This Former Fisherman Is Now Farming the Most Sustainable Food on Earth—Underwater

Published Date : March 15, 2017

read more original article The Nation

The Solution Under Our Feet: How Regenerative Organic Agriculture Can Save the Planet

Published Date : March 15, 2017

Many of us are now choosing to eat holistically grown foods. We want:

By John Roulac in EcoWatch

While these reasons are important, one critical issue is missing from today’s conversation about food. The concept is simple, yet virtually unknown. The solution to our global food and environmental crisis is literally under our feet.

If you take away only one thing from this article, I want it to be this quote from esteemed soil scientist Dr. Rattan Lal at Ohio State University:

“A mere 2 percent increase in the carbon content of the planet’s soils could offset 100 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions going into the atmosphere.” – Dr. Rattan Lal, Ohio State Soil Scientist

Through the past hundred years, we’ve steadily increased our rate of digging up and burning carbon-rich matter for fuel. This is disturbing the oceanic ecosystem in profound ways that include reducing the plankton that feeds whales and provides oxygen for humans. And we’re not just talking about the extinction of whales. As I’ll detail in this article, even Maine lobsters could become a relic of the past.

We’ve severely disrupted the balance in the “carbon triad” by clearing rainforests, degrading farmland, denuding pasturelands, and burning coal and oil. The carbon triad? Yes; think of the three main carbon sinks: the atmosphere, the oceans and the humus-sphere. While I’m sure you’re familiar with the first two, you might not know about the latter carbon sink. Humus is the organic component of soil. (Gardeners create it as compost.) The humus-sphere is made up ofthe stable, long-lasting remnants of decaying organic material, essential to the Earth’s soil fertility and our ability to grow nutrient-rich crops.

Up until now, the big oil companies Exxon, Chevron and Shell have been perceived as the main climate villains. Yet a new and growing movement of “carbon cycle-literate” people and organizations now realize that Monsanto, DuPont, Syngenta and big ag are much worse. We now know that 20-30 percent of all manmade green house gases in the atmosphere comes from industrial agriculture. Chemicals are for cars, not for the soil. By dumping agricultural chemicals onto our soils, we disrupt nature’s delicate balance of water, soil and air.

In his recent Huffington Post piece “Nature Wants Her Carbon Back,” Larry Kopald writes, “How is it possible that with the entire planet focusing on reducing CO2 emissions we’re not even paying lip service to the single largest contributor?”

Tom Newmark, ex-CEO of New Chapter and co-founder of the Carbon Underground Project, has said it best: “Many NGOs view carbon and agriculture as the ‘enemy.’ The regenerative movement sees carbon as our friend, and agriculture as our natural ally to help our friend carbon return to the land.” The challenge is that the enemies of all things natural, i.e., Monsanto, DuPont and Syngenta, are culture jamming in hope that the regenerative message won’t go viral.

Two of those three carbon sinks are maxed out, while the soil, where the humus-sphere resides, has lost most of its humus due to the use of industrial farming techniques and bad land-management practices. This leaves the soil as the primary sink where our excess carbon can be sequestered. Yet nature is abundant and forgiving. Recent research in the fields of wetland, pasture, forest and crop production has illustrated that, by changing our management strategies, we can create more nature-centric systems that improve our quality of life rather than degrading it.

Carbon Farming Defined

Carbon farming is an agricultural system implementing practices that improve the rate at which CO2 is removed from the atmosphere and converted to plant material and/or organic matter in the soil. Today excess carbon is falling into our oceans and creating acidic conditions that threaten plant and animal species. If we remove carbon from the atmosphere and oceans by implementing the practices of regenerative organic agriculture, we’ll sequester carbon into the soil and expand the soil’s water-holding capacity. Building organic matter into the soil’s humus layer is essential for growing the healthful foods humanity needs.

As a 2014 Rodale Institute report states, “Organically managed soils can convert carbon CO2 from a greenhouse gas into a food-producing asset.” Two major upsides to this approach are drought-proof soils and, thanks to more nutrient-rich foods, reduced healthcare costs.

If this is the first you’ve heard about this idea, it’s because the good news is just starting to trickle out. For example, the Marin Carbon Project’s work with compost and rangeland was recently featured on the cover of the San Francisco Chronicle.

The mission of the Carbon Cycle Institute (part of the Marin Carbon Project) is “to stop and reverse global warming by advancing natural, science-based solutions that remove atmospheric carbon while promoting environmental stewardship, social equity and economic sustainability.” The institute is also focused on carbon-cycle literacy, a form of savvy still greatly lacking in the general population, by educating and empowering people to make more informed choices and to demand that elected officials do the same.

Recently the American Carbon Registry, a nonprofit organization that creates protocols for carbon usage, approved standards that would reward ranchers for land practices that sequester carbon. Rancher John Wick, a Carbon Cycle Institute founder, has said, “Our proposal is that there is a whole other paradigm—that agriculture practices can be . . . the art of transforming atmospheric carbon into biospheric carbon.” As of this writing, I understand that Gov. Jerry Brown’s office plans to visit Wick’s ranch.

From the regenerative agriculture movement has also come a fascinating new book by Kristin Ohlson that I strongly recommend: The Soil Will Save Us: How Scientists, Farmers and Foodies Are Healing the Soil to Save the Planet.

Chemical Ag Is the World’s Leading Problem, and—Yes—We Have an App for That

We know our oceans are polluted by chemical fertilizer runoff from industrial agriculture, which has caused more than 500 dead zones such as the Mississippi Delta. Even more disturbing is the rarely acknowledged fact that chemical fertilizers and confined animal feedlot operations(CAFOs) give off more greenhouse gases (GHGs) than all transportation methods combined. As this carbon falls into the sea, our oceans’ pH balance is thrown off.

On Nov. 14, 2014, the Canadian CBC News reported on the alarming issue of the rise in ocean temperatures, quoting Kevin Friedland, an oceanographer with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Marine Fisheries Service in Narragansett, R.I., as saying: “For the northeast shelf, that summer half of the year will increase on the order of two months.”

Scientists are actively investigating another potential effect of warmer temperatures that’s happening right now—a dramatic dip in the spring bloom of phytoplankton in the Gulf of Maine: “In 2013, the spring bloom was so poorly developed it was below detection thresholds used by scientists.”

Did you know that two out of every three breaths you take come via ocean phytoplankton? And that phytoplankton is currently in steep decline due to ocean acidification? Many researchers think that within only a few decades planet oxygen levels will have dropped dramatically. As National Geographic has reported, “… relatively new research is finding that the introduction of massive amounts of CO2 into the seas is altering water chemistry and affecting the life cycles of many marine organisms.” Remember: plankton is the main food source for whales. Thus, as the plankton dissipates, the whales will disappear.

Unfortunately, the government, the media and even climate-change groups are quiet on this vital issue. The silence is perplexing. All the regulatory agencies of the federal government, and even the alternative media, have so far failed to bring to the fore this concern. It’s time we focused on soil, not oil.

On a note of hope, the United Nations, on its Dec. 5, 2014, inaugural World Soil Day, called for 2015 to be the International Year of Soils. Also, acclaimed author Michael Pollan recently gave a keynote speech (see below) at the New York Times Food for Tomorrow conference (Pollan’s key points are summarized in the last 5-6 minutes) in which he stated: “There are two faces of the climate-food system connection: how food is a key driver of climate change, responsible for between 20 to 30 percent of greenhouse gases, and then the very hopeful research on how changes in agriculture hold the potential not just to mitigate these impacts, but to actually help remove carbon from the atmosphere in large quantities. Climate change changes the ‘how to feed the world’ question in important ways, rendering many of the traditional arguments—for higher productivity at all costs—moot.”

Another positive venture is the XPRIZE Ocean Health project, a two-million-dollar global competition challenging teams of engineers, scientists and innovators (even surfers and schoolkids) all over the world to create and use pH sensor technology that will “affordably, accurately and efficiently” measure ocean chemistry. They’re testing 18 technologies for use in a new Cloud-based app to provide real-time monitoring of oceans. The Culver City-based group is funded in part by Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen and Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk, and the pH sensor project is headed by Wendy Schmidt (the wife of Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt).

As chemical companies, the oil industry and the media ignore the fact that our oceans are becoming more acidic from excess carbon, Terrie Klinger, Professor of Marine Affairs at the University of Washington, comments, “We can attribute the problems in the oyster hatcheries to the increased carbon in the ocean.” The acidification of the seas is also especially detrimental to organisms, such as coral reefs, that secrete shell material.

Recently the state of Maine received a state-mandated report that appeared in Maine’s Press Herald article of Dec.1, 2014, titled “Study committee calls for Maine to act on ocean acidification.”

An excerpt: “Maine should increase research and monitoring into how rising acidity levels in oceans could harm the state’s valuable commercial fisheries, while taking additional steps to reduce local pollution that can affect water chemistry.

“The Legislature created the commission this year in response to concerns that, as atmospheric carbon dioxide levels have risen, the oceans have become 30 percent more acidic because oceans absorb the gas.”

Researchers are concerned that organisms that form shells—everything from Maine’s iconic lobster to shrimp and the tiny plankton that are key links in the food chain—will find it more difficult to produce calcium carbonate for shells in the more acidic seawater. They worry that the acidification could intensify as carbon levels rise and the climate warms.

China, India and Indonesia are creating dozens of new coal-burning power plants. In fact theWall Street Journal recently reported that India plans to double the number of coal plants by 2020. If we fail to correct the course we’re on, this proliferation of carbon will destroy not only oyster and crab populations but also the phytoplankton that provides more than 60 percent of all oxygen on the planet. While these issues are complex, simply changing your diet is one of the most powerful counteractive measures you can take.

We now know that 20-30 percent of manmade greenhouse gases in the atmosphere comes from industrial agriculture. Petrochemicals are for cars, not for the soil. By dumping ag chemicals onto our soils, we disrupt nature’s delicate balance of water, soil and air.

Carbon sequestration land practices include agriculture, forestry, wetland and range management systems that improve the rate at which CO2 is removed from the atmosphere and converted to plant material and/or organic matter in the soil. Today excess carbon is falling into our oceans and creating acidic conditions that threaten plant and animal species. If we remove carbon from the atmosphere and oceans by way of regenerative organic agriculture practices, we will sequester carbon into the soil and expand the soil’s water-holding capacity. Building organic matter into the soil’s humus layer is essential for growing the healthful foods humanity needs.

As National Geographic has reported, “… relatively new research is finding that the introduction of massive amounts of  CO2 into the seas is altering water chemistry and affecting the life cycles of many marine organisms.” This is disturbing the oceanic ecosystem in profound ways that include reducing the plankton that feeds whales and provides oxygen for humans.

The 2014 Rodale Institute report states, “Organically managed soils can convert carbon CO2 from a greenhouse gas into a food-producing asset.” Two major upsides to this approach are drought-proof soils and, thanks to more nutrient-rich foods, reduced healthcare costs.

Foodies, Unite!

Luckily, bloggers, activists and the booming pure food movement hold the promise of positive change. We need a coalition of educated and empowered people to make good dietary choices that also support living soils. Organic, nutrient-dense foods might cost more (buying in bulk helps), yet we can see how costly poor food choices are for our national health. And, as in the civil rights movement or any progressive movement for change, it’s time for us to stand up and make our voices heard. Keep blogging, tweeting, Pinteresting, Instagramming and posting on Facebook, as sharing is caring.

The San Francisco-based Biosafety Alliance will hold a major conference on carbon farming andclimate change in Richmond, California, in September 2015, featuring such speakers asVandana Shiva and Ronnie Cummins. The ministers of propaganda at Monsanto and other chemical companies are amping up their own social media campaigns, to tell us how they’re going to feed the world and increase food security through genetically engineered foods and chemical agriculture. Sales are down or flat for virtually every major American food company, so they’re spending hundreds of millions of dollars to fortify their misleading advertising and public relations campaigns.

Courtney White in his book Grass, Soil, Hope: A Journey through Carbon Country writes: “It is easy to forget that once upon a time all agriculture was organic, grass-fed and regenerative. Seed saving, composting, fertilizing with manure, polycultures, no-till and raising livestock entirely on grass—was the norm, not the exception as it is now.

“We all know what happened next: the plow, the tractor, fossil fuels, mono-crops, nitrogen fertilizer, pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, feedlots, animal byproducts, e. coli, CAFOs, GMOs, erosion, despair—practices and conditions that most Americans today think of as ‘normal,’ when they think about agriculture at all.”

As delicate ecosystems are disrupted, and plant and animal species face extinction at an ever-increasing rate, the word is getting out that the current practices of chemical companies and industrial agriculture are harming billions of people.

Recently, large investment funds have responded to disinvestment advocates by selling off their holdings in Exxon, BP, Chevron and other carbon polluters, yet they still invest in Monsanto—a group that transgresses far beyond any oil company in its injury to the environment and society.

It’s time for everyone who cares about the future of food to unite in changing the failing industrial agriculture system. We have the opportunity to vote three times a day by eating organic whole foods instead of packaged, processed and convenient “food-like substances.” Vegans, it’s vital that you choose organic foods vs. Roundup-sprayed, hexane-processed soy cutlets. The fake, non-organic foods funded by the Silicon Valley are not life-enhancing. For those who eat meat, eggs and dairy products, it’s important to support pasture-based ranchers and suppliers, as these systems sequester carbon into the soil humus-sphere through intensive grazing. Meat eaters consider consuming 50 percent less meat, and at all costs we must avoid conventional suppliers that rely on toxic, high-GHG chemical fertilizers to grow carbon-intensive GMO corn and soy.

Industrial agriculture regards soil as merely a root-holding medium on which to apply petroleum products while manipulating genetics. Regenerative organic agriculture views soil as a holistic system, and understands the interconnected soil biology—teeming with the billions of bacteria and fungi that, along with earthworms and organic matter, indicate good health. Healthy soil yields healthy foods that, in turn, nourish a healthy society. Los Angeles-based Kiss the Ground Foundation is working on a powerful, new, five-minute Story of Soil video to educate the public on this vital issue.

Using short rotation with solar-powered mobile fencing, a new generation of ranchers is growing grass while building carbon and organic matter into the soil. The 12-minute video Soil Carbon Cowboys featured one such “grass rancher,” Gabe Brown, who increased the organic matter in his North Dakota pastureland from less than 2 percent to 8 percent in 20 years.

For annual crops, planting rotational cover crops like vetch or alfalfa, instead of using nitrogen fertilizers, is essential. Chemical nitrogen fertilizers release massive amounts of nitric oxides that are nearly 400 times worse than carbon dioxide. Some organic CAFO producers such as Horizon Organic Milk are clearly not regenerative, as they rely on factory farms to produce a large percentage of their milk.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency statistics vastly underreport agriculture emissions at 10-12 percent total. Many researchers think agriculture is the source of more of these emissions than even transportation fuels. Organic is better than conventional, but organic plus regenerative is best, for it enhances soil fertility vs. merely maintaining it. (A big reason why the return of hemp farming is so vital is hemp’s deep taproot and nitrogen-rich leaves that build soil tilth).

Yet, as Tom Newmark of regenerative farming group the Carbon Underground says, “We need to both move forward in building soil life and conduct more science around carbon sequestration to share with policymakers and allies.”

The Way Forward

Many in the organic movement wonder about our NGO allies in the climate, ocean and forestry sectors. According to Ronnie Cummins of the Organic Consumers Association, “With the mounting evidence of how regenerative organic agriculture is the number one solution for climate change, ocean health, and soil ecology via sequestering carbon, it’s time for the environmental movement to join forces. In fact, our survival depends on it.”

Trying to solve the entire problem by reducing global carbon via solar, wind and renewables has been a failure. One climate meeting after another ends with people throwing up their hands and declaring that we’re doomed because nations won’t agree to meaningful cuts. The message of drawing down carbon via regenerative agriculture warrants no mention in the glossy documents, nor even a tweet!

