There are numerous contributors to the rising danger of climate change but one of the largest and most misunderstood is agriculture. Traditional farming methods require vast amounts of water and land and industrialized farming practices in the US have led to a gradual but consistent degradation of soil health. 

According to the USDA - US agriculture has contributed more than 698 million metric tons of CO2 in 2018 alone. In 2020, this industry accounted for 11.2% of US greenhouse gas emissions. 

Thankfully, scientists have already begun analyzing new farming methods that reduce associated carbon emissions and help stop global warming. Though these new methods known as regenerative agriculture have only been formally studied as a means to reverse global warming for a few years, the practices themselves date back as far as land has been cultivated.  

This article will look at regenerative agriculture and what it will mean for the planet and our future if widely accepted. 

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What is Regenerative Agriculture?

Regenerative agriculture might sound like a complicated new farming practice, but in reality, it isn’t. It simply aims to utilize soil as much as possible without constant interference and human disturbance. In many ways, it is a return to pre-industrialized farming practices by utilizing proper crop rotations and mixed use to embed nutrients back into the soil. The soil is the most important element in any sort of farming, so keeping it healthy is imperative. 

Most people don’t know that soil is very efficient at sequestering CO2 from the atmosphere; traditional farming methods don’t take the soil’s health into account, making it less efficient at capturing CO2. 

In even simpler terms, regenerative agriculture attempts to mimic a working, natural ecosystem. 

Here are the main principles of regenerative agriculture:

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• Maintain constant vegetation cover on the soil
• Reduce soil interference and disturbance so organic matter can stabilize and thrive
• Expand the amount of organic residue diversity that’s returned to the soil
• Maximize water efficiency and nutrient absorption by plants
• Restore and repair microbial life that promotes soil biodiversity and health

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Does Regenerative Agriculture Reduce Crop Yields?

Some industry experts argue that regenerative agriculture will cause a significant reduction in crop yields compared to traditional farming methods that use artificial processes to enhance crop yields. This is partially true in certain circumstances over the short-term since regenerative agriculture does’t use pesticides or fertilizers and doesn’t utilize mono-cropping practices. 

Mono-cropping may temporarily have a higher tonnage per acre yield in the short-term, it also requires a constant flow of additives like pesticides and chemicals. These additives add to long-term soil degradation, which necessarily adds to the need for more pesticides and chemicals. As the soil health degrades further, yields drop precipitously: a vicious cycle that seems to benefit, primarily, the companies that produce the chemical additives. At some point, the land is no longer usable making conventional agricultural practices less efficient. 

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What are the Benefits of Regenerative Agriculture?

Regenerative agriculture is one of the best solutions to traditional agriculture methods' inefficiency and greenhouse gas emissions. Global warming and climate change have been speeding up in recent years and we need to look at every aspect of our lives to make a change. 

Regenerative agriculture has shown great promise and we’re constantly being shown the progress made with this farming method. Here are some of the biggest benefits associated with it:

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Better Soil Health

Regenerative agriculture requires the use of natural, organic farming methods. This includes avoiding pesticides and synthetic fertilizers, avoiding plowing and the use of heavy machinery, and using soil fertility enhancement methods such as cover crops, natural compost, crop rotation, and animal manure. 

Speaking of animals, if the farm has livestock, it’s important to accurately manage their grazing practices. This also improves overall soil health and involves using natural, nutritious feed. These farms should use livestock manure to fertilize the soil since it naturally increases carbon deposits and reduces waste from farming activities. 

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Improved Sequestration Efficiency of Cover Crops

Cover crops are used in agriculture to protect the soil and manage soil quality, fertility, erosion, water, pests, diseases, weeds, wildlife, and overall biodiversity. Their purpose is not to be harvested but to simply enhance the lives of harvestable crops in their vicinity. 

Regenerative agriculture boosts the effects of cover crops since the soil isn’t being disturbed, plowed, or tilled. They are most efficient during Fall, Winter, and Spring, so by leaving the soil alone, their protection and soil enhancement effects ‘stack’. 

