gas emissions are attributed to farming and ranching, according to the U. Environmental Protection Agency , with the largest sources being livestock such as cows , agricultural soils, and rice production.

Some regenerative practices—including no-till farming, cover cropping, and rotational grazing—can decrease overall emissions from the agricultural sector. Considering that by we will need to feed a world population teetering on 10 billion, farms and ranches need to make even greater efforts to sustainably increase their productivity.

Of course, as population increases, farmland is impacted in different ways in different regions. In some places, agricultural land is at risk of conversion to suburban and urban development.

According to American Farmland Trust, 2, acres of agricultural land are converted by development every day in the United States. Supporting regenerative farms and ranches that embrace crop and animal diversity while boosting yields can help farms stay in business and prevent farmland from being lost to other uses.

The farm was purchased by the county with help from Eastern Shore Land Conservancy and offers recreational fields in addition to wildlife-viewing opportunities. In other areas, mainly in tropical and subtropical regions, forests and grasslands are being converted for agricultural uses.

Land management efforts that complement regenerative agriculture practices would help to preserve these natural carbon sinks along with wildlife habitat and biodiversity. Abandoned or unproductive farm and ranch lands should be reforested or restored to natural ecosystems to minimize further land degradation and soil erosion.

Despite all the benefits of regenerative agriculture, only a small percentage of U. farms have adopted regenerative practices—in part because U. farm policy does not prioritize them. But some states have started to encourage farmers, ranchers, and private landowners to adopt practices that reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

In California, there are incentive programs like the Healthy Soils Initiative, the Biologically Integrated Farming Systems Program, and Sustainable Agriculture Lands Conservation Program.

These types of initiatives can serve as a model for other states looking to reward farmers for better management. Incentivizing these practices is only the first step toward transformative, systemic agricultural change.

In addition, by directing technical assistance and financial resources to Black, Latino, and Indigenous farmers and other disadvantaged growers, we can begin to address historic injustices in our food system.

This NRDC. org story is available for online republication by news media outlets or nonprofits under these conditions: The writer s must be credited with a byline; you must note prominently that the story was originally published by NRDC.

We will keep you informed with the latest alerts and progress reports. Skip to main content. Regenerative Agriculture November 29, Credit: John Brecher for NRDC.

Share this page. What Is Regenerative Agriculture? Regenerative Agriculture Principles Social Inequities in American Agriculture Why Regenerative Agriculture? Regenerative Agriculture Techniques Regenerative Agriculture and Climate Change How to Support Regenerative Agriculture.

Regenerative Agriculture Is a Philosophy At its core, regenerative agriculture is farming and ranching in harmony with nature.

View this post on Instagram. Regenerative Agriculture Principles. Nurture Relationships Within and Across Ecosystems Regenerative growers foster and protect relationships—between people, lands, waterbodies, livestock, wildlife, and even microbial life in soil.

Credit: Jeremy Swanson for NRDC. Compost provides organic matter and restores soil fertility that is a key goal in regenerative agriculture. Rutgers New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station. Compost tea is a brewed liquid hence, the name derives that supplies microorganisms and soluble nutrients vital for plant growth.

Biochar is a healthier alternative to natural charcoal and is made via burning forestry and farming wastes. Black carbon conditions the presence of organic matter and nutrients in the ground and is relatively immune to chemical and microbial impacts.

This explains its ability to maintain fertility for long and is of great interest to regenerative agriculture practitioners.

The 'Terra Preta' phenomenon: A model for sustainable agriculture in the humid tropics. Die Naturwissenschaften. While moving from area to area, cattle eat up fresh grass, incorporate green and animal manure, boosting pastureland fertility and allowing the grass on the other terrains to re-grow.

Such a combination promotes soil fertility, assists in weed and pest management via introducing biological enemies to unwanted species and is beneficial for livestock itself since this regenerative agriculture approach is closer to wildlife conditions compared to indoor breeding.

The eco-friendly regenerative agriculture approach to fishery and aquaculture encourages planting riparian buffer strips to decrease sedimentation, water run-offs, give shadow and extra food for aquatic inhabitants with tree leaves.

It demands a reduction of chemical agricultural inputs that pollute water bodies due to leakage from farmlands. Perennial crops in regenerative farming protect the earth from wind and water erosion by covering it and holding in place with their strong roots, accumulate moisture, save farming costs with reduced tilling operations and weed control treatments.

This regenerative agriculture technique introduces trees to pastures or grasses to woodlands targeting an extra benefit: trees on grazing areas provide shelter for animals on hot sunny days and serve as windbreaks.