A recent Cummins “Letter from Lima” provides interesting background on the climate movement.

Yet a groundswell of people are beginning to realize that the way forward is to support regenerative organic farming and pasture-raised meat and dairy systems while simultaneously reducing animal consumption. As the Earth passes the 400-ppm carbon mark, noted author and environmentalist Paul Hawken declares, “Stabilization at 450, 500, 550 ppm is chaos—our goal should be drawdown.”

Which is better for the environment—to buy a Tesla and consume a standard American diet or to drive a used SUV and eat an organic diet with some pastured meat and dairy? Yes, it’s the latter, and of course even better is to eat an organic diet, walk or bike more, and drive a more energy-efficient car.

Soil, not oil, is the wise path forward. At the height of this information age of Google and the social media, the history of our planet is being written. Will it ultimately be said that the simple solution under our feet was shared around the digital campfire, and thus globally chosen by informed citizens of the Earth? Or will the annals read that this saving solution was ignored by all but a few? Did the 7 billion people on Planet Earth succumb to false messages from Monsanto, Exxon and self-serving apologists that GMO “better living through chemistry” food systems were best?

As you read this, a new generation of GMO 2.0 untested synthetic foods is being programmed in labs via “3-D food printing.” The fate of Earth’s life-support systems is hanging in the balance. Remember, as you start to reach for that box of non-organic cereal for your shopping cart: What we eat will impact the planet more than just about anything else we do. It’s late in the fourth quarter and there are no timeouts left, but—yes—we have the ball.

It’s time for us to revive the ancient wisdom of honoring the land, and in the process heal our atmosphere, our oceans, our humus-sphere and ourselves. Regenerative organic agriculture is the answer we need to create a food system that works for everyone. Are you ready to be part of this solution?

John W. Roulac, founder and CEO of the superfoods company Nutiva, has also founded five nonprofit ecological groups, including GMO Inside and the Nutiva Foundation. John has written four books, including Backyard Composting and Hemp Horizons.

read more original article From EcoWatch

Patagonia and Chris Malloy Made a Film About Agriculture That You Really Need to Watch

Published Date : March 15, 2017

Like it or not, our climate is rapidly changing. Although climate change is a natural occurrence, the cause for alarm isn’t the fact that it’s changing, it’s the speed at which it’s doing so. Humans have created a life so full of comfort that it’s destroying the place we all call home, and the way we eat isn’t helping. Our farming habits are turning the fragile ecological balance upside down, and it’s all coming to a head. Patagonia, Chris Malloy, and Farm League got together to make a film about it. It’s called Unbroken Ground.

The film “explains the critical role food will play in the next frontier of our efforts to solve the environmental crisis… [and] explores four areas of agriculture that aim to change our relationship to the land and oceans. Most of our food is produced using methods that reduce biodiversity, decimate soil and contribute to climate change. We believe our food can and should be a part of the solution to the environmental crisis – grown, harvested and produced in ways that restore our land, water, and wildlife. The film tells the story of four groups that are pioneers in the fields of regenerative agriculture, regenerative grazing, diversified crop development and restorative fishing.”

The film is part of Patagonia’s Provisions project, which, in the words of founder Yvon Chouinard does a few things: “It only makes sense that we’d want to share some of our favorite food with our customers,” he wrote. “But that’s just the beginning; we also believe there is great opportunity—and an urgent need—for positive change in the food industry. With Patagonia Provisions, our goals are the same as with everything we do: We aim to make the best product, cause no unnecessary harm, and perhaps most important, inspire solutions to the environmental crisis.”

One man in the surfing community who’s taken it upon himself to yell from the mountain tops about a very real issue is Cyrus Sutton. Here’s what he had to say about it on his website, Korduroy.tv:

“We are in the midst of an environmental crisis of global proportions. Our ecological footprint has left our rivers and seas, grasslands, wetlands and forests balancing on the brink of collapse. But there is  time to repair what has been damaged and change a paradigm rife with shortsightedness, one guided by a driving principal to maximize profits at every turn, at all costs.

As consumers and stewards, we have the power to harness our energy and the innate power within each dollar we spend to change the paradigm that shapes our planet and the food landscapes that nourish us. With an intention to adopt regenerative and ecologically minded practices into the ways we grow and harvest crops, steward our top soil, manage water resources, raise livestock, practice animal husbandry, and harvest wild animals from the land and sea, we can blaze a trail forward with the support of a community all pointed in the same direction.”

read more original article theinertia.com

Cows, Regenerative Farming in North Carolina

Published Date : March 15, 2017

North Carolina farmer Suzanne Nelson has this thing about farming as a regenerative rather than an extractive business.

She also has a thing for cows.

Nelson says people should do what they love doing. For her, “for whatever reason, I love cows. I loved cows before I knew I loved cows.”

She says she now tends to Jersey dairy cows, St. Croix sheep, heritage pigs, laying hens, meat chicken, and, seasonally, turkeys. Cows, she believes, “are the only animal that can live on one acre and make four acres fertile.” She sees properly managed pastured livestock as “our number one antidote to climate change,” helping, with a boost from legumes and soil microbes, boost soil fertility and keep carbon in the soils and not excessively in the atmosphere.

A nine-year Carolina farmer, Nelson says in a four-minute video produced by the University of North Carolina’s Institute for the Environment that extreme weather events appear to be getting more extreme, summer droughts longer and worse. She’s trying to counter those trends on her 400-acre Haw River Ranch in Saxaphaw, in north-central North Carolina.

Suzanne Nelson: Owner of Haw River Ranch from Climate Stories NC.

The video, funded by the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, is part of a series of “North Carolina Climate Stories” produced by the Institute for the Environment’s David Salvesen and colleagues and reposted here with permission.

read more original article Yale climate connect

Four Areas of Agriculture That Can Help Solve Many Environmental Problems and Improve Human Health

Published Date : March 14, 2017

How Animals Impact Regenerative Agriculture Efforts

Published Date : March 14, 2017

By Dr. Mercola  July 10, 2016

I recently visited Will Harris’ farm White Oak Pastures in Bluffton, Georgia. Harris is a pioneer of grass-fed products and what he calls “a kinder, gentler agriculture.”

His farm is a great demonstration of how you can convert conventionally farmed land to a healthy, thriving farm based on regenerative methods. Conventional chemical agriculture typically involves the growing of a single crop, such as corn — a strategy that decimates the soil.

Harris recently purchased the land I visited, where he’s in the process of implementing regenerative principles to rebuild the soil and make it productive again.

These 220 acres he recently purchased for his expansion are adjacent to his old farm, which has been in his family for 150 years. He expects to be able to bring the current organic matter in the soil from its current baseline of about 0.5 percent to about 5 percent over the next two decades.

“This land has been farmed in what I call the trifecta — cotton, corn and peanuts; cotton, corn and peanuts, over and over again. All three crops are really hard on land for different reasons,” he says.

“This soil is, in my mind, completely dead. The biological life just doesn’t exist here anymore, because of intense tillage and the tremendous amount of chemical fertilizers being used on it, as well as pesticides …

What we’ve done is fenced the property. We put about 1,000 cows on the land. There’s nothing for them to eat out here [right now] so we feed them hay and haylage during the period that we’re asking them to transition this land for us. They will be out here for about a month.”

Animals Are an Important Aspect of Regenerative Agriculture

Indeed, animals are an important aspect when it comes to achieving healthy soil in which to grow crops. By urinating and defecating on the land, the animals provide important nourishment for soil microbes.

Harris also spreads perennial grass seed on the bare land, which the cows will help trod into the ground. Besides adding manure, the hoof activity helps break down the hard cap on the land.

“We call this using animals or animal impact to bring about the desired result, which is ultimately to turn this into a pasture, and then later to turn it into a savannah, which we feel best utilizes the rain ration, the energy cycle, the water cycle, and the mineral cycle,” Harris explains.

To get the animals to cover and “treat” the entire 220 acres, Harris entices the cows to move across the land by placing the hay at one end and the water at the other. This helps maximize the impact of their hooves on the land, and helps distribute the waste (manure and urine) more evenly across the property.

Now and then, they also move the feed in order to encourage the cows to take a different path. In short, the idea is to imitate nature as much as possible, which includes the migration of wild herds across the land.

“Nature abhors a monoculture. Nature won’t allow it … Nature wants a smorgasbord of many different microbes and plants and animals living in symbiotic relationships with each other,” Harris says.

“The only way we can maintain a monoculture is through the use of the tools the reductionist science has given us — chemical fertilizers, pesticides, antibiotics, hormones. The monoculture falls apart if you don’t use those things …

Industrial farming has horrible unintended consequences and it is absolutely in conflict with nature. What we do here is an effort to emulate nature. Our best emulation is not good and our worst emulation is horrible. But we get better and better at it.”

Redefining Animal Welfare

As noted by Harris, no farmer sets out to destroy the land on purpose. Everyone believes they’re doing the right thing; that they’re growing the best crops they can and manage their livestock well.

But what does animal welfare really encompass? According to Harris, this term really needs to cover more than the most obvious bare essentials.

“[G]ood animal welfare used to mean you don’t intentionally inflict pain and discomfort on the animal. You keep them fed. You keep them safe. You don’t hurt them. All of us believed that was good animal welfare, and most people still believe that.

To us, now, that is no longer sufficient. For me and my family and my employees, good animal welfare means it is incumbent upon us as herdsmen to create an environment in which the animals can express instinctive behavior.

Cows were born to roam and graze. Chickens were born to scratch and peck. Hogs were born to root and wallow. Those are instinctive behaviors. If they’re deprived of that aptitude, that is poor animal welfare.

If you have a cow on a feedlot, a hog in a gestation crate, a chicken in a battery cage, they’re safe, they’re reasonably comfortable, but they can’t express instinctive behavior.

It’s like putting your child in a closet and saying, ‘This is great. I keep the temperature at 72 degrees. I leave the light on. He’ll never break his leg playing football. He’ll never be abducted. He’ll never be run over by a bus … That may seem like great child rearing — except it’s not.”

Factory-Farmed Versus Pasture-Raised Animals

Concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) have also changed what people know and expect from a healthy animal. A cow fed on pasture, which is its natural diet, has a lifespan of about 24 years — all without added drugs or vitamins.

Feedlot animals, on the other hand, are typically slaughtered at the age of 17 months, at which point they may weigh in around 1,275 pounds instead of the typical 1,000 pounds of a mature cow.

As noted by Harris, that’s really an unnatural and obscenely obese creature that would not only fail to survive in nature, it wouldn’t even occur.

“If they were left beyond their 17 months in that feedlot environment where they’re gaining 4 to 5 pounds a day, they wouldn’t live very long. I’ve never done that experiment, but I’m sure they wouldn’t live to be 4 years old. That’s the difference,” he says.

“When you eat one of these (grass-fed, pastured) animals, you’re eating a healthy animal in the prime of their life. When you eat that feedlot animal, you’re eating an obese creature that is dying of all the diseases of sedentary lifestyle and obesity that kill people.”

The situation is even worse for pigs and chickens, as the smaller the animal, the more intensive the factory farming methods.

“A cow in a factory farm does not have a great life. A hog in a factory farm has a worse life. And I don’t think there’s a factory farm animal that has as bad a life as a chicken in a factory farm,” Harris says.

In the video below, you’ll find two segments showing how Harris raises his chickens and pigs — a far cry from the sad “prison cells” in which CAFO chickens and pigs spend their lives. Will has 14,000 birds that lay about 10,000 eggs a day, which makes it the largest pastured egg operation in the U.S. The damaged eggs are recycled and fed to the pastured hogs who relish the treat; plus it enhances their diet.

Animals Can Rapidly Regenerate Land

Another part of the property (see video at top) has already undergone the animal impact phase and you can clearly see the difference between the two areas. Here the animals’ hooves have broken up the hard soil cover, and feces and urine have been well-trodden into the soil.

Perennial grass seed (about 15 pounds per acre) was spread out, and after being trodden into the ground by the animals for a few short weeks, the animals were removed to allow the grass to grow and mature. These perennial grasses are what will turn this area into a productive pasture and later savannah, as it grows taproots that are nearly 8 feet long — much deeper than annuals.

These mixed grasses will help nourish the soil microbiome, which need the plant interaction. Shallow-rooted annuals are also mixed in to increase diversity, but it’s really the perennials that are the long-term solution. As the annuals become more invasive, Harris will move the cows into the area to “flash graze” on the annuals so they don’t choke out the perennials.

They’ll do that a number of times each year until the perennials have grown deep roots and taken firm hold. At that point, the perennial grasses will outcompete the annuals naturally. It’s really magnificent to see this whole process in transition, and how they’re transforming the landscape.

You have to understand how the cycles work in order to manage the process properly, but once you do, you can rebuild soil quality at a very efficient rate by using regenerative agriculture principles. He is literally creating healthy topsoil hundreds if not thousands of times quicker than it would occur in nature.

Percentage of organic matter in the soil is a good indicator of quality, and Harris has been able to increase organic matter in other areas from less than 0.5 percent to as much as 5 percent in a 20-year period. The cycles are complex however, and there are cycles within cycles that work in a symbiotic fashion. For example, there’s the:

• Energy cycle: with the sun, where photosynthesis is used to produce grass that feeds the cows. When sunlight hits bare earth, it’s of no use.
• Carbon cycle: the grass covering can be likened to photosynthesizing tissue that breathes in carbon dioxide, sequestering it in the ground and breathes out oxygen, which is critical for animal and human life. By sequestering it in the soil, where it’s needed, the plants help remove excess carbon dioxide from the air where it does harm.
• Water cycle: when the soil is hard and degraded, any rain that falls simply runs off and takes topsoil with it. When the soil quality is good, with high amounts of organic matter, it soaks up the water like a sponge. That not only helps retain water, but also the topsoil.

Economic Challenges of Regenerative Agriculture

Economic challenges are often what prevent farmers from taking the course Harris has taken. It requires an investment of time, effort, energy and resources to regenerate an environment, and for a time it may be difficult to sustain a profit. Part of the solution is to incorporate animals on the land. According to Harris, having healthy, grazing animals is profitable. But it takes a while to get here. You don’t get here in a year or two.

“Unfortunately, here in my part of the world, and I think it’s probably true throughout the world, industrial agricultural practices have degraded the land dramatically,” he says. “The land beneath this grass is an organic medium that’s teeming with life.

It’s just full of living things; some of which you can see; some of which you cannot see. But it’s teeming with life. If you go right across that forest to another field and got a handful of that soil, it is a dead mineral medium. It’s like a handful of tiny glass beads and nothing is living there … The transition from that to this is very expensive, very slow. It requires knowing what you’re doing.”

That said, farmers like Harris not only demonstrate that it’s possible, but that it’s possible to farm using regenerative methods on a large scale. You don’t have to follow a monocrop system just because you’re dealing with large land areas. He also demonstrates the ultimate payoff, not all of which can be calculated in mere dollars and cents.

How does one put a dollar value on healthy, happy animals, a thriving environment and the subsequent increase in food quality produced from both? As noted by Harris:

“I’m a land steward and livestock man. I focus on the health and well-being of the land and animals. The good food that comes from that is almost like a byproduct, but it’s the byproduct we need because consumers buy it and provide the money that allows us to continue to operate and expand in this way.”

Many Objections to Meat Consumption Are Quelled by Pasture Farming

Harris’ practice also addresses some of the primary objections many have to eating meat: that animals are raised inhumanely and that they’re loaded with chemicals, hormones, antibiotics and pesticides, which you then ingest when you eat the meat. It’s important to realize that those objections really only apply to CAFO animals.

