Challenges in farming: restoring soil health and adopting regenerative practices

December 22, 2023

Today, commercial agriculture producers are faced with diminishing returns, drought conditions and rising input and energy costs. This means that farmers must find new and innovative ways to increase efficiency, reduce costs and increase yields, all while trying to minimize release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

One way farmers have been able to achieve this is through the use of precision agriculture techniques. Precision agriculture involves using technology, such as GPS mapping and variable rate application systems, to precisely target inputs like water, fertilizer and pesticides to areas of a field where they are needed most.

Another way farmers have been able to improve their productivity and sustainability is through the use of cover crops. Cover crops are planted in between cash crops to provide soil protection, reduce erosion, and improve soil health by fixing nitrogen, reducing compaction and increasing organic matter. Cover crops like clover, beans and peas, planted after the main crop is harvested, also help soils take in carbon year-round, and can be plowed under the ground as “green manure” that adds more carbon to the soil.

Farmers are also adopting sustainable farming practices such as reduced tillage. By breaking up the soil, tilling prepares land for new crops and helps control weeds, but also releases a lot of stored carbon. Reduced tillage practices, like no-till or minimum-till, can reduce soil disturbance and help mitigate the release of carbon into the atmosphere. This also helps to improve soil structure, moisture retention and biodiversity, leading to healthier crops and more efficient water use.

At the core of these issues is the question of soil health. Indeed, soil must be restored to use less water, less fertilizer and less energy to grow crops profitably. Improved soil health allows for improved water absorption and nutrition retention, which can help mitigate the effects of drought conditions. Additionally, healthy soil supports a diverse microbial population and increases nutrient availability for plants, helping to reduce the need for synthetic fertilizers. Sustainable farming practices such as precision irrigation and soil management can help reduce the buildup of salt in soils. This is crucial in areas where salinity is a major issue, as excess salt can harm plant growth and decrease yields.

Healthy soil also absorbs and stores atmospheric carbon. Indeed, agriculture is an efficient and economical option for sequestering large volumes of CO2 and other greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. Scientists have estimated that soils—mostly, agricultural ones—could sequester over a billion additional tons of carbon each year. This has led policymakers to increasingly look to soil-based carbon sequestration as a “negative emissions” technology—that is, one that removes CO2 from the air and stores it somewhere it can’t easily escape.

By utilizing precision agriculture techniques, farmers are able to reduce waste and optimize their use of resources. This not only has a positive impact on the environment by reducing the amount of chemicals used, but it also allows for better water management and soil conservation. In doing so, we restore sustainability and resilience to the food value chain while facilitating sequstration.

CPM