Furthermore, they are an alternative source of food for cattle and provide organic matter with their foliage. The regenerative agriculture method combines agricultural crops with trees or bushes , which prevent soil erosion with vigorous root systems and shield cash species from winds and heavy rainstorms with abundant canopies.

EOSDA Crop Monitoring Fields analytics tool with access to high-resolution satellite images for remote problem areas identification! One of the biggest challenges of regenerative agriculture is less profit compared to the industrial approach.

Nonetheless, farmers switch to the practice globally for the sake of a sustainable future. The main motives of regenerative agriculture followers are as follows:. Maintaining soil vitality is the ultimate priority for each farming business regardless of its size, which appears to be a very complicated task nowadays, and a top objective of regenerative agriculture.

Recently, farming has been strongly impacted by climate change , and regenerative practices struggle to reverse it. The U. farmers endure tremendous losses due to floods and droughts, high temperature hits and severe frosts, wildfires, tornadoes, storms, hurricanes.

Nature calamities cast a serious threat to agribusiness and necessitate adaptation strategies. Abnormal heat in some African regions forces landowners to abandon their businesses since vegetation cannot survive burning sun rays and droughts.

Furthermore, severe droughts cause severe evaporation, and in its turn, strong evaporation causes abnormally heavy rainfalls or even more severe droughts. Climatic patterns change, compared to historical weather data, and while in some regions precipitations are scarcely lower than the average ones, in other areas they are excessively high and lead to floods.

Plants can cope neither with droughts nor waterlogging and die. Other negative consequences of extreme downpours include erosion and water pollution because soils cannot absorb high amounts of water within short periods of time. Regenerative agriculture tackles droughts with organic matter, famous for its water-retention capacity and boosting soil fertility.

No-till farming contributes to carbon sequestration. EOSDA Crop Monitoring helps to maintain a healthy state of fields, including crops and soil, and the soil vitality is of major concern in regenerative agriculture practices.

To identify the areas with unhealthy vegetation or ones where plant development is slowed down, EOSDA Crop Monitoring provides a number of vegetation indices — NDVI, MSAVI, NDRE, and ReCl.

Each of these indices is more useful at a certain stage of crop development, and a low index value can signal crop diseases and pests infestation, including insects, harmful bacteria, fungi, etc. Besides, excessive irrigation or lack of required water amounts affects plant growth.

Atypically high values of a vegetation index that correlates with a certain stage of plant development available on EOSDA Crop Monitoring may be a sign of weeds. Once agronomists review index data, they can set a scouting task on EOSDA Crop Monitoring to check the possible problem areas by human scouts.

And only when the scout inspects the critical area and confirms the issue, agronomists can develop a plan to resolve it. Such an approach enables a regenerative agriculture supporter not to inspect the whole territory of their fields, as it is resource- and time-consuming, but focus solely on the areas of concern which are identified remotely via satellite monitoring.

Also, the smart zoning feature enables agriculturalists to use fertilizers more efficiently, applying them only to the areas that lack the vital compounds nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, etc. for healthy plant development. The differentiated approach is helpful in regenerative agriculture in regard to fertilizing or herbicides application and inputs distribution, too.

It allows reduction of soil contamination and water pollution, promoting the rehabilitation of land and water resources as a consequence. In this regard, the zoning feature contributes to beneficial effects of regenerative agriculture on the environment, saving resources for a farmer.

Satellite data-based vegetation index maps of a field enable farmers to monitor vegetation coverage throughout the season , and one of the most popular regenerative agriculture tasks is to maintain all-year-round land cover.

On EOSDA Crop Monitoring, vegetation maps can illustrate the farmland state: areas with dense vegetation, areas with poor vegetation, and areas without vegetation or any cover bare soils. Once bare soils are detected, regenerative agriculture demands their instant addressing to avoid erosion and improve water-holding capacity.

This way, EOSDA Crop Monitoring not only assists in optimizing field treatment tasks and processes in regenerative farming.

It also helps to minimize the negative impact of agricultural practices that affect soil and nature in general. It can be a great tool to facilitate field operations for farmers committed to the regenerative principles. Currently, Natalia is an Associate Professor at the Department of Computer Sciences and Applied Mathematics at the National University of Water and Environmental Engineering in Rivne, Ukraine.

Natalia is actively engaged in scientific research related to the practical application of new programming algorithms. Programming is also something she likes to do in her spare time.

Her expertise and constant desire to learn and perfect her programming skills, especially in working with Python, has been most beneficial for EOS Data Analytics.

