Project Grounded

A lot, it turns out. Even though the emissions from industry, transportation, and household consumption tend to get the most attention, the global food system is responsible for an estimated one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions–and a big part of that is farming. The biggest farming-related greenhouse gas contributors are fertilizers and on-farm use of fossil fuels, conventional farming practices such as tilling the soil, methane emissions from conventional livestock operations, and the decimation of forests and wetlands to make space for more farmland. That’s the bad news. The reverse side of the story — quite literally — is that farming, when done differently, has the potential to become carbon negative, and start reversing climate change. That’s what we call regenerative agriculture, or carbon farming. Read on below!

Regenerative agriculture—sometimes also called “carbon farming”–refers to any farming and grazing practices that rebuild soil organic matter and, in the process, pull down atmospheric carbon into the soil and plant biomass. Regenerative agriculture produces the food, fiber and fuel we humans need and enjoy, WHILE helping to slow down and potentially reverse climate change. Regenerative farming practices include:

• minimal tilling of the soil, or not tilling at all
• refraining from using chemical fertilizers and instead increasing fertility through cover crops, crop rotations, compost, and animal manures
• well-managed animal grazing systems
• agroforestry, where trees and shrubs are deliberately integrated with crops and livestock

Besides the positive climate impact, regenerative farming practices also reduce erosion, improve the soil’s capacity to percolate and hold water—therefore mitigating both drought and flooding—protect biodiversity, increase food security, and produce more nutrient-dense food and forage. Did we mention they are low-tech, low-cost in the long run, and benefit especially small farmers? To learn more about what regenerative farming or carbon farming actually looks like, head over here.

Healthy, fertile soil—the kind that regenerative farming practices build and increase—is by nature high in organic matter, which means it’s also by definition high in carbon. Plants growing in such soil pull carbon from the atmosphere and store it in soils, roots, and above-ground plant biomass, often for long periods of time. In other words, healthy, regeneratively managed soil can act like a sponge that draws down the carbon that we have in excess in the atmosphere. This is a natural process that occurs wherever plants do their thing and photosynthesis occurs. No flashy, high-tech, potentially dangerous solutions required! Although technically all agricultural production involves photosynthesis and therefore sequesters some carbon, particular farming practices are known to improve the rate at which that soil can capture and store carbon. We call these practices regenerative or carbon farming practices.

This is a complicated — and fraught — question.

• Yes, livestock as it is currently managed within the conventional food system is a major contributor to a number of environmental problems.
• Yes, livestock systems can contribute to desertification if they are not managed properly.
• Yes, livestock—particularly ruminants such as cattle, sheep, and goats—is a major source of methane (a potent greenhouse gas), even the grass-fed ones.
• Yes, we would all do well to follow Michael Pollan’s famous food rule “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.”

Yet eating mostly plants doesn’t have to mean eating only plants (although some people choose to do that, and that’s great). It means a plant-based diet. For those who wish to, animal proteins too can have their rightful place at the table, in moderation—IF they are sourced from a responsibly managed farm system that honors the age-old reciprocal relationship between healthy pasture and healthy animals. The problem with most discussions on the subject is that they fail to distinguish between conventional industrial agriculture and regenerative agriculture. Animals grown at CAFOs (concentrated animal feeding operations) are a climate and animal rights disaster. The environmental and climate impact of meat, eggs and dairy products that are certified organic, humane and/or grass-fed is radically different (not to mention their impact on your health). But the way the pasture and grazing system are managed can actually make a livestock operation not only “less bad,” but in fact climate-beneficial. First of all, grasslands need animals to stay healthy. In particular, in many of the world’s brittle, dry regions, herbivores are crucial to regenerating degraded soils. Planned grazing systems, where the animals are moved from pasture to pasture in a carefully monitored way, improve not only animal and pasture health, but also the soil’s ability to store carbon.

• herbivores’ hooves break the soil cap, allowing better water infiltration and seed-to-soil contact
• the herd effect provides a positive form of disturbance to the land
• the animals’ manure provides important nutrients for both plants and the soil
• grazing stimulates plant growth, which in turn means that they develop more robust root systems
• in a planned grazing system, the pasture gets a long interval of rest, which also increases plant biomass and vigor

This regenerative potential of grazing can be further increased through practices such as applying compost to grazing lands. Adding trees to pasture, in what is called silvopasture, also substantially increases the carbon sequestration rates. To learn more: EWG’s A Meat-Eater’s Guide to Climate Change Ruminants and Methane: Not the Fault of the Animals The Role of Ruminants in Reducing Agriculture’s Carbon Footprint in North America Climate Change, Healthy Soils, and Holistic Planned Grazing Marin Carbon Project

No. Some of the most impressive carbon storage rates are shown in various kinds of wetland ecosystems, riparian (stream shore) areas, and forests. Therefore, nature conservation projects that focus on reforestation or wetland and riparian restoration are some of the most promising initiatives to support. At the same time, in regenerative farming systems, wetland or riparian or forest areas could also become productive areas.