Livestock raised within a regenerative agriculture setting are raised as nature intended, live a “full” life in which they’re allowed to express their instinctive behavior, and will actually contribute to your health in profoundly important ways when you eat them. I believe we were designed to eat some form of animal protein. I recommend avoiding CAFO meats, eggs and dairy for the same reasons listed above, but pasture-raised animal protein is, I believe, an important part of a healthy diet.

That said, I also believe you don’t need very much meat. Most Americans eat several times more meat than required for health, and most eat poor-quality CAFO meats. I believe the average person needs 40 to 60 grams of protein a day. That’s a 4-ounce steak at most. And if you eat less meat and other animal products, the cost differences between CAFO and pasture-raised disappear.

“The third thing I think causes people to refrain from eating meat is the concern over animal impact to the environment,” Harris says. “I agree if you’re talking about the confinement animal factory farm model. But I would suggest to you that animal impact is essential for turning this dead land back into productive farming.”

Grazing Is the Most Sensible Way to Manage Productive Land

To give another example of the important role animals serve within the regenerative model, take goats for example. One of the primary purposes of keeping goats is to strategically manage vegetation in lieu of toxic herbicides, as they gnaw weeds down to an extremely low level. There are even companies from which you can rent a herd of goats and sheep to clear a large lot of land of vegetation, or to keep vegetation under control.

“The plant species that goats and sheep prefer are different from the ones cattle prefer. We have virtually no weeds in our part of the world — maybe one — that even goats, sheep or cows won’t eat. Using the three in combination allows us to avoid using herbicides and pesticides on the pastures,” Harris says.

“In my part of the world, land will go back to forest unless you do one of five things: spray it with pesticide (which has many problems), till it (which leaves it open for erosion and requires fossil fuel), burn it (which puts organic matter open to the atmosphere), mow it (which requires fossil fuel and has other problems with organic matter) or grazing.

Of those five possibilities, the one that makes the most sense is grazing. It’s the most environmentally regenerative of the five as well.

I’m 61 years old. My generation never learned how to use animal impact to shape land. My father’s generation was exposed to it, but they fell so deeply in love with internal combustion engines and the tools reductionist science gave us, like chemical fertilizers and pesticides, they forgot about animal impact.

Now that we, my generation, are learning of the unintended consequences of industrial farming, we have to relearn how to use animal impact.”

read more original article Mercola

Dozens of Nations Back Regenerative Farming Initiative That Can Help Solve Global Warming

Published Date : March 14, 2017

France, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, the U.K., Germany and Mexico are among more than two dozen countries that have signed on to an agreement that one day may be recognized as the most significant climate initiative in history.

France’s 4/1000 Initiative: Soils for Food Security and Climate puts regenerative food and farming front and center in the climate solutions conversation. This is why the Organic Consumers Association, its Mexico affiliate Via Organica, IFOAM Organics International and more than 50 other activist allies across the globe have signed on in support of the Initiative.

Unfortunately, the U.S. government is not yet on board with the plan, even though our country’s toxic, fossil fuel-based, heavily subsidized (with taxpayer money), degenerative industrial agriculture system is a primary driver of global warming.

Global Problem, Global Solution

Leaders from 190 countries convened in Paris on November 30 for the 14-day COP21 Paris Climate Conference. This year, for the first time in over 20 years of United Nations climate negotiations, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) set out to achieve something concrete: “a legally binding and universal agreement to make sure the Earth doesn’t get warmer than 2°C above pre-industrial levels.”

To meet that goal, the French government launched the 4/1000 Initiative which, distilled to simplest terms, says this: If, on a global scale, we increase the soil carbon content of the soil by .04 percent each year for the next 25 years, we can draw down a critical mass of excess carbon from the atmosphere and begin to reverse global warming.

Is the French initiative realistic? Yes, even by conservative estimates.

Industrial, degenerative farming practices, which include tilling, deforestation, wetlands destruction and the use of massive amounts of synthetic and toxic fertilizers and pesticides, have stripped 136 billion tons of carbon out of the soil and sent it up into the atmosphere. Using the French government’s modest estimates, we can transfer, via enhanced plant photosynthesis, 150 billion tons of this carbon back into the soil in the next 25 years.

How do we achieve those numbers? All we have to do is help just 10 percent of the world’s farmers and ranchers adopt regenerative organic agriculture, holistic grazing and land management practices — and by help, we mean direct a portion of the billions of dollars earmarked for climate solution projects to farmers who regenerate the world’s soils.

That’s a game changer—but only if enough players get in the game.

The Plan Is Here

According to a December 1 press release from the French agriculture minister’s office: This initiative intends to show that a small increase of 4/1000 per year of the soil carbon stock (agricultural soils, notably grasslands and pastures, and forest soils) is a major leverage in order to improve soil fertility, resilience of farmers and contribute to the long-term objective of keeping the global average temperature increase below 2 degrees.

France’s agriculture minister, Stéphane Le Foll, said that Initiative partners, which so far include the UN, developed and developing states, international organizations, private foundations, international funds, NGOs, consumer, and farmers’ organizations, have committed to implementing appropriate soil management practices, and to recognizing the importance of soil health for the transition toward productive, highly resilient agriculture.

Le Foll told the French media that the 4/1000 has become a global initiative, but it’s just the beginning: “We need to keep going and mobilize even more stakeholders in a transition to achieve both food security and climate mitigation thanks to agriculture.”

Will the U.S. become one of those stakeholders? Or will our leaders side with the Monsantos and Bill Gates of the world, and continue to promote an agricultural system that directly and indirectly contributes 50 percent (or more) of the greenhouse gas emissions that are burning up the planet? A system that has failed to feed the world, failed to reduce the use of toxic poisons, failed to bring prosperity to the world’s small farmers, failed to produce healthy, nutritious food—a system whose successes can only be counted in terms of gross profits, shareholder value and political clout.

Whatever It Takes

President Obama, who attended COP21, hasn’t been shy about linking global warming to national security. The President recently told PoliticPro:

“If we let the world keep warming as fast as it is, and sea-levels rising as fast as they are and weather patterns keep shifting in unexpected ways, then before long we are going to have to devote more and more and more of our economic and military resources not to growing opportunity for our people, but to adapting to the various consequences of a changing planet. This is an economic and security imperative that we have to tackle now.”

If focusing on the economy and national security is what it takes to motivate Obama to tackle climate change, we’re all for it. After all, global warming threatens to displace millions of people, many of who already are in a struggle just to survive.

We’re also all for cutting greenhouse gas emissions, which is why we support the Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan, which requires states to cut carbon emissions by 32 percent by 2030. Let’s transition from an extractive, fossil fuel-intensive energy system to a clean, renewable alternative. That transition should be a vital part of any global strategy to mitigate climate change.

But reducing emissions solves only half of the problem. We also have to draw down the billions of tons of CO2 currently heating up the atmosphere. Unless we address the climate change elephant in the room — Big Ag — we will fail to solve the climate crisis.

Scientists estimate the world’s soils have lost 50-70% of their carbon stocks and fertility. Modern chemical-intensive, factory-farm, GMO-based industrial agriculture is largely responsible for that loss. Left unchecked, Monsanto and corporate aqribusiness will continue to abuse farm animals, pollute our bodies and eventually take the whole planet down with them.

The French initiative is the most direct, most practical, and only shovel-ready plan for reversing climate change.

We don’t have time to wait for expensive, unproven techno-fixes, some of which haven’t even made it to the prototype stage and many of which could come with unintended consequences. We don’t need a corporate-focused “Climate-Smart Agriculture” scheme that promotes business as usual. And we definitely shouldn’t put our faith in Monsanto’s “carbon-neutral” but “poison-positive” plan.

We need to pressure President Obama to pledge U.S. support for France’s 4/1000 Initiative, now. If we’re going to subsidize any form of agriculture, it should be the regenerative, climate-friendly, healthy, farmer-friendly type.

read more original article Alternet

Here Are the Three Main Challenges Facing U.S. Agriculture Over the Next 50 Years

Published Date : March 10, 2017

There are three interrelated challenges facing agriculture over the next 50 years.

The first is soil loss.

In the United States, soil is swept and washed away 10 times faster than it is replenished. That costs $37.6 billion every year. Globally, all of the world’s topsoil could be gone within 60 years.

The second challenge is diet-related disease.

About half of all American adults have one or more preventable chronic diseases related to diet. Diet is now the number-one risk factor for disease. More than two-thirds of adults and nearly one-third of children are overweight or obese. This costs $190 billion a year. Obesity is the new malnutrition. Globally, a growing number of people have plenty to eat and yet remain malnourished.

The third challenge is climate change.

Floods, droughts, wildfires and extreme or unseasonable temperatures cause crop and livestock losses. In 2011, exposure to high temperature events caused over $1 billion in losses to U.S. agricultural producers.

Phasing out greenhouse gas emissions is important, but it won’t reverse climate change. Until we remove enough CO2 from the atmosphere to get back down below the dangerous tipping point of 350 ppm, the impacts of climate change will persist.

Luckily, there’s an inexpensive and easy-to-use technology for reliable carbon dioxide removal and sequestration. Soil.

Agricultural activities have removed roughly 660 GtCO2 from terrestrial ecosystems. The good news is we can put it back.

Shifting to agricultural practices that can draw that carbon back down to the soil would:

• Reduce atmospheric CO2 by 40-70 ppm by 2100,
• Build soil instead of losing it, and
• Improve resilience to drought and floods, while
• Producing more food that’s more nutritious, and
• Generating higher farm incomes from increased production of nutrient-dense food.

We need more research on the microbial communities in the soil that generate carbon storage. Plants give the carbon they get from photosynthesis to soil microorganisms in exchange for water and nutrients. It works best when there are lots of different plants exchanging lots of different nutrients with lots of different microbes. The greater the plant biodiversity, the more carbon gets stored. The best way to reverse soil loss and sequester carbon is to continuously cover soil with a diverse array of living plants.

Scientists are currently documenting microbial soil carbon sequestration using carbon-13 isotope pulse labeling. Using this method, they can track the carbon flows from plants to and through soil microorganisms and identify the plants and the microorganisms that store the most carbon.

Fence line comparisons have demonstrated greater resilience to droughts and floods in carbon rich soils. Now, scientists can measure water flows through soil in three dimensions and accurately document soils’ water infiltration and holding capacity.

Grazing and pasture-raised animals can be managed to increase plant biodiversity and microbial activity. Well-managed pastures can sequester even more soil carbon than cropping systems. But we need a deeper understanding of how methanotrophs in the soil utilize methane emitted from grazing animals.

Finally we need an assessment of the socio-economic impediments to, and opportunities for, realizing the full potential for soil carbon sequestration.

If increasing soil carbon can help produce more food than you ever thought possible on less land than you can imagine, as John Jeavons would say, then why don’t more farmers do it?

If increasing soil carbon produces food that is flavorful, aromatic, and so healthy and nutritious that it could cost-effectively reverse diet-related diseases, why aren’t more consumers demanding it?

The above text was given as testimony by Alexis Baden-Mayer, political director at the Organic Consumers Association,at the Visioning of U.S. Agriculture Systems for Sustainable Production Listening Session held by the USDA on March 2, 2017.

read more Alternet

Dozens of Nations Back Regenerative Farming Initiative That Can Help Solve Global Warming

Published Date : March 10, 2017

France, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, the U.K., Germany and Mexico are among more than two dozen countries that have signed on to an agreement that one day may be recognized as the most significant climate initiative in history.

France’s 4/1000 Initiative: Soils for Food Security and Climate puts regenerative food and farming front and center in the climate solutions conversation. This is why the Organic Consumers Association, its Mexico affiliate Via Organica, IFOAM Organics International and more than 50 other activist allies across the globe have signed on in support of the Initiative.

Unfortunately, the U.S. government is not yet on board with the plan, even though our country’s toxic, fossil fuel-based, heavily subsidized (with taxpayer money), degenerative industrial agriculture system is a primary driver of global warming.

Global Problem, Global Solution

Leaders from 190 countries convened in Paris on November 30 for the 14-day COP21 Paris Climate Conference. This year, for the first time in over 20 years of United Nations climate negotiations, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) set out to achieve something concrete: “a legally binding and universal agreement to make sure the Earth doesn’t get warmer than 2°C above pre-industrial levels.”

To meet that goal, the French government launched the 4/1000 Initiative which, distilled to simplest terms, says this: If, on a global scale, we increase the soil carbon content of the soil by .04 percent each year for the next 25 years, we can draw down a critical mass of excess carbon from the atmosphere and begin to reverse global warming.

Is the French initiative realistic? Yes, even by conservative estimates.

Industrial, degenerative farming practices, which include tilling, deforestation, wetlands destruction and the use of massive amounts of synthetic and toxic fertilizers and pesticides, have stripped 136 billion tons of carbon out of the soil and sent it up into the atmosphere. Using the French government’s modest estimates, we can transfer, via enhanced plant photosynthesis, 150 billion tons of this carbon back into the soil in the next 25 years.

How do we achieve those numbers? All we have to do is help just 10 percent of the world’s farmers and ranchers adopt regenerative organic agriculture, holistic grazing and land management practices — and by help, we mean direct a portion of the billions of dollars earmarked for climate solution projects to farmers who regenerate the world’s soils.

That’s a game changer—but only if enough players get in the game.

The Plan Is Here

According to a December 1 press release from the French agriculture minister’s office: This initiative intends to show that a small increase of 4/1000 per year of the soil carbon stock (agricultural soils, notably grasslands and pastures, and forest soils) is a major leverage in order to improve soil fertility, resilience of farmers and contribute to the long-term objective of keeping the global average temperature increase below 2 degrees.

France’s agriculture minister, Stéphane Le Foll, said that Initiative partners, which so far include the UN, developed and developing states, international organizations, private foundations, international funds, NGOs, consumer, and farmers’ organizations, have committed to implementing appropriate soil management practices, and to recognizing the importance of soil health for the transition toward productive, highly resilient agriculture.

Le Foll told the French media that the 4/1000 has become a global initiative, but it’s just the beginning: “We need to keep going and mobilize even more stakeholders in a transition to achieve both food security and climate mitigation thanks to agriculture.”

Will the U.S. become one of those stakeholders? Or will our leaders side with the Monsantos and Bill Gates of the world, and continue to promote an agricultural system that directly and indirectly contributes 50 percent (or more) of the greenhouse gas emissions that are burning up the planet? A system that has failed to feed the world, failed to reduce the use of toxic poisons, failed to bring prosperity to the world’s small farmers, failed to produce healthy, nutritious food—a system whose successes can only be counted in terms of gross profits, shareholder value and political clout.

Whatever It Takes

President Obama, who attended COP21, hasn’t been shy about linking global warming to national security. The President recently told PoliticPro:

“If we let the world keep warming as fast as it is, and sea-levels rising as fast as they are and weather patterns keep shifting in unexpected ways, then before long we are going to have to devote more and more and more of our economic and military resources not to growing opportunity for our people, but to adapting to the various consequences of a changing planet. This is an economic and security imperative that we have to tackle now.”

If focusing on the economy and national security is what it takes to motivate Obama to tackle climate change, we’re all for it. After all, global warming threatens to displace millions of people, many of who already are in a struggle just to survive.

We’re also all for cutting greenhouse gas emissions, which is why we support the Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan, which requires states to cut carbon emissions by 32 percent by 2030. Let’s transition from an extractive, fossil fuel-intensive energy system to a clean, renewable alternative. That transition should be a vital part of any global strategy to mitigate climate change.

But reducing emissions solves only half of the problem. We also have to draw down the billions of tons of CO2 currently heating up the atmosphere. Unless we address the climate change elephant in the room — Big Ag — we will fail to solve the climate crisis.

Scientists estimate the world’s soils have lost 50-70% of their carbon stocks and fertility. Modern chemical-intensive, factory-farm, GMO-based industrial agriculture is largely responsible for that loss. Left unchecked, Monsanto and corporate aqribusiness will continue to abuse farm animals, pollute our bodies and eventually take the whole planet down with them.