The impact of small satellites on the space industry is comparable to that of cell phones on the communications industry. Today, these small devices largely define the trajectory of the space sector. EOSDA and Sustainera Solutions join forces to revolutionize agriculture and forestry in Azerbaijan and Georgia by fostering the adoption of remote sensing and analytical insights.

Even in rural areas of developing countries, agricultural machinery is no longer seen as unusual. Still, with precision farming, you can bring the use of machines in agriculture to a whole new level. We use essential cookies to ensure that our website functions correctly.

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Building soil organic is essential for rebuilding depleted soils. Composted biological materials such as crop residue, food waste, and animal waste to build soil organic matter are crucial in regenerative agriculture.

These materials contain carbon, that when incorporated into soils breaks down slowly, building stable organic matter. The conversion into stable organic matter takes time.

Compositing can accelerate the decomposition of these materials, creating compost products that can be more immediately available for soil microbes and plants to utilize.

Composting processes can be driven by bacteria, fungi, earthworms, nematodes, and other organisms. Key Point: Historically, areas that grew a variety of plants and crops built healthier soil naturally before large scale farming focused more on specialized areas for the same crops year in and year out.

Crop rotation plays a critical role in trying to mimic the natural diversity of native plant balances. Before modern, large scale, intensive agricultural practices, native plant and soil ecosystems co-evolved naturally to achieve a balance that could support a vast diversity of plants grown in the same soil.

These perennial crops built stable organic matter in our soils over millennia. This diversity of plants produces a variety of carbon plant exudates that supply carbon to soil biological organisms, as well as a diversity of contributions to soil nutrient profiles.

With the advent of larger-scale annual monoculture, this diversity disappeared, creating imbalances in our soils. The imbalances led to the need for increasing specific nutrients in the form of fertilizers, the degradation of healthy balanced soil biology, degradation of soil structure, and rapid depletion of soil organic matter.

Crop rotation plays a critical role in trying to mimic the natural diversity of native plant balances in a way that mimics in part, some of the original benefits that native plant diversity can bring to the soils. When thinking about crop rotations, it is important to consider how one crop can benefit the next rotation from a nutritional standpoint, but also the diversity within a crop type ex.

warm-season grass crops which could include corn, sorghum, Sudan grass. Crop rotations adding to the diversity of crops, will add to the diversity of soil microorganisms and create soils that assure crop resiliency and optimum yield over time. This practice of incorporating plant diversity also aids in the development of soil microbiome diversity, key to soil health and regenerative agricultural practices.

Key Point: By focusing less on industrial-scale production, yearly crops can help organically strengthen the soil. With the advent of industrial-scale agriculture and mass production of inexpensive fertilizers, many connections with sustainable agriculture fundamentals such as soil health and biodiversity , fell to the wayside.

It has since taken on a secondary role in expanding the agricultural product to meet the growing demands of feeding an ever-increasing world population.

While these efforts were, and still are, critical, it has become clear our annual cropping systems must change to regenerate soils at the same time we are meeting these significant global challenges.

The previous practices are critical to achieving these goals. There are also other practices developed over the past 30 years with the organic agricultural movement.

Throughout this movement, we have learned that industrial-scale organic annual cropping is possible without compromising yield or quality. Many of these now traditional organic practices can play an integral role in annual cropping, reintroducing practices that rebuild soil health and reduce the requirements they need for synthetic fertilizer pesticides.

Overcoming the challenge of adapting organic practices on farmlands has many problems, both economically and politically. Still, as more and more farms adapt organic growing practices that support the regeneration of soils, this represents a considerable opportunity.

Often growers have concerns about the 3-year transition period and how they can remain productive and profitable during this period. PhycoTerra® Organic production helps accelerate crop productivity during this transition, reducing economic risk, while accelerating the benefits of healthy biodiverse soils.

Key Point: Our product provides a complex carbon food that feeds and provides a strong foundation for soil health. While the core of regenerable agriculture is soil health, carbon, microbial abundance, and diversity play a role in the health and sustainability of our soils.

Without these, we would be farming in a soil devoid of all the essential benefits that living soil ecosystems provide. While the previous practices are critical, PhycoTerra ® products can assure the maximum benefits of these practices. PhycoTerra ® Soil Microbe Food provides a complex carbon food source that is immediately available to soil microbes upon application to fields.

PhycoTerra® products are based on a unique microalgae strain, isolated from soils. These products are available as very fine suspension of single-celled microalgae that are pasteurized and have a two-year shelf life. While PhycoTerra ® provides immediately available carbon that is utilized by microbes to increase their abundance in soil, the complex composition of PhycoTerra ® Soil Microbe Food also assures a dramatic increase in soil microbial diversity.