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Improved Plant Growth and Nutrient Absorption

Continuing from the previous point, better soil health and crop protection imply improved plant growth and nutrient absorption. Cover crops also regulate the water level in the soil and provide better growth opportunities for roots. 

Roots dig deep in search of water and nutrients (which healthy soil is filled with), making their crops larger, more nutritious, and healthier. As you might have noticed by now, each of these benefits complements the others in symbiotic ways. And all of this with minimal human interference. 

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Extensive Atmosphere Carbon Removal and Storage in Soil

Closing the loop of benefits is regenerative agriculture’s ability to remove carbon from the atmosphere and store it in soil, further improving its health and the crop’s ability to provide high yields. 

Thanks to the reduction in waste created by farms that use regenerative agriculture and the improved efficiency of the soil to capture CO2, we finally have a worthy method of fighting climate change on the agricultural front. 

Remember - agriculture has accounted for 11.2% of the US’s greenhouse gas emissions in 2020; it isn’t as big of a polluting industry as some others (28.3% for transportation, 28.9% for industry, 16% for commercial, and around 15% for residential), it’s an essential aspect of our lives. 

But can it be applied and scaled elsewhere in the world? 

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Is it Possible to Scale Regenerative Agriculture Worldwide?

One of the major questions surrounding the viability of regenerative agriculture is whether or not it’s feasible to scale it properly in other countries. The answer for the time being is - it will be quite tricky. 

Currently, there are more than 600 million hectares of agricultural land under this and other conservation agriculture methods and processes; this number grows by about 20 million hectares each year. 

The process of switching to regenerative agriculture from other farming methods is tedious and cannot be done instantaneously. It also cannot be achieved in certain conditions and geographical locations where crops do not naturally thrive.

However, just because it’s difficult doesn’t mean it’s impossible. Take, for example, Brazil and Paraguay’s cover cropping systems of ‘green manure’ - more than 3 million farmers utilize this agricultural method across some 25 million hectares of land. 

Looking at Africa, we’re also seeing advancements in the usage of conservation agriculture techniques. The FMNR (Farmer-Managed Natural Regeneration of trees) network covers over 24 million hectares of previously barren land, spanning 10 countries. 

And all of this has been achieved with virtually no government support. It’s evident that people are aware of the benefits associated with various forms of conservational agriculture methods, so with a little extra push from the world governments, there’s no doubt it’ll be very widely accepted. 

Regenerative agriculture has come a long way and we’ve seen its benefits, but just how efficient is it at removing carbon from the atmosphere? 

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How Much Carbon can be Removed with Regenerative Agriculture?

Although we currently do not have the technology to precisely measure carbon sequestration in soil, we do have a good idea of the potential of regenerative agriculture. The numbers are promising. 

One comprehensive study on carbon sequestration has concluded that we can remove around 1.5GtCO2 yearly for global farmland sequestration. On a realistic level for 35-40 years, this number climbs to 55GtCO2. 

This study didn’t include municipal food waste composting, hedgerows, tree cropping, and grazeland restoration. With these methods, we can sequester even more CO2 - an excellent result that can majorly reduce the impact of climate change. 

Expanding global adoption of regenerative agriculture and other conservational farming methods should be one of our main goals since we’re looking at removing up to 200GtCO2 by the end of the 21st century. 

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Conclusion

There are still obstacles before the world truly adopts regenerative agriculture, but even now, its effects are making a difference (where regenerative agriculture has been adopted). Regenerative agriculture creates more resilient local economies, healthier ecosystems and food systems and a more livable planet for everyone. 

Phasing out conventional farming methods should be our top priority if we want to reach specific climate and carbon sequestration targets. 

It doesn’t require much and isn’t a complicated process; with some government help in incentives, tax breaks, or training, there’s no doubt it’ll be scaled quick enough to give us an edge in fighting climate change. 

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