The French initiative is the most direct, most practical, and only shovel-ready plan for reversing climate change.

We don’t have time to wait for expensive, unproven techno-fixes, some of which haven’t even made it to the prototype stage and many of which could come with unintended consequences. We don’t need a corporate-focused “Climate-Smart Agriculture” scheme that promotes business as usual. And we definitely shouldn’t put our faith in Monsanto’s “carbon-neutral” but “poison-positive” plan.

We need to pressure President Obama to pledge U.S. support for France’s 4/1000 Initiative, now. If we’re going to subsidize any form of agriculture, it should be the regenerative, climate-friendly, healthy, farmer-friendly type.

3 Ways Regenerative Agriculture Helps Save the Planet

Published Date : March 10, 2017

When industrial agriculture took over in India around the 1940s, many traditions related to farming and wildcrafting tulsi, also known as holy basil, were lost. But regenerative agriculture ushers in a return to these rituals.

“Those who understand keep tulsi close to them, in the center of their homes. It keeps the energy of the house pure through day and night. And pure energy is necessary for life,” says Chote Lal, a farmer of tulsi. The farm has been in Lal’s family for generations, and 15 years ago, he went organic. Following that, he started working with Organic India, a company selling safe and effective herbal products like tea and supplements, that introduced him and other farmers and wildcrafters (workers who harvest wild plants) in the country to regenerative agriculture.

Regenerative agriculture goes well beyond organics and sustainability—it’s a holistic farming system that focuses not only on preserving the land, but also on improving it. Compared to industrial practices, this type of agriculture is better for local farmers, wildcrafters, communities, and ecosystems—here are just a few of its incredible benefits.

THE LAND IS REPLENISHED

Regenerative agriculture involves cultivating soil in a way that reduces erosion and conserves water; planting cover crops to protect and enrich soil; composting to promote water retention and plant growth; and rotating crops to boost soil fertility and crop yield.

When all of these methods come together, it can only improve the overall quality of the land—and support the biodiversity of the surrounding ecosystem. The improved soil quality also helps protect the environment by sequestering more excess carbon, which in turn may actually minimize effects of global warming.

FARMERS AND WILDCRAFTERS PROSPER

Organic India is truly invested in the livelihoods of the network of farmers and wildcrafters it employs, educating them in regenerative agriculture practices and even covering their fees for organic certifications. With these skills their farms become more productive, allowing them to cultivate an abundance of premium herbs, which Organic India purchases at a fair market price. Even better, farmers are able to keep their lands fertile for generations to come.

THE COMMUNITY THRIVES

All of these efforts amount to sustainability in the truest sense—farmers are able to provide adequate food production to meet the nutritional needs of the population at both the community and global level. Organic India also regenerates the local villages by giving them access to clean water and health care, improving infrastructure, and offering empowerment and gender equality programs to all, including women, widows, the elderly, and the illiterate. That means quality of life improves all around—from the land itself to the lives of the people who call it home.

Environmental, economic, and social benefits aside, regenerative agriculture also inspires a revitalized sense of spirituality in India’s farming communities and beyond. The people have a greater incentive than ever to revere tulsi, Organic India’s flagship ingredient, as the goddess it was once believed to be.

read more original article Thrivemarket

Resources For Regenerative Land Use

Published Date : March 10, 2017

Large-scale floating offshore wind power is finally here

Published Date : March 10, 2017

Offshore wind energy has been growing like crazy in the last few decades—so much so that there’s even talk of serious talk of multi-gigawatt offshore wind farms in the US in the not too distant future.

But offshore wind has so far been limited to areas where the seafloor is relatively shallow, and where it’s easy to build foundations for these gigantic turbines.

Floating wind turbines are different. Instead of using fixed foundations, they are anchored to the sea floor using cables. And that means they can be located in deeper waters, opening up many more areas where wind conditions are favorable and concerns about views and/or bird migration routes are less relevant. Alongside opening up new areas for development, the other major advantage of floating turbines—once they are being developed at scale—could also be reduced costs. Offshore wind costs are already plummeting compared to expectations, and some advocates argue that floating turbines will be even more economical. The foundations are—apparently—more expensive to manufacture, but much easier to install—thus saving time in the water, and because their movement with the waves should reduce vibrations, they may also need less maintenance too.

Up to now, the largest project approved was the 30MW Hywind floating wind farm off the coast of Scotland, but Business Green reports that Hywind is now going outgunned by the 50MW Kincardine development, which will be located 15km off the coast of Aberdeen.

Consisting of eight turbines, developers say the farm will have the capacity to power 56,000 homes. And while I couldn’t find details of when the farm is expected to be operational, once it is it should serve as proof of concept for much larger farms in Europe, Asia and North America too. As I mentioned in my previous article on Hywind, Carbon Trust has estimated that floating turbines could provide 8 to 16GW of offshore wind capacity in the UK alone by 2050. Reaching that goal would mean scaling up these technologies fast.

read more original article Treehugger

4 Levels of Regenerative Agriculture

Published Date : March 10, 2017

Carbon Farming: Fighting Climate Change with Regenerative Agriculture

Published Date : March 10, 2017

Lowering atmospheric carbon dioxide to a level that will avoid catastrophic climate change requires massive shifts across all industries. While industrial agriculture is responsible for high levels of greenhouse gas emissions, there are more sustainable agricultural practices that can in fact help reverse climate change. The term ‘carbon farming‘ refers to a set of agricultural practices that can reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide. Carbon farming techniques include different approaches for sequestering carbon in soil and plants, as well as decreasing carbon dioxide emissions from agricultural sites.

A number of programs are committed to furthering research and advocacy around carbon farming strategies, including the Marin Carbon Project, Carbon Underground, the Carbon Cycling Institute and the Carbon Management and Sequestration Center at Ohio State University. Here’s some background information on this exciting application of sustainable agriculture to climate change mitigation.

Building on Natural Processes

Carbon Sequestration

The foundation of carbon farming is the use of soil and plant biomass as carbon reservoirs. Carbon sequestration occurs naturally as a part of the carbon cycle, which is the exchange of carbon in various forms between the atmosphere, oceans, ecosystems and geological systems.  Plant and soil carbon sequestration starts when plants absorb carbon dioxide during photosynthesis, using sunlight and water to convert the carbon dioxide into carbon compounds, which are then assimilated into soil through microbial and other biological activity.

The capacity for soils to sequester carbon hinges upon soil organic matter (SOM) content. SOM comprises fresh plant residues and living soil organisms (e.g., bacteria and insects), decomposing organic matter (detritus) and stable organic matter (humus). Aside from carbon sequestration itself, increasing SOM also enhances structural stability, improves water holding capacity and aeration, promotes nutrient exchange and supports buffering capacity.

Industrial Agriculture and the Problem of Carbon Emissions

Industrial farming practices degrade soil quality, both releasing carbon from the soil and diminishing soil’s capacity for carbon sequestration. Conventional tilling exposes stored carbon to the air, and returns it to the atmosphere as carbon dioxide. Tilling’s destruction of soil structure and microbial communities also promotes erosion by wind and water. Wind erosion further perpetuates soil carbon exposure to the atmosphere while water erosion transfers soil carbon and other nutrients (as well as contaminants) to waterways. The use of heavy machinery necessary for managing large swaths of monocropped land also inflicts heavy soil compaction, which inhibits the biological processes that transfer carbon from plants to soil.

Regenerative Farming Techniques

Carbon farming utilizes combinations of various regenerative agriculture strategies, many of which have been employed for centuries. For farmers with existing annual-crop focused operations, some of the most accessible carbon farming strategies include compost application, conservation tillage, rotational grazing and  cover cropping. Agroforestry, the land use management system of integrating trees and shrubs into crop and/or pasture land, offers a whole-ecosystem approach. In the US, the five widely recognized practices of agroforestry include wind breaks, alley cropping, riparian buffers, forest farming and silvopasture. The Carbon Cycling Institute lists these and other practices that can be incorporated into a carbon farming program.

The Future of Carbon Farming

Success for Farmers

The Marin Carbon Project in California has outlined carbon farming plans to provide a framework for farmers interested in transitioning their practices. While the regenerative impacts of carbon farming techniques can boost fertility and productivity of agricultural operations, farmers can gain economic incentive for building the carbon sequestration potential of their farms and other sites by selling carbon credits. Programs that facilitate the entrance of farmers and land managers to the carbon market include the Carbon Farming Initiative in Australia and the Duck’s Unlimited Carbon Sequestration Program (which serves areas throughout North America). Those who want to break into the carbon market can also improve their understanding of their site’s potential for improved carbon sequestration using tools such as COMET-Farm, a greenhouse gas and carbon accounting system.

Maintaining Sustainability

Many of the practices utilized in carbon farming also fall under the umbrella of Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA). CSA comprises different approaches for using agricultural practices to improve food security while combatting climate change. However, the broad criteria for what constitutes ‘climate smart’ has left open the potential for greenwashing. In 2014, over 100 civil society organizations combined to issue a letter in rejection of the CSA platform, due to the Global Alliance on CSA’s inclusion of companies like MacDonalds and Kellogg’s. As carbon farming gains traction both on its own and within the context of CSA, it will be critical to ensure that any companies advertising affiliation with carbon farming endeavors are pursuing comprehensive sustainability plans.

Carbon farming offers immense potential to shift agriculture’s impact on climate change. As a strategy that encompasses numerous regenerative practices, there are many ways that carbon farming can be incorporated into existing agricultural operations. Continued research around how different techniques perform in different contexts will bolster the effectiveness and economic viability of future carbon farming endeavors.

read more original article Gracelinks

Organic industry to Paris: Regenerative agriculture is solution to climate change

Published Date : March 8, 2017

JANUARY 4TH, 2016

As delegations from throughout the world gather this week and next at the COP21 Global Climate Summit in Paris to discuss how to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and increase availability of renewable energy, the role of food and agriculture is just beginning to become part of the global climate change conversation.

Led by the French government with its groundbreaking 4% Initiative, a number of organizations and nonprofits including Regeneration InternationalIFOAM Organics International, Kiss the Ground, Project Drawdown and others are at the COP21 summit to advance the concept of building healthy soils to sequester carbon and reverse climate change.

Why? Because reaching zero emissions is a fine, lofty goal, but it’s already too late for that alone to cool our warming world. The only way to do that now, according to experts in regenerative agriculture and research from the Rodale Institute and others, is to draw carbon out of the atmosphere and put it back where it belongs: in healthy organic soils.

In fact, says the Rodale Institute (after conducting more than 30 years of ongoing field research), regenerative, organic farming practices and improved forestry, pasture and land management can move agriculture from one of today’s primary sources of global warming and carbon pollution to a potential carbon sink powerful enough to sequester 100 percent of the world’s current annual CO2 emissions.

“Simply put, recent data from farming systems and pasture trials around the globe show that we could sequester more than 100 percent of current annual CO2 emissions with a switch to widely available and inexpensive organic management practices, which we term ‘regenerative organic agriculture,’” Rodale’s research team reported. These practices work to maximize carbon fixation while minimizing the loss of that carbon once returned to the soil, reversing the greenhouse effect.”

Or, as the Wall Street Journal reported, “Organic practices could counteract the world’s yearly carbon dioxide output while producing the same amount of food as conventional farming…”

Industrial agriculture responsible for nearly half of all GHG emissions

“When it comes to being responsible for human-caused greenhouse gas emissions, industrial food and agriculture—including production, processing, packaging and distribution—is second only to the energy sector,” said Ronnie Cummins, director of Regeneration International. “Plus, with its reliance on fossil-fuel-based synthetic fertilizers and toxic pesticides, it is depleting our soils of essential organic matter and allowing carbon once stored for millennia in the soil to escape into the atmosphere. That is why we are here in Paris with an international delegation, to make sure our world leaders recognize the role of regenerative, organic farming, forestry, land management and soil conservation as a practical, low-cost solution to reversing climate change. The answer is, quite literally, right under our feet.”

Related

“Industrial farming is one of the major contributors to global warming, and to date, climate change negotiators and policy-makers have paid little attention to this fact,” said Andre Leu, president of IFOAM Organics International and founding steering committee member of Regeneration International. “If we want to reverse climate change, business as usual is not an option. Only a transition to agro-ecology and organic farming can lead to deep cuts in emissions from food production,” he said.

“Half of the smallholder farmers who grow the majority of global agricultural produce are amongst the world’s hungry, and they are also at the greatest risk of the impacts of global warming. Unless these farmers are given the agro-ecological technologies they need to meet the challenges posed by climate change, impacts on food production will be devastating, pushing millions into poverty,” Leu added. “Agriculture and forest-related mitigation actions should thus contribute to food security and tackle activities with the highest emissions such as fertilizer use, particularly in ‘high-emitting’ countries.”

4 percent sounds like a little but means a lot

With its recent launch of the 4% Initiative, the French government is taking the lead in calling attention to the role of food and agriculture in providing a solution to climate change.

“Building on solid, scientific documentation and concrete actions on the ground, the 4% Initiative: Soils for Food Security and Climate aims to show that food security and combating climate change are complementary,” said Christophe Malvezin, agricultural attaché to the French Embassy in the U.S., at a recent press conference in Washington, DC, to announce the launch of Regeneration International.

According to the French Agriculture Ministry, a 4 percent annual growth rate in soil carbon content would make it possible to stop the present increase in atmospheric CO2. This growth rate is not a normative target for every country, said the ministry, but is intended to show that even a small increase in soil carbon stock (agricultural soils, notably grasslands, pastures and forest soils) is crucial to improve soil fertility and agricultural production—and to contribute to achieving the long-term objective of limiting the average global temperature increase to the 1.5°C to 2°C threshold beyond which the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change indicates that the effects of climate change are significant. The initiative is intended to complement the necessary efforts to comprehensively reduce global greenhouse gas emissions, stated the French government.

In a special half-day session held on Dec. 2 at the COP21 Summit, David Nabarro, the United Nations Secretary General’s special representative for food security and nutrition, outlined the “huge potential” for agriculture, based on the initiatives presented, to be a solution for climate change. “The time has come to reshape agriculture, but it must be of the right type: regenerative, smallholder centered, focused on food loss and waste, adaptation, soils management, oceans and livestock,” Nabarro said.

Time to choose climate-friendly food

“If we are serious about changing the climate, we need to get serious about changing agriculture,” wrote Michael Pollan on the eve of the COP21 climate summit.

“Approximately one-third of the carbon now in the atmosphere had formerly been sequestered in soils in the form of organic matter, but since we began plowing and deforesting, we’ve been releasing huge quantities of this carbon into the atmosphere. Moreover, these emissions are strongly associated with foods and diets that we now know are very unhealthy,” Pollan wrote.

“Either we can continue to feed ourselves using millions of gallons of fossil fuels to make synthetic fertilizers and pesticides to support the unsustainable monocultures that undergird the present food system, or we can turn towards modern organic and regenerative agriculture. The good news is that, thanks to the innovations pioneered by our most creative farmers, we already know how to do the right thing. We can produce healthier food while at the same time storing carbon in soil–carbon taken from the atmosphere, thereby helping to reverse climate change.”

Join the regeneration movement

Founded in June 2015, Regeneration International’s mission is to “build a global network of farmers, scientists, businesses, activists, educators, journalists, policymakers and consumers who will promote and put into practice regenerative agriculture and land-use practices that: provide abundant, nutritious food; revitalize local economies; regenerate soil fertility and water-retention capacity; nurture biodiversity; and restore climate stability by reducing agricultural greenhouse gas emissions while at the same time drawing down excess atmospheric carbon and sequestering it in the soil.”

In doing so, RI is mobilizing consumers, farmers, environmentalists and businesses; aggregating research and information; and providing tools and resources in multiple languages for producers, land managers, scientists, and governments worldwide.

The organization was founded in June 2015 by internationally renowned agro-ecologist and author Vandana Shiva; World Food Prize winner Hans Herren; Andre Leu of IFOAM Organics International; Tom Newmark of Carbon Underground; Ronnie Cummins of Organic Consumers Association; Steve Rye of Dr. Mercola; former Germany Minister of Agriculture Renate Kunast; and other international leaders in food, agriculture, climate change and carbon sequestration.

read more original article Sustainable Farmers

Best regions for growing bioenergy crops identified

Published Date : March 8, 2017

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign used detailed models to examine impacts on water quantity and quality in soils that would occur if existing vegetation was replaced by various bioenergy crops in the name of ethanol production.

“We expect the outcome of this study to support scientifically sound national policy decisions on bioenergy crops development especially with regards to cellulosic grasses,” wrote Atul Jain, professor of atmospheric sciences at U of I, regarding a paper published by the journal Environmental Science & Technology.

Currently, corn is the dominant crop used in biofuel production. Recently, research has revealed bioenergy grasses such as Miscanthus and switchgrasses such as Alamo and Cave-in-Rock causes less nitrogen to be lost due to rain and irrigation than corn. Nitrogen is an important nutrient for crops and a key ingredient in fertilizer, but nitrogen often washes away into rivers and other bodies of water where it is detrimental to aquatic ecosystems.

Another advantage bioenergy grasses and switchgrasses have over corn is their deep root system which allows them to draw water and nutrients from deeper soil levels and allows them to be more resilient in poor growing seasons.

“Growing bioenergy grasses, in general, can mitigate nitrogen leaching across the United States,” said Yang Song, a graduate student and the study’s lead author. “However, the greatest reduction in nitrogen leaching occurs when bioenergy crops displace other cropland or grassland, because energy crops consume more water and less nitrogen fertilizer than the crops and grasses that they replace, resulting in less water runoff and nitrogen loss.”

By using a combination of crop growth, hydrological, carbon and nitrogen cycle models, researchers found that the estimated land suitable for bioenergy grasses—particularly Miscanthus, the most productive bioenergy crop—is limited, despite its relatively high biomass productivity and low water consumption per unit of ethanol.

Specifically, the most suitable regions to grow bioenergy grasses in terms of impact on water (and ultimately ethanol production) are eastern Ohio, eastern Kentucky, eastern Tennessee, and the Northern Atlantic regions. Miscanthus and Cave-in-Rock are less suitable in areas such as Missouri, southern Illinois, and Mississippi River watershed regions of eastern Arkansas.

Finally, the researchers found that bioenergy crops do best in regions with higher precipitation rates. They are more likely to fail in dryer regions with less frequent and predictable precipitation, such as the Great Plains, where environmental conditions limit production of bioenergy grasses. In the Midwest, on the other hand, the grasses are generally able to withstand periodic dry conditions because their roots can grow toward deeper and moister soil.

Read more original article  phys.org

Peatlands rescue plan battles climate change

Published Date : March 8, 2017

SCOTLAND’S first national park has received nearly £250,000 of new funding for vital work that will simultaneously help combat flooding and fight climate change in one of the country’s most scenic areas.

The cash has been awarded to Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park to restore around 35 square kilometres of internationally important peatlands to good condition.

Scotland is home to around 60 per cent of all the UK’s peatlands. They are globally recognised for their bio­diversity, supporting rare moorland breeding birds and unusual plants, such as the ­insectivorous sundew and ­butterwort.

Formed over thousands of years, they are also one of the nation’s most important natural assets in terms of the ecosystem services they provide.

Scotland’s peat bogs store ten times more carbon than all of the UK’s forests combined – the equivalent of 16,200 million tonnes.

Healthy bogs are valuable regulators of water as they can soak it up like a sponge and then release it slowly and steadily, lowering the risk of flooding.

However, degraded peatlands can release large amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

The new money is part of a recent £3 million in extra funding from the Scottish Government for the national Peatland Action scheme.

It will be spent on conservation measures including landscaping to reduce exposed peat and the installation of peat dams to restore water levels in blanket bogs, which are vital to carbon capture and provide habitats for many important Scottish species.

Restoration sites include Beinn Dubh, above Glen Luss, Auchtertyre, near Strathfillan, and Glen Dochart, at Crianlarich.

These measures will improve mountain vegetation, which will in turn benefit native wildlife and birds such as the snipe, skylark and greenshank.

Simon Jones, director of conservation and visitor operations at Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park, has welcomed the new funding.

“We are delighted that land in the park will benefit from further support for this important work to help tackle climate change and protect our valuable natural capital,” he said.

“Peatlands take thousands of years to form, but can become eroded through a combination of the elements and overgrazing by livestock and wild deer.

Luss Estates and Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC) have previously received funding from Peatland Action with help from the national park, which enabled restoration work to begin in 2015.

Professor Davy McCracken, head of the Hill and Mountain Research Centre at SRUC, said: “Restoring damaged peatland helps ensure that bogs on our farms act as a long-term sinks rather than generators of greenhouse ­gases.

“However, this also provides our national park colleagues with a golden opportunity to highlight the importance of peat bogs to land managers, advisers and the general public.”

Iain Wilkinson, rural business manager at Luss Estates, added: “We are delighted to have received this second tranche of funding for peatland restoration, which will allow us to complete the original project on Beinn Dubh and Mid Hill.

“This project highlights the tangible environmental improvements that can be achieved through collaborative partnership working, and we are pleased to be making a contribution to carbon se­questration and Scottish ­Government targets as a result.”

Peatland Action is an initiative run by government agency Scottish Natural Heritage that will contribute to the objectives of Scotland’s National Peatland Plan, which was published in August.

Mountain bog restoration is one of five key projects in the national park’s conservation action plan, which runs until the end of the decade.

read more original article The Scotsman

Biodynamic farming is on the rise – but how effective is this alternative agricultural practice?

Published Date : March 8, 2017

When John Chester, a filmmaker from California, quit his job to become a farmer, he didn’t do it out of a desire to “feed the world”. Instead, he says: “I’m trying to feed my neighbors – and if everyone did that, we would be able to replicate this.”

He is referring to Apricot Lane Farms, a 213-acre biodynamic and organic farm in Moorpark, California, that Chester runs with his wife, Molly. The couple nurtures 100 different types of vegetables, 75 varieties of stone fruit, and countless animal residents: Scottish highland cattle, pigs, chickens, sheep, ducks, hens, horses and livestock dogs. Last year, Apricot Lane Farms was recognized by the National Wildlife Federation and the North American Butterfly Association for supporting so much wildlife – not a recognition typically given to farms.

Apricot Lane is part of a growing movement in biodynamic farming. The number of biodynamic farms in the US is rapidly increasing, according to Elizabeth Candelario, co-director of Demeter USA, the nonprofit certifier of biodynamic farms and consumer products in the US. According to Demeter, the total acreage for biodynamic farming in the US increased by 16% last year, totaling 21,791 acres.

Earlier this year, Demeter began collecting topsoil samples from biodynamic farms. This will help the organization determine if the soil quality is improving year after year on certified biodynamic farms. According to Candelario, Demeter is the only national farming organization implementing this practice. “This will provide a tool for farmers who continue to focus on building healthy soil, and give voice to power about biodynamic agriculture’s role in mitigating the impacts of climate change,” she says.

So what is biodynamic farming, and what distinguishes it from organic? Austrian philosopher Rudolf Steiner, a controversial public figure, introduced biodynamic principles by encouraging farmers to look to the cosmos before planting and harvesting crops. The biodynamic calendar is based on the positioning of the stars and the moon. While many biodynamic farmers utilize the lunar calendar, it is not a requirement for Demeter certification.

However, the certification does include Steiner’s nine so-called “preparations” made from herbs, mineral substances and animal manures that are turned into field sprays and compost. One of the farming methods championed by Steiner involves taking cow manure, packing into a cow horn and burying it underground over winter. It is then mixed with water and applied to the soil – biodynamic followers believe this compound can stimulate root growth.

“Cow manure is a dense nutrient rich material,” Candelario says. “When placed in a cow horn under the ground, where the temperature is constant throughout the winter, the manure ferments much like a sourdough inoculate, or a kombucha culture, ferments. When it is exhumed, the material looks like chocolate and has a beautiful earthy aroma. This inoculate is then added to water and broadcast on soil, where it directly impacts the microbial life of that soil.”

Many horticultural academics remain skeptical about Steiner’s methods, which they argue were not developed through scientific methodology, but through mysticism.

Because these methods cannot be tested and validated, and no evidence exists to prove these preparations improve plant or soil quality, horticultural academics argue that “any effect attributed to biodynamic preparations is a matter of belief, not of fact”.

“The movement is controversial because at its core it is a philosophy, not a science,” says Linda Chalker-Scott, associate professor and urban horticulturist at the Center for Precision and Automated Agricultural Systems at Washington State University. “It is an entanglement of some good, science-based organic practices with alchemy, astrology, and homeopathy. As long as biodynamic preparations continue to be at the heart of the movement, it will continue to be questioned by the scientific community.”

Although Demeter likens the biodynamic preparations to “homeopathic remedies” on its website, Candelario argues that the terms “alchemy, astrology, and homeopathy” are not mentioned in the Demeter standard. “We are certainly not in the business of certifying people’s spirituality,” she says. “However, the standard does not represent all of the ways farmers practice biodynamic agriculture, just like one type of yoga (let’s say Ashtanga) does not describe the entirety of what yoga may mean to the yoga movement.”

While the more spiritual and unconventional aspects of biodynamics don’t appeal to all farmers, for some, a personal connection to the land is crucial to their agricultural practice. “You may find some who practice biodynamic because it is a sound agronomic system that delivers real benefits to the farm like healthier soil, better crops, more vibrant ecology,” Candelario says. “You may also find some biodynamic farmers who would agree with all that plus they may describe their personal relationship with their farm that speaks to a deeper connection with the farm and its place in nature.”

The National Organic Program (Nop) standard forms the base to the Demeter standard – so if it’s not allowed in organic, it’s not allowed in biodynamic. Both approaches prohibit the use of chemical pesticides – allowing plants to produce more of their own antioxidants to fight damage – and don’t permit genetic engineering methods.

If a farm is certified biodynamic, it means it has met the requirements of organic, with some additional measures – including the divisive preparations. For example, while organic permits imported organic fertilizers and pesticides, biodynamic requires that a farm system itself produce its own fertility – meaning compost and nutrients – as much as possible through the integration of livestock and the rotation of crops. There are limits to the amount that can be imported from the outside – for example, no more than 36lbs of nitrogen per acre, per year.

Also, while organic certification allows for organic feed imported to the farm from anywhere in the world, biodynamic certification requires 50% of livestock feed be grown on the farm. Biodynamic also requires that a farm set aside 10% of the total farm acreage for biodiversity, and strive for a balanced predator/prey relationship.

Where a conventional farm could bring in synthetic fertilizers, and an organic farm would substitute inputs that are allowed under the Nop, a biodynamic farmer might think: “Why is my farm needing this additional fertility, and how can I come up with a solution out of the farm system itself instead of being imported from the outside?”

“Biodynamic agriculture treats the farm like a living organism, self-contained and self-sustainable,” Candelario says.

For example, on Chester’s farm, the wildlife is vital in dealing with infestations. Last year, the farm had a slug problem. “I could have poured Sluggo and that would have killed them off,” Chester says. “But instead, I let the wildlife sort it out. As a result, I’m producing duck eggs that have been enriched by an escargot diet.”

Biodynamic principles were first introduced in the US after 1924, when Steiner first delivered his agricultural lectures. In 1938, the Biodynamic Association was established, making it the oldest sustainable agriculture nonprofit organization in North America. Still, there are only about 300 certified biodynamic farms in the US today, compared to 21,781 certified organic operations, representing a growth of almost 12% between 2014-2015, according to data released in 2016 by the Agricultural Marketing Service’s National Organic Program. This is the highest growth rate since 2008, with an increase of nearly 300% since the count began in 2002. The total retail market for organic products is now valued at more than $39bn in the US, compared to $75bn worldwide.

While organic has grown significantly, until now, biodynamic farming has lagged behind. Challenges such as low yields, the unconventional, divisive practices and lack of support from the horticultural community could go some way to explaining why biodynamic farming has got off to such a slow start. But in spite of the skepticism and lack of science, retailers and consumers are driving demand.

Candelario says it’s winemakers that caught on first. “Winemakers couldn’t help but notice that some of the finest wines in the world are made from grapes grown in biodynamic vineyards. Vineyard and winery adoption has occurred so quickly that [the US] now has the third largest number of biodynamic vineyards and wineries in the world, following France and Italy.”

Now more than a dozen US food companies, including Republic of Tea, Back to The Roots, Amy’s Kitchen, Lakewood Juices and Lundberg Family Farms, are now sourcing from biodynamic farms, citing commitments to sustainable practices.

Last year, Demeter worked with more than 50 US brands to bring biodynamic products to the market. Errol Schweizer can attest to the demand; he was the lead merchandiser and negotiator at Whole Foods for nearly a decade and now consults at numerous health food retailers across the US. When Schweizer joined Whole Foods, the company was carrying few biodynamic brands. Schweizer added more to the shelves, not only because of the farming practices but because of one basic test: taste.

“Customers want it, even if they don’t recognize the biodynamic certification on a box,” he says. “What they want is food that tastes good and is grown ethically.”

Chalker-Scott argues that consumers don’t always care about scientific evidence when making decisions. She says, “biodynamic is the new organic” in consumers’ eyes. “Many consumers make emotion-based choices, not science-based ones.”

Another limitation of biodynamic farming is its ability to feed the masses. Nikhil Arora runs Oakland-based Back to the Roots, which sells biodynamic cereal. Arora sources the wheat from Fred Kirshenmann’s 1800-acre farm in Windsor, North Dakota, which is certified organic and biodynamic. Kirshenmann was an early adopter of Steiner’s methodology; in 1975, the farm was organic but by 1981, he had become one of the first biodynamic farms in the country.

Launched in January 2016, Back to the Roots biodynamic cereal sells in Whole Foods and Krogers for about $5 a box, on par with health food cereals such as Kashi and Nature’s Path. The company’s cereals are also in 2300 schools across the country. The demand has been tricky to manage. Like organic farming, biodynamic yields are lower and more unpredictable. “We want to scale but we have to be mindful of how much supply we have,” Arora says. “We’re working directly with the farmer, not a commodities market. We pre-purchase the wheat before he even harvests it. So it’s a different model.”

Apricot Lane Farms likes to keep it local, selling eggs to local health food stores such as Erewhon. Some of the vegetables and fruits are sold to LA restaurants and the rest are sold at specialty markets as well as online.

“What people don’t understand is that biodynamic farming is about responding to the farm, living, breathing it,” Chester says. “If you have a problem, you have to think of three solutions that come from the farm itself. Those so-called problems are part of the art of farming, which has been lost in this rat race to produce cheap food.”

read more original article The Guardian 

Turning household waste into hot water

Published Date : March 8, 2017

Peatland Restoration

Published Date : March 6, 2017

What are peatlands?

Peatlands, or mires, are areas of wetland that are covered by peat forming vegetation. Over thousands of years, the decomposed vegetation slowly accumulates in layers to form peat, capable of absorbing and storing carbon.

The impact of drainage channels on peatland (Greenpeace, available at http://www.greenpeace.org/seasia/stop-the-haze/)

Peatlands cover approximately 15% of the UK and provide an important natural habitat for wildlife and store of carbon. However the retention of peatland carbon has been significantly decreased due to land management techniques aimed at increasing land productivity, including drainage, prescribed fire, peat extraction, fertilisation and liming (Holden et al., 2007).  As a result, currently over 80% of UK peatlands are estimated to be damaged by mismanagement (IUCN, 2016).

Benefits of restoring peatland

It is in the interest of everyone for peatlands to be in a healthy state. By restoring peatlands, levels of erosion can be reduced, preventing the problems that damaged peatlands bring for livestock, game, wildlife landscape and access (IUCN, 2016). Peatlands also provide large upland storage capacity for water, helping to reduce peak discharge during flood events. Sphagnum moss that colonises wet peatland environments acts as a natural filter for drinking water, reducing costs to utilities companies.

The ability of peatland to absorb and store carbon in comparison with other biomass carbon storage techniques (Lovett, R. (3rd May 2008) Burying biomass to fight climate change, New Scientist Magazine).

Peatland restoration is an internationally recognised and cost effective way to help tackle climate change. Although wetlands only cover 6% of the world’s land surface, they amount for 12% of the global carbon pool, and are therefore crucial to helping to mitigate against future climate change.   Restoring UK peatlands alone can help to retain up to three billion tonnes of carbon, more than twenty times more than the storage capacity of UK forests.

read more original article www.eastafricasisal.com

Perennial energy crops could provide environmental benefits

Published Date : March 6, 2017

read more original article  http://news.wisc.edu

New Report highlights multiple benefits of peatland restoration around the world

Published Date : March 6, 2017

Peatlands provide vital natural services in tackling climate change and maintaining our water supply as well as being beautiful havens for wildlife and places for people to enjoy. Peatlands are ancient landscapes in which the naturally wet conditions preserve dead plant material as peat. Carbon dioxide removed from the atmosphere by photosynthesis is effectively ‘locked up’ in the peat for millennia, thereby acting as ‘carbon sinks’ which keep CO2 emissions down in a way even more effectively than rainforests.

Across the globe, peatlands occupy only 3% of the world’s land area, yet hold over 30% of the global carbon store. However, damaged peatlands lose their ability to remove CO2 and instead start to release it back into the atmosphere, thereby accelerating climate change, at a high cost to the environment and society.

The latest publication from the IUCN UK Peatland Programme and CEM Thematic Group on Peatlands, ‘Global Peatland Restoration – Demonstrating Success’, launched today in Brussels, showcases successful restoration projects across the world. Case studies illustrate opportunities for restoration and sustainable management as well as innovative ways of engaging communities in conservation action.

Europe has a crucial part to play, not only in preserving and restoring its own peatlands but also in extending support and knowledge around the world. The EU 2020 Biodiversity Strategy advocates sustainable ecosystem management and the balancing of ecological, economic and social functions of peatlands and other valuable ecosystems. The UK is among the world-leaders in peatland restoration and through the IUCN UK Peatland Programme, a partnership of government and public organisations is working to safeguard healthy peatlands that can bring benefits to society.

Protecting peatlands and the biodiversity that underpins them can support the transformation to a sustainable EU economy. Mapping and assessing ecosystems and their services is essential to ensure that their values can be taken into account in decision-making and integrated in other policy areas. The climate mitigation contribution from CO2 sequestration in wetlands is considerable. Even if drainage of peatlands has largely stopped in the EU, already drained peatlands continue to emit 174 MtCO2 every year, placing the EU second only to Indonesia.

‘These figures demonstrate the important role that the conservation and restoration of peatlands have in climate mitigation efforts. Overall land use emissions should be an essential part of the EU’s climate strategy, paving the way for more ambitious European emission reduction targets,’ says Luc Bas, Director of IUCN’s Brussels office.

Clifton Bain, Director IUCN UK Peatland Programme says. ‘Europe’s peatlands are of major significance in the global challenge to tackle climate change and conserve biodiversity. There are clear benefits to society from conserving and restoring peatlands and great costs if we don’t. We have demonstrated that with the right commitment from government and strong partnerships it is possible to secure peatlands for the future’.

The report launch was co-hosted by the Welsh Government who also share the concern and drive to restore Wales’ peatlands.

‘Peatlands are an important ecosystem and it is imperative that we manage them in a way that ensures the best outcome for our economy, environment and climate. The IUCN has brought together practitioners, scientists and other key players in order to establish a valuable and robust evidence base on peatland management. We in Wales will draw upon this evidence as we progress our ambitious programme of bringing all Welsh peatlands into restoration management within 7 years.’ says Alun Davies AM Minister for Natural Resources and Food.

read more original article www.iucn.org

France unveils new agroforestry plans

Published Date : March 6, 2017

What is agroforestry?

Published Date : March 2, 2017

According to the Association for Temperate Agrofiorestry, “Agroforestry is a land management system that optimizes the benefits from the biological interactions created when trees and/or shrubs are deliberately combined with crops and/or livestock. There are five basic types of agroforestry practices today in the North America: windbreaks, alley cropping, silvopasture, riparian buffers and forest farming. Within each agroforestry practice, there is a continuum of options available to landowners depending on their own goals (e.g., whether to maximize the production of interplanted crops, animal forage, or trees).”

Five Basic types of Agroforestry practice

Alley cropping is growing food, forage or specialty crops between rows of trees.

Windbreaks are linear plantings of trees and shrubs designed to enhance crop production, protect people and livestock from wind, and benefit soil and water conservation.

Forest farming is the cultivation of edible, medicinal or decorative specialty crops beneath native or planted woodlands.

Riparian forest buffers are strips of trees, shrubs and grass planted between cropland or pasture and streams and rivers. Buffers protect water quality, reduce erosion and flooding.

Silvopasture is combining forestry and grazing of livestock in a mutually beneficial way.

Benefits of Agroforestry

According to the USDA, here are a few benefits of properly designed agroforestry systems:

• protect crops and forage
• increase crop production
• protect soil and water resources
• conserve energy
• improve ecosystem “richness”
• create additional wildlife habitat
• increase landscape diversity
• They also provide additional farm or ranch products: timber, pulpwood, firewood, posts, fruit, nuts, and fodder to name a few.
• Crops and livestock protected from damaging effects of wind are more productive

read more original article Natures Organic Haven

Extending the Forest Estate

Published Date : March 2, 2017

Agroforestry Program

Trees grown on farmland provide a range of benefits and values to landowners and the community.  Well planned tree plantings can increase farm profits by improving crop and animal growth and providing additional income from wood sales.  Trees on farms also provide environmental and social benefits that often extend beyond farm boundaries.  Private Forests Tasmania, in collaboration with CSIRO and the University of Tasmania, leads an Agroforestry program that will demonstrate the benefits of trees in Tasmanian agricultural landscapes. It is hoped that this will inspire private landowners to realise the benefits of Agroforestry.

Tasmania has an ideal climate and the skills base needed to sustainably grow trees commercially on farms. Trees can contribute to the traditional sawn timber and pulp wood markets, however the range of products derived from wood is now proliferating and many experts are predicting that the world is entering the ‘bio-economy’ era, with wood one of the more important feedstocks.

As well as engineered wood, a lot of the products and services we now get from fossil fuel are likely to be derived from renewable sources such as wood in the future.

We must continue to look ahead.  Trees are a long rotation crop and what we plant today is for an industry 15 to 30 years out from now.  Forestry can and should, therefore, remain an important part of Tasmania’s economy and the planting of commercial tree species on farms, carefully and sensitively integrated into the farms overall management plan (agroforestry), is one of the few remaining ways to significantly increase the State’s commercial forest resource.

As well as improving farm income through improved farm output and revenues for harvested wood, trees improve aesthetics and provide environmental outcomes.  The shelter provided by trees provides significant benefits for livestock and crops.  Unfortunately, the planting of commercial woodlots and shelterbelts by farmers is not currently a universal practice in Tasmania, notwithstanding these benefits.  Apart from a small and passionate group of farm forestry devotees, it is not a well-established ‘matter of course’ activity for Tasmanian farmers to plant shelter belts and blocks – in fact, many fail to recognise the opportunity trees represent mainly through lacking access to credible information and experience of the benefits.

Private Forests Tasmania now has a focus on clearly demonstrating the benefits and providing solid science based information to encourage more farmers to plant commercial trees in shelter belts and small blocks to add value to their farming business while creating future resource for industry.
The benefits of Agroforestry are well documented elsewhere.

read more original article www.pft.tas.gov.au

Irish grower group hails benefits of agroforestry

Published Date : March 2, 2017

read more original article Hortweek

Using Agroforestry to Save the Planet

Published Date : March 2, 2017

Agroforestry—the use of trees in farming—benefits both farmers and the environment.

According to a recent report by Biodiversity International, the Center for International Forestry Research, the World Agroforestry Centre, and Charles Sturt University, forests contribute to the livelihoods of more than 1.6 billion people. Yet, 30 percent of the world’s forests are used primarily for the production of wood products.

Agroforestry is defined as the integration of trees and shrubs into crop and animal farming systems. These practices can help landowners diversify products and create social, economic, and environmental benefits.

Trees and forests provide more than just food—they can enhance soils, protect biodiversity, preserve precious water supplies, and even help reduce the impacts of climate change.

According to the World Agroforestry Centre, agroforestry is uniquely suited to address the need to grow more food and biomass for fuel while sustainably managing agricultural landscapes for the critical ecosystem services they provide.

Agroforestry efforts in Niger, for example, have resulted in 200 million trees being planted on over 5 million hectares of farmland. This has impacted an estimated 2.5 million people by improving soil, increasing yields, and creating resilience against climate change.

This week, Food Tank is highlighting 16 organizations and projects that are using agroforestry principles to bring benefits to farmers, communities, and the environment.

The Bangor Forest Garden project, located in North West Wales, was created in 1998 to showcase forest gardening as an agroforestry solution to sustainable living. The volunteer-run project has become a popular demonstration site and an effective educational and research resource for Bangor University and the surrounding community.

The Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) addresses the problem of deforestation, which affects the livelihood of a quarter of the global population and endangers biodiversity. CIFOR works with communities in developing countries to help promote sustainability in the use and management of their forests.

Community Forests International started working in 2007 to help stop deforestation and improve food security on the island of Pemba, off the Tanzanian coast. Since then, Community Forests International has helped Pemban communities plant over one million trees, build agroforestry systems to provide fruit and timber, and restore forest ecosystems.

In 1984, Ernst Götsch, an agroecologist originally from Switzerland, settled on a farm in southern Bahia, Brazil. Using techniques that mimic the natural regeneration of forests, he has since restored over 450 hectares of land that were previously rendered unproductive due to years of intensive agricultural practices.

Inspired by Götsch’s principles, Fazenda da Toca is an organic, agroecological family farm in São Paulo, Brazil. Agroforestry techniques are applied throughout the farm, which covers the equivalent of 2,130 football fields. At the onsite educational center, Instituto Toca, students and community members learn about the farm’s agroecological techniques—which include planting corn with beans and apples with cherries to restore degraded soils, produce high yields, and eliminate the use of chemical pesticides.

For additional information on Ernst Götsch’s approach to agroforestry and for a closer look at Fazenda da Toca, we recommend Agenda Gotsch’s latest short film, Life in Syntropy.

In an effort to restore both local ecosystems and local economies, Green World Campaign works with grassroots partners throughout the tropics to turn degraded land green again. Their work, which centers around tree planting, has transformed communities in Kenya, Mexico, Ethiopia, India, and the Philippines.

Groundswell International is a bottom-up partnership of civil society organizations focused on agroecological farming practices such as agroforestry, crop rotation, and intercropping. Groundswell taps into the wisdom and expertise of farmers to create programs with lasting change throughout the Global South.

Hacienda Pinzacuá is a family farm in the Valle de Cauca region of Colombia using agroforestry techniques to keep their farm healthy and sustainable. Irene Montes Londoño, whose father started the farm, says the farm is “more competitive and less vulnerable to extreme weather events because the system allows soil to retain water for longer periods and has created a microclimate that protects soil from drought. We are resilient.”

In Morocco, the High Atlas Foundation has planted more than one million fruit-bearing trees, benefiting local communities. It is estimated that this project has helped as many as 50,000 Moroccans increase their incomes and improve food security through the sale of fruit trees.

La Bergerie de Villarceaux is an organic, experimental farm in northern France. Since 2011, Olivier Ranke and his team have planted hundreds of trees throughout the farmland. Their efforts mirror a larger land movement in France which, in recent years, has seen a resurgence in agroforestry practices. The farm also serves as a gathering spot for other organizations working toward sustainable development in the region.

An initiative of The International Center, The New Forests Project (NFP) supports community efforts in sustainable agriculture, reforestation, and natural resource preservation. Recognizing the numerous benefits of agroforestry—soil restoration, carbon sequestration, and increased farm productivity—the organization keeps the practice central to its work. Over the years, NFP has distributed tree seeds and provided technical assistance, education, and equipment to support reforestation efforts in 4,500 communities in over 120 countries.

The Sahelian Areas Development Fund Programme (FODESA), launched by the International Fund for Agricultural Development, created a parkland agroforestry initiative in partnership with the World Agroforestry Centre that grows native trees alongside staple food crops, such as millet and sorghum. The initiative promotes soil fertility and water conservation while increasing access to native tree species that provide food, medicine, fuel, and building materials to locals. FODESA has also established village nurseries that aim to cultivate more drought-resistant native species to address deforestation in Mali.

Timberland and the Smallholder Farmers Alliance made a pledge to plant five million trees in Haiti after the country was struck by a magnitude 7.0 earthquake in 2010, using a community-based agroforestry model. The model was designed to increase tree cover, soil quality, and crop yields while also offering participants educational training, business skills, and entrepreneurial opportunities for the long-term economic sustainability of the program. Margaret Morey-Reuner, Director of Strategic Partnerships at Timberland, said “once the farmers experienced success in the form of increased crop yields that led to increased income, they were able to afford things like school tuition for their children and animals for their farms.”

Trees for the Future has planted 128 million trees around the world since 1989. Through integrating farming, animals, people, and trees, the project has improved soil quality, increased crop yields, and boosted the standard of living for families in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Trees.org, an initiative of Trees for the Future, educates farmers on the importance of planting trees alongside food crops and provides technical assistance as families transition their land into productive “Forest Gardens.” They currently have 14 “Forest Garden Programs” underway in sub-Saharan Africa and planted more than four million trees on Earth Day 2016.

The World Agroforestry Centre, part of the CGIAR Consortium, works in Cameroon, China, India, Indonesia, Kenya, and Peru. The Centre helps smallholder farmers increase use of trees on their land in order to improve food security, nutrition, income, health, and environmental sustainability. Their research also includes working toward a more productive, diversified, integrated, and intensified agroforestry system that will benefit smallholder households.

With an emphasis on sustainable land management, Vi Agroforestry partners with smallholder farm families and farmer organizations in the Lake Victoria region of East Africa. Since its inception in 1983, the organization has planted over 100 million trees and thereby improved the livelihoods of 1.8 million people.

read more original article foodtank.com

Five Ways Agroforestry Can Grow Forest Products and Benefit Your Land, Your Pockets & Wildlife

Published Date : March 2, 2017

read more USDA

Immense benefits from agroforestry in rural Cameroon

Published Date : March 2, 2017

COMMERCIAL agriculture has received a major boost and the impact of climate change minimised in Cameroon thanks to the adoption of agro-forestry techniques by thousands of farmers.

The World Agroforestry Centre (formerly the known as the International Centre for Research in Agroforestry-Icraf), an organisation with a vision of rural transformation in the developing world, introduced agroforestry methods to rural farmers in the central African country some 20 years ago.

Also known as agro-sylviculture, it a land use management system in which trees or shrubs are grown around or among crops or pastureland. These techniques aim to ensure smallholder households increase their use of trees in agricultural landscapes to improve food security, nutrition, income, health, shelter, social cohesion, energy resources and environmental sustainability.

Two decades later, more than 100 000 farmers that have embraced the scheme across the country are reaping the benefits.

Among the beneficiaries is Emmanuel Kuh, a farmer in Kom village in Cameroon’s North West Region.

Some ten years ago, he was eking out a meagre living from gardening but his fortunes changed significantly with the introduction of agro-forestry.

I am now producing plums, mangoes, njangsa and bush mangoes. The adoption of agroforestry has increased my income tenfold,” said Kuh.

“I think that the option of integrating agroforestry into the farming system around the national territory is the only way out for farmers to sustain their livelihoods,” the farmer said.

Before the advent of agroforestry, traditional cash crop production meant that the opportunities offered by the development of value chains were lost.

Dr Zac Tchounjeu, the Coordinator of World Agroforestry Centre for Central Africa, explained the basic difference between cash crop production and agro-forestry practices.

“The cash crop farmer is not part of the value chain. Trees grown through agro-forestry are easily processed and therefore value is added,” said Tchounjeu.

While farmers are earning returns from fruiting trees, they have also been encouraged to plant perennial trees.

“Some of these trees take up to 300 years to mature. There is a need to bequeath to a future generation a world more environmentally stable. That is the way to go if we must win the battle against wanton deforestation,” said Tchounjeu.

Besides, planting trees on farms could give communities a lifeline.

“The farmer who plants bitter-kola or bush mangoes for instance will get income from these products, but the carbon market is being developed gradually, and I am sure that in a short while, experts would come and evaluate the quantity of carbon sequestered by their farm and the farmer would get additional income from the carbon market,” he explained.

“I do not see why a farmer should protect the forest just because people are talking about climate change,” said Tchounjeu.

“However, if you tell the farmer that by planting the improved material, they would diversify the source of his income and start harvesting within three years, then they would start listening to why this eco-system should be protected. Any living tree is a reservoir for absorbing carbon. The more you plant trees, the better you reduce the effects of climate change.”

Tchounjeu was speaking in Yaoundé to mark the inception of agroforestry in Cameroon.

He presented a report highlighting farmers could increase their incomes between 10 and 15 times their initial earnings if they engage in such farming.

The potential for climate change attenuation through agroforestry should be good news for participants at the recent 21st Conference of the Parties (COP21) summit in Paris, France.

The conference must result in an international climate agreement that should limit global warming to below 2°C.

In Cameroon, unstable rains, dwindling food supplies as well as floods and droughts have been identified as the most palpable examples of climate change.

Cameroon is a weak emitter of greenhouse gases, emitting only 40 000 tonnes carbon dioxide yearly. The emissions level is however expected to more than double to 100 000 tonnes by 2035.

The situation is blamed on the country’s planned transformational projects.

Government has pledged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 11 percent in line with the Intended Nationally Determined Commitments (INDC).

Tchounjeu believes adopting agro-forestry will assist government to obtain such results.

He dismissed arguments that taking firm commitments to cut greenhouse gas emissions would compromise economic growth.

“Agro-forestry will actually improve farmers’ yields while at the same stabilizing the climate,” said Tchounjeu.

read more original article http://allafrica.com/stories/201601181055.html

How drones are helping design the solar power plants of the future

Published Date : March 2, 2017

At the edge of a plot of muddy farmland, a few miles down the road from the University of California at Davis, an engineer takes a few quick steps across crop rows and lets go of a three-foot drone. Within seconds, the device – which weighs less than 2lbs and carries a powerful camera – ascends hundreds of feet into the cold, clear, blue sky and begins to snap detailed photos of the ground far below, including a long row of large solar panels mounted on steel poles.

This flight is just a test, demonstrated by Kingsley Chen, the drone fleet coordinator for SunPower at the solar company’s research and development center, which is under construction and about a two-hour drive northeast of the San Francisco Bay Area. The drone will enable SunPower to survey a wide region and help design a solar power farm that can fit more solar panels on a piece of land, more quickly and for lower costs than it previously could.

The test highlights a growing use of the latest computing technologies – drones, robots, software, sensors and networks – by US companies to design, build and operate solar farms. After seeing the prices of solar panels drop dramatically over the past decade, companies are looking for new ways to cut costs and compete with fossil fuel power through project design.

Cutting down the amount of land used by solar farms has additional benefits, particularly in places like California. It minimizes environmental impact, an issue that can be controversial for large projects built for utilities because they tend to spread across hundreds of acres of land in remote regions. Some of these projects have riled environmentalists, attracted lawsuits and forced solar companies, including SunPower, to commit money for land for wildlifeconservation.

“Solar companies and service providers are using many different types of technology to optimize both the deployment of solar and the operations and maintenance of solar,” says Justin Baca, the vice president of markets and research for the solar group Solar Energy Industries Association. He adds: “It’s all about cutting costs.”

An increase in tech investment could help to boost growth as more large solar and wind farms come online in the US and worldwide over the next few decades. The US Energy Information Administration predicts that more solar power plants will be built and provide 1.4% of the country’s electricity by 2018, up from less than 1% in 2016. While solar makes up a tiny portion, it’s among the fastest-growing sources of new electricity generation capacity in the country.

Solar Tetris

On a screen is a detailed image of land that one of SunPower’s 10 survey drones has collected from the sky. Overlaid on the photos are Tetris-looking colored blocks that represent solar panels and inverters, which convert the direct current produced by the panels into electricity for the grid. A SunPower engineer can use the software to fit as many of the blocks as possible while laying out the configuration of a power plant.

The company designed its algorithms to take into account hundreds of factors that a human engineer might overlook, such as where transmission lines will be or how much shade will be created by the panels as they follow the sun throughout the day.

A decade ago, a survey of a project site would require dispatching a crew to gather information such as the steepness of a slope and the vegetation of the region, explains SunPower’s CEO and president Tom Werner. In contrast, using the software and drones enables engineers to design a project 90% faster, he adds.

SunPower, a solar panel maker and solar farm developer in the US, is creating most of the technology it uses for project design. Meanwhile, a cottage industry is growing around creating technology for other solar power developers to design, build and operate solar farms.

One of these is HST Solar, a four-and-a-half-year-old startup in Los Angeles that, like SunPower, has developed algorithms to swiftly plot out the best designs, layout and wiring for large solar farms. Using HST Solar’s artificial intelligence software, launched last year, companies can lower the costs of producing solar electricity by 30%, says Santanov Chaudhuri, co-founder of the company.

So far, Chaudhuri says that customers have used the company’s software to design about 4 gigawatts of solar projects, which is about the amount of solar panel projects that are installed across the US in a single quarter.

It isn’t just the sprawling solar farms that are benefiting from software and design tools. An Oakland, California, startup called PVComplete builds software for designing solar panel projects on rooftops. The software enables any engineer to design a system using a range of solar equipment, while also taking into consideration different local requirements, such as weather, for installing them.

Claudia Eyzaquirre, who has worked in the renewable energy business for a decade, co-founded PVComplete in 2015 after noticing that all of the major solar companies were spending big money to build their own design software. But few options were available to smaller solar companies that didn’t have the money to do the same.

Solar companies are also turning to the latest in computing technology to operate and maintain solar farms, not just design them. In 2013, SunPower bought a startup called Greenbotics, which developed a robot that lowers the cost of cleaning solar panels while using less water than human washers can do. The Greenbotics team now works on engineering projects at SunPower and manages SunPower’s fleet of 40 solar-panel cleaning robots.

Solar developer Strata Solar uses drones with infrared cameras to survey the more than 1 gigawatt of solar projects after they’re operating. The images from the cameras can reveal any solar panels that aren’t producing electricity.

“It’s a great way to check on the overall health of the systems,” says Gabe Cantor, Strata Solar’s director of design engineering. “You can spot problems down to the cell level.”

Drones – who needs them?

While drones are playing an increasing role in the solar industry, many companies aren’t convinced that they are cost effective, notes a report by The Electric Power Research Institute, which conducts research for the power industry.

The technology being used by some in the solar industry isn’t as “sexy” as drones, says Jenny Chase, head of the solar research at Bloomberg New Energy Finance. A lot of it is “boring tech – like software”.

First Solar, one of the largest power plant developers in the country, has experimented with drones for designing power plants and thermal imaging of operating solar farms. But it isn’t rolling them out for company-wide use right now.

First Solar’s manager of business development, Jeremy Rand, says drones and robots aren’t sophisticated enough or affordable: “A lot of these technologies are in the experimentation phase and not quite there yet.”

The falling prices for solar panels also make it difficult to justify an investment in emerging and more expensive technology, Rand adds. Both First Solar, and fellow manufacturer SunPower, saw their stock prices fall last year and now plan to cut thousands of jobs.

“With the solar module price collapse, it’s a tough time to be truly inventive,” Rand says.

But overall, the solar industry is investing in better technology because it has a long way to go to replace fossil fuels. The US solar energy industry is also facing an elimination of the tax subsidies that have historically been important for growth. At the same time, President Trump hasn’t made it clear on his policy for solar energy.

“Technologies like (ours) can ultimately make solar independent without tax credits, and without subsidies, and much sooner than people think,” HST Solar’s Chaudhuri says.

read more original article The Guardian

The future of food: how dry farming could save the world

Published Date : March 2, 2017

You’ve heard the line: water, it’s everywhere, not a drop to drink. Only 3 percent of the world’s water is fresh, 75 percent of which is stored in glaciers. Much of the drops accessible for drinking are often diverted to the roots of thirsty plants. Currently, more than two-thirds of available potable water is used for agriculture, yet the global demand for water is soaring. In a water-scarce world, innovative growers are incorporating modern and ancient methods of dry farming into their practices to conserve water and provide healthy food to a growing population.

According to the United Nations, up to two-thirds of the world population, which will rise to nearly 10 billion, may suffer from water scarcity by 2025. This makes the adoption of less water intensive farming techniques all the more urgent. In urban areas, where the vast majority of people live, some growers have switched to a soil-free growing system in which plants are watered via mist rather then traditional irrigation. This can result in water savings of up to 95 percent.

However, dry farming also has its roots in more holistic, historic practices of cultivating plants directly in the ground. In-ground dry farming involves the preparation of soil to retain as much moisture as possible, through mulching, ground cover plants, and other practices. Dry farms also benefit from geographic features such as mountains and hills, at the bottom of which runoff water accumulates.

Dry farming has proven to be particularly suited for vineyards. “In France irrigation is forbidden — you cannot irrigate grape vines,” says Tod Mostero, viticulturist at Dominus Estate in California’s Napa Valley. “There’s a reason for that. It makes sense that you plant crops where they belong, and not in places where they don’t.” While dry farming serves a practical and environmental purpose, this practice also enhances the final product. “We don’t believe you can make a wine that has true character, or at least the character of your vineyard, unless it’s dry farmed. Because only if it’s dry farmed will it have that connection with the soil.”

Another form of dry farming that is more applicable over a variety of climates is known as partial root drying. Designed by University of Lancaster professor and crop scientist Bill Davies, this method involves splitting a plant’s roots into two sections, which are alternatively watered while the other remains dry. This process is particularly adept for rice growing. “Rice uses a ridiculous amount of water,” says Davies. “Probably about a third of fresh water on the planet. We have to grow rice with less water… As the climate changes, it’s getting hotter and drier in many food-growing areas. Our systems have to change. Farming has to respond now.”

read more original article Inhabitat

Agroforestry and Its Benefits

Published Date : March 1, 2017

Scientifically speaking, agroforestry is derived from ecology and is one of the three principal land-use sciences, the other two being agriculture and forestry. Agroforestry differs from the latter two principals by placing an emphasis on integration of and interactions among a combination of elements rather than just focussing on each element individually.

Agroforestry has a lot in common with intercropping (the practice of planting two or more crops on the same plot) with both practices placing an emphasis on interaction between different plant species. Generally speaking, both agrofrestry and intercropping can result in higher overall yields and reduced operational costs.

 

The Benefits of Agroforestry

Over the past two decades, a number of studies have been carried out analysing the viability of agroforestry. The combined research has highlighted that agroforestry can reap substantial benefits both economically and environmentally, producing more output and proving to be more sustainable than forestry or agricultural monocultures. Agroforestry systems have already been adopted in many parts of the world.

According to the Agroforestry Research Trust, agroforestry systems can include the following benefits:

1. They can control runoff and soil erosion, thereby reducing losses of water, soil material, organic matter and nutrients.
2. They can maintain soil organic matter and biological activity at levels satisfactory for soil fertility. This depends on an adequate proportion of trees in the system- normally at least 20% crown cover of trees to maintain organic matter over systems as a whole.
3. They can maintain more favourable soil physical properties than agriculture, through organic matter maintenance and the effects of tree roots.
4. They can lead to more closed nutrient cycling than agriculture and hence to more efficient use of nutrients. This is true to an impressive degree for forest garden/farming systems.
5. They can check the development of soil toxicities, or reduce exiting toxicities-both soil acidification and salinization can be checked and trees can be employed in the reclamation of polluted soils.
6. They utilize solar energy more efficiently than monocultural systems different height plants, leaf shapes and alignments all contribute.
7. They can lead to reduced insect pests and associated diseases.
8. They can be employed to reclaim eroded and degraded land.
9. Agro forestry can augment soil water availability to land use systems. In dry regions, though, competition between trees and crops is a major problem.
10. Nitrogen-fixing trees and shrubs can substantially increase nitrogen inputs to agro forestry systems.
11. Trees can probably increase nutrient inputs to agro forestry systems by retrieval from lower soil horizons and weathering rock.
12. The decomposition of tree and pruning can substantially contribute to maintenance of soil fertility. The addition of high-quality tree prunings leads to large increase in crop yields.
13. The release of nutrients from the decomposition of tree residues can be synchronized with the requirements for nutrient uptake of associated crops. While different trees and crops will all have different requirement, and there will always be some imbalance, the addition of high quality prunings to the soil at the time of crop planting usually leads to a good degree of synchrony between nutrient release and demand.
14. In the maintenance of soil fertility under agro forestry, the role of roots is at least as important as that of above-ground biomass.
15. Agro forestry can provide a more diverse farm economy and stimulate the whole rural economy, leading to more stable farms and communities. Economics risks are reduced when systems produce multiple products.

As well as building on practices used in forestry and agriculture, agroforestry also works towards land protection and conservation through more effective protection of stock, control of soil erosion, salinity and water tables and a higher quality control of timber.

A denser, more-dependable tree covering can provide shelter to livestock during the warmer months allowing the animals can conserve energy. That same tree covering helps block out wind, helping to boost water retention levels that can help produce a more robust crop yield.

According to the Central Queensland Forest Association (based in rainforest-rich Northern Australia), agroforestry can improve land protection in the following areas:

Salinity and water table control:

Salinity is mainly caused by rising water tables. Trees help to lower water tables, acting as pumps to take up water from the soil and then evaporating it to the atmosphere.

Soil erosion control:

Soil erosion or loss results from the action of wind and water on unprotected soils. The forest canopy, roots and leaf litter all have a role in controlling soil erosion.

Water logging:

Through water removal, established trees can substantially reduce water logging in their immediate area, which may result in improved land uses, e.g. pasture or crop.

Agroforestry can have immense benefits for the environment and the farmer (a detailed breakdown of agroforestry’s main benefits can be found on AgriInfo’s site). For farmers, the ability to maintain some sort of control over land and production in the face of climate change means agrofrestry could hold huge promise for the agricultural sector.

On an environmental level, agroforestry’s ability to help prevent soil erosion while simultaneously aiding water retention and promoting soil fertility could help provide a solution for areas where rainfal is irregular or might become irregular due to climate change while dense plantations of trees would also help absorb CO2 and regulate local temperature.

This artilce has been compiled by Mr. Amrit Singh Karki. He is a current stuent of M.Sc in Sustainable resource Management at Technical Univeristy of Munich.

read more original article en.reset.org

Sustainable Pasture Management in Kyrgyzstan

Published Date : March 1, 2017

During the months of June and July, we packed our backpacks, grabbed our sleeping bags, and headed for the pastures—the high mountain pastures of Arslanbob!

We spent much of the summer traveling around Kyrgyzstan with the environmental NGO CAMP Alatoo to grab footage and do interviews (check out our previous post for more info). We’re making seven informational videos about CAMP Alatoo’s key activity areas, and Sustainable Pasture Management was our first one.

We were in good company, joined by CAMP Alatoo’s Pasture Specialist Zhyrgal Kozhomberdiev and other pasture specialists and employees of the State Forestry Service. And of course, CAMP Alatoo’s beloved driver, Uncle Sasha!

Why are pastures important in Kyrgyzstan?

Pastures are the most vital natural resource for Kyrgyzstan. The country is over 90% mountains and agriculture is only possible on about 5-7% of the land; about 80% of this agricultural land is classified as pastures. Moreover, about 64% of Kyrgyzstan’s population relies on livestock for their primary source of income, and pastures are the basis for livestock breeding. Not surprising, proper management of pastures is a big concern for the country.

Historically, the Kyrgyz people adapted their lifestyle to the country’s extremely mountainous terrain, moving to altitudes that are most suitable for grazing at different times of the year. In the winter they stayed in encampments or villages at lower altitudes where there was little snow cover. In the spring they moved their livestock to medium altitudes, and in the summer they arrived in the high mountain pastures. After four to five months in the summer pastures, they spent the autumn season returning to their encampments or villages at the lower altitudes.

The traditional practice of mainly nomadic or semi-nomadic pasture grazing came to end in the Soviet era, during which a more intensive production of livestock developed. This new system led to pasture degradation due to overgrazing. Additional reasons emerged following independence that led to further pasture degradation. The whole system of pasture mobility in Kyrgyzstan became unstable because distant pasture areas were no longer used—the bridges that gave access to distant pastures fell into disrepair—and this led to heavy overconcentration of cattle around low elevation settlements and, consequently, overgrazing and degradation. Over time it became apparent that local populations either have no adequate knowledge about proper approaches to sustainable pasture management systems, or their socio-economic status forces them to use this natural resource unsustainably. Check out this article if you’re curious to learn more about the traditional Kyrgyz method of pasture use.

Are pastures being used sustainably in Kyrgyzstan?

The short answer is, not really—but things are improving. Accessible pastures at low and medium altitudes are overused and degraded, and distant pastures that are no longer accessible due to damaged infrastructure are very healthy (but no one can get to them). This is where CAMP Alatoo comes in. One of Central Asia’s leaders in sustainable natural resource management, they are helping to develop and introduce the practice of participatory pasture management. We joined them on one of their pasture monitoring trips to the Arslanbob walnut forest in southern Kyrgyzstan. Some of the distant pastures were up to 80 km away and only accessible on horseback. We planned to camp in the pastures every night, but it was still too cold and we encountered a lot of rain, so we stayed with a family based in the town of Arslanbob and visited the pastures during the day. The weather in the mountains could change in an instant: one moment it was hot and sunny, and the next moment clouds would roll over the mountains and we’d have to seek shelter from heavy rain. The days were long and our legs were sore, but the beautiful scenery was worth it. And we learned one very useful thing on this trip: when you’re in the mountains in Kyrgyzstan, nothing beats a lunch of lepyoshka paired with tomatoes, cucumbers, and green onions!

read more original article

Grazing along

Published Date : March 1, 2017

Written by Paula Combs, PEC

Published: 06 June 2016

Good Grazing Makes for Healthy Pastures, People, and Planet

Published Date : March 1, 2017

In her new book, The Art of Science and Grazing, nationally known grazing consultant Sarah Flack identifies the key principles and practices necessary for farmers to design, and manage, successful grazing systems.

This book is an essential guide for ruminant farmers who want to crate grazing systems that meet the needs of their livestock, pasture plants, soils, and the larger ecosystem – especially as it pertains to making agriculture a solution in the fight against climate change. Below is an excerpt from her book, which outlines the benefits of good pasture management.

Have you noticed that some pastures seem to run out during the grazing season so that cows have to be fed more in the barn? Have you ever wondered why some pastures become weedy, stay short, or are full of plants the animals won’t eat? Many of these problems are caused by poorly designed grazing systems, or they result from damage to pasture plants and soils caused by poor management.

When done well, grazing management can improve animal well-being, ecological health, and the financial sustainability of the farm. An effectively designed and managed grass-based livestock operation requires that the farmer understand the basic principles of grazing management and ecology. It also requires an understanding of what pasture plants and livestock need, and how to put that information together with the right infrastructure. This knowledge makes it possible for the farmer to choose which type of grazing system best fits the farm and family goals, and customize it so that the system is practical and works well.

The pasture ecosystem includes many interrelated parts including plants, soils, animals, local weather, and the farmer. (Yes, humans are part of the ecosystem!) Many factors affect the types of plants in a pasture and how vigorously they grow. Such factors can include how animals are being used to harvest the plants and how well manure is being distributed, as well as the impact of hooves, the weather, and the past and current management of soil fertility and health. Grazing systems that are designed and managed with an understanding of these factors create many benefits. However, poorly designed and managed pastures can lead to many problems, including negative impacts on the ecosystem.

For beginner farmers or those new to grass-based livestock farming, the number of suggestions on the “best way” to improve soil fertility, forage quality, and pasture production can be overwhelming. This is particularly challenging for farmers who have not yet learned the fundamental principles of good grazing management. Without a solid understanding of the basic guidelines of how to set up and manage a pasture system, itís easy to get sidetracked by the latest fads and spend money on unnecessary or impractical infrastructure and inputs. This can result in a system that doesnít meet your quality-of-life goals or the financial needs of the farm, and it can jeopardize the productivity and welfare of the livestock.

To be a good grass farmer, you need technical and scientific knowledge of grazing management and animal husbandry, plus the observation and monitoring skills to see subtle changes over time in livestock, soils, and pasture plants. With this knowledge, farmers have found diverse creative ways to apply good grazing principles to many types of land bases with different types of livestock.

How Grazing Improves Pasture

When done correctly, livestock grazing can create many benefits for the environment, plants, soils, animals, and farm income. Good grazing management can cause the mix of plant species in a pasture to change even without tillage and reseeding, simply as a result of animal impact. When animals spend time in a pasture, they do more than just eat. They trample weeds and dead plants into the soil, which adds organic matter and can improve soil biological activity. They choose certain plants to eat, and they spread their own manure. In just a few years, this combination of activities can convert weedy brushy pastures, where animals have to search to find good quality forage, into highly productive pastures capable of supporting more animals and providing a higher quality of forage. As pastures improve, plant density and diversity increase, which protects soils from erosion and compaction. In addition to the visible above ground improvement, there is also increased plant root growth and better cycling of nutrients through the soil so they are more available to plants and other soil life.

Well-managed pasture provides low-cost, high-quality feed. This is particularly helpful for farmers who must deal with rising costs of purchased feed, combined with the expense of harvest and storage of forages. With good pasture management, most sheep and beef farms should be able to completely eliminate feeding grain or stored forages during the grazing season. For some dairy farms, it may be possible to significantly reduce or, in some cases, completely eliminate grain feeding. However, at the time of this writing it is probably still more profitable for most dairy farms to supplement pasture with grain, due to the current cost of grain and pay price for milk. (See chapter 11 for more detail on 100 percent grass feeding.)

In addition to lower costs due to reduced supplemental feed purchases, there are also fewer labor and input costs because the livestock harvest their own feed, which reduces or eliminates the need for mechanical harvest, storage, and feeding. There will still be some expense when starting a grazing system, because fencing and some investment in seed and soil fertility may be needed. Still, the benefits of a well-managed system will generally cover the costs!

When pastures are designed and managed well, there will be a better seasonal availability of high-quality pasture. This can allow grazing to start earlier and run later into the fall or winter. This lowers the expense of purchased fuel, labor, and equipment repairs. For example, a small beef herd with just 20 head can consume 8 to 10 round bales a week. At $40 per bale, the farmer can save as much as $400 for each week the grazing season is extended into the fall. This savings can be reinvested in more fence, seed, or fertility inputs. Or it can go into the vacation savings account!

Benefits to Livestock and Humans

Good grazing management can improve livestock health due to better nutrition, lower stress, and greater opportunity for natural herd or flock behavior. This can reduce cull rates, produce longer-lived animals, lower vet bills, and make it possible to earn additional income from sales of livestock. Cattle on pasture also spread their own manure and mow the weeds.

When their diet is mostly or entirely from pasture, animals produce meat and milk with different amounts and types of nutrients than what grain-fed livestock produce. The nutrients that appear in higher amounts in grassfed meat and milk include carotenoids, vitamin E, omega-3 fatty acids, conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), and other nutrients.

Research on the human benefits of increasing dietary CLA intake indicates that doing so may lower the risk of cancer and heart disease. Research also shows that increasing omega-3 fatty acids in relation to omega-6 fatty acids may reduce the risk of cancer, obesity, diabetes, and other illnesses.1 Grassfed products are also higher in healthy antioxidants, including vitamin E and carotenoids such as lutein, zeaxanthin, and beta-carotene.

read more original article www.chelseagreen.com

Amazing Grazing

Published Date : March 1, 2017

Amazing Grazing is a pasture-based livestock educational initiative that began at CEFS’ Field Research and Outreach Facility at Cherry Farm in Goldsboro and has developed into a statewide program.

How 'more food per field' could help save our wild spaces

Published Date : March 1, 2017

While this may sound like good news for nature, conservation scientists warn that, without the right policies, higher farm yields could be used to maximise short-term profits and stimulate greater demand, resulting in less wilderness and more unnecessary consumption and waste.

Now, leading conservationists writing in the journal Science are calling on policymakers to harness the potential of higher-yield farming to spare land for conservation, instead of solely producing more food and profit. By minimising the footprint of farming in this way, vital land could be spared for maintaining and restoring the rapidly dwindling natural world.

The authors describe a series of “land-sparing mechanisms” that link yield increases with habitat protection, such as land-use zoning and smart subsidy schemes, along with real-world examples that show how they can work – from India to Latin America.

They write that replicating these mechanisms elsewhere depends on “the political will to deliver strong environmental governance”.

“Reconciling agriculture and conservation is one of this century’s greatest challenges,” said Dr Ben Phalan from Cambridge University’s Department of Zoology.

“To help meet that challenge, we need to move on from thinking about higher yields simply as a means to produce more food, and to use them to free up land for conserving biodiversity and ecosystem services,” said Phalan, who authored the policy paper with colleagues from Cambridge, the RSPB and Brazil.

Previous research from Cambridge and elsewhere has shown sparing land for nature by producing more food per field is the “least worst option” for both biodiversity and greenhouse gas emissions, says co-author Andrew Balmford, Cambridge professor of conservation science.

“Sparing tracts of land as natural habitat is much better for the vast majority of species than a halfway house of lower-yielding but ‘wildlife-friendly’ farming, and we have recently shown that in the UK land spared through high-yield farming could even sequester enough greenhouse gases to mitigate the UK’s agricultural emissions*,” said Balmford.

However, Phalan says that policies to encourage higher farm yields need to avoid the ‘rebound effect’. First identified by William Jevons in 1865 – when he noticed more efficient engines increased rather than reduced coal use, as engines were put into more widespread use – the rebound effect for higher yields could see food prices drop, encouraging greater consumption, more food waste and even more conversion of habitats to farmland.

Higher yields may also increase the cost of conservation if they allow farmers to earn more per field. “If a hectare of farmland is producing higher profits, farmers will charge more to give it up for conservation,” said Phalan. He says that conservation efforts can be undermined by unintended consequences. “Halting agricultural intensification or expansion in one area may just shift pressure to farm in others. Increasing farm yields can help counter this ‘leakage’.”

The land-sparing approaches advocated by the researchers are designed to address both rebound effects and leakage. Examples from around the world show how these approaches can work, although researchers caution that further work is needed to improve and test each of them.

Designating “land-use zones” for both conservation and farming would safeguard habitats, while incentivising higher yields to compensate for limits on the extent of farmland. Researchers say that restrictions should target export commodities rather than staple foods.

In Costa Rica, for example, the clearance rate of mature forests halved after the government zoned forests as off-limits for agricultural expansion. Food production for export shifted from cattle farming toward high-yielding pineapple and banana crops.

Economic incentives can be tailored to increase yields and prevent destruction of wildlife, with payments conditional on conservation. Himalayan herders are rewarded for setting aside pastures for wild sheep – a food source for snow leopards – and insuring against loss of their livestock. This has dramatically improved yields and eliminated killing of the endangered cats for livestock protection.

To encourage land sparing in developing countries, help with enhancing yields should focus on smallholder farmers growing staple crops. Researchers say that technical advice on water management and multiple cropping should be balanced with advice on reducing any side-effects: by using natural pest control and other agro-ecological methods, for example, instead of pesticides.

Policies and practices to minimise pollution are essential. “If yields are increased using large quantities of fertilisers and pesticides, they can pollute the air and rivers. It is even possible that the effects of this pollution could cancel out the benefits of sparing natural habitats,” said Phalan.

Improved farming practices can have a knock-on economic as well as environmental impact. In the Philippines, introducing irrigation helped lowland rice farmers produce two crops per year rather than one. The higher labour demands were met by employing upland farmers, who invested their new income in fertiliser, boosting their own yields and reducing farmland expansion.

Deforestation rates in the uplands halved, while larger and poorer households were those most likely to benefit.

Combinations of these mechanisms and more will make saving land from agriculture and sparing it for nature more likely, write the researchers. They point to Brazil as an example of multiple policy interventions working together:

“Zoning of protected areas and forest conservation on private land, combined with subsidising farmers to increase yields on degraded pastures rather than create new ones, has seen deforestation of the Brazilian Amazon decline steeply since 2004 – although it’s too early to say if this success will be sustained,” said co-author Dr Bernardo Strassburg of Brazil’s International Institute for Sustainability.

Phalan says that, while these examples show land sparing can be achieved, making sure that higher-yield farming benefits nature at scales that matter will require commitment from senior levels of government.

“Making space for nature is largely a question of societal and political priorities,” said Phalan. “The challenge is less whether it’s possible to reconcile farming and conservation, than whether those with power are willing to make it a priority.”

*A study published in Nature Climate Change earlier this month suggests that if the UK increased farm yields in line with what experts believe is possible, and turned spared land into forest and wetland, the resulting carbon ‘sink’ could balance out the nation’s agricultural emissions by 2050 – in line with government targets.

read more original article phys.org

Restoration Ecology

Published Date : March 1, 2017

Restoration ecology is the art and science of restoring and repairing damaged or destroyed ecosystems. With the worldwide destruction of rain forests, wetlands, old growth forests, prairies, streams, lakes, rivers, and oceans, restoration ecologists make a real difference in the world.

Training in restoration ecology gives students an opportunity to prove themselves, and in the process, become accustomed to working in a career situation that demands application of special academic skills. Students graduate with a global perspective on ecological restoration and are well-prepared for a wide variety of career options in the field.

The restoration ecology program at Defiance College is unique among undergraduate programs in the United States. This program began in the 1990’s, and is one of less than 50 restoration ecology degree programs offered in the United States and Canada and the only one at a small, liberal arts college.

The Society for Ecological Restoration recognizes Defiance College’s restoration ecology program on its website.

200 internship hours are required in the restoration ecology degree to gain practical field experience. Normally, an internship is completed between the junior and senior year. Students have done internships with Industrial Fluid Management, Nature’s Nursery, Naturally Native Nursery, and the Upper Maumee Watershed Partnership. Additionally, there is one internship each year at the Thoreau Wildlife Sanctuary supported by the Diehl Family Foundation.

Benefits