All the previously described practices have their foundation in sequestering more carbon in oil to drive microbial abundance and diversity. By combining these practices with PhycoTerra®, you can ensure these foundational changes will be optimized to deliver the strongest possible effects on your soil health.

By improving soil health , the resiliency of crops to various stresses is improved. This is important as crops are continually being expected to perform under more and more extreme environmental challenges.

Another advantage of healthy soils is with increasing resource limitations with key crop resources, such as water, soils can better retain for more effective crop utilization. PhycoTerra ® products serve a key in the foundational level of regenerative agriculture , a complex food that increases the abundance and diversity of soil microorganisms.

With this in mind, PhycoTerra ® Products will accelerate the rates of changes that each regenerative agricultural practice is designed to provide. Each acre of forest buffer removes approximately 0.

Buffers also cool the surrounding land and waters, a valuable function as temperatures rise and extreme heat events become more common, and provide refuge for wildlife and pollinators. If the Bay states meet their commitment of implementing , acres of forest buffers by , it would remove more than , metric tons of carbon dioxide annually—equivalent to the annual emissions of more than 37, passenger vehicles.

Rotationally grazing livestock on grass pastures enhances soil health, protects and improves water quality, and contributes to a farm's economic viability. Livestock operations often grow corn and other crops to feed their animals. By converting this land to pasture, farmers can build their soil health and create a permanent cover of vegetation that traps soil, water, nutrients, and carbon.

In addition, rotational grazing involves frequently moving livestock between small grass pastures, sometimes as often as once a day, rather than keeping livestock on the same area of land for long periods of time.

This allows plants time to regenerate, preventing bare ground and keeping pastures more vibrant with healthier soil. By moving animals frequently, rotational grazing also spreads manure naturally over the land rather than concentrating it in one place. Continuous no-till, also known as conservation tillage, reduces erosion and runoff by minimizing soil disturbances.

Traditional plowing and tilling creates deep furrows in the ground and turns soil over, leaving it unprotected and vulnerable to erosion by wind and water. Healthier soils have a greater capacity to filter water and retain moisture, reducing runoff and keeping nutrients in the ground.

Healthy, undisturbed soil can also store large amounts of carbon, keeping it out of the atmosphere and benefiting the climate. Conservation crop rotation is rotating the types of crops grown on a piece of land in a planned sequence. Crops may alternate, for example, between those with deep roots and shallow roots or those that depend on or fix certain nutrients.

Growing the same crop on the same land constantly gradually depletes nutrients in the soil. A well planned crop rotation can reduce reliance on one set of nutrients, reduce pests and weeds, reduce the need for fertilizer, and improve soil structure and organic matter, which increases farm resilience and decreases soil erosion and flooding.

Rye grows at the The Bishop Claggett Center in Buckeystown, Maryland. Grains such as rye or wheat are useful winter cover crops that hold soil in place, protecting land from erosion by water and wind. Cover crops are not sold, but provide other benefits to the farm, such as soil improvement, water retention, weed suppression, and erosion prevention.

They are typically grown at strategic times before or after cash crops, such as corn or soybeans, to ensure farm fields are continuously covered in vegetation. This both protects bare soil from erosion and makes sure any excess fertilizer in the field is held in plants, rather than washing off into waterways.

Cover crops can also enhance the health of the soil. For example, certain crops add back nutrients that were depleted during the main harvest, while others help break up the soil with their roots—providing natural tillage without disturbing the soil overall.

A dairy herd is surrounded by tall, white, tree shelters in a young silvopasture. This gives us five principles to follow:. Soil supports a complex network of worm-holes, fungal hyphae and a labyrinth of microscopic air pockets surrounded by aggregates of soil particles. Disturbing this, by ploughing or heavy doses of fertiliser or sprays will set the system back.

Keep the soil surface covered. The impact of rain drops or burning rays of sun or frost can all harm the soil. A duvet of growing crops, or stubble residues, will protect it.

Keep living roots in the soil. In an arable rotation there will be times when this is hard to do but living roots in the soil are vital for feeding the creatures at the base of the soil food web; the bacteria and fungi that provide food for the protozoa, arthropods and higher creatures further up the chain.

They also keep mycorrhizal fungi alive and thriving and these symbionts are vital for nourishing most plants and will thus provide a free fertilising and watering service for crops. Grow a diverse range of crops.

Ideally at the same time, like in a meadow. Monocultures do not happen in nature and our soil creatures thrive on variety.