By Debra Stroschein, NAICC President
Sustainable agricultural practices are intended to protect the environment, expand the earth’s natural resource base and maintain and improve soil fertility. A goal is to increase farm-level profitability.
People say the American farmer is not doing such practices, but I say American farmers have promoted sound environmental practices since they started farming. Some farmers have implemented no-till practices or cover crops that allow them to keep the soil viable and active.
Almost 20 years ago, our valley started a fallowing program due to the drought. We needed to save water because Lake Mead and Lake Powell were getting low. We can fallow some fields up to five years in the program. Then, they must be brought back into production. When fields are brought back into production, I’ve noticed the soil profile is quite dry, and it needs moisture. This takes a lot of water. Plus, all the nutrients placed in the soil are now gone, which hurts the soil profile. The soil needs a lot of work to be viable. So, what is the solution? Revising the program so that it would allow for growing a cover crop on the surface—one that would use relatively little water—would be a happy medium. A different program needs to focus on soil health.
Regenerative Benefits
Regenerative agriculture is defined as a way of farming that focuses on soil health. When soil is healthy, it produces more food and nutrition. It also stores more carbon, and the biodiversity is increased.
In Blythe, California, one farmer has been running studies on regenerative farming for two years—a conventional field next to a no-till field. All practices are the same, except the no-till field does not use conventional practices such as deep tillage. The soil in the no-till field is healthier; retains more water; and percolates through the soil profile easier, which results in less runoff. The farm can become a net emitter of carbon. When I was younger, this was how it was. I remember my dad putting back into the soil what it had given.
American farmers have the passion to grow crops without taking away from one of the most precious resources—their land. I grew up using tools around us. We put manure from feedlots on fields, and in the summer, we grew a crop of hemp and chopped it to add to the soil. My father called it regenerative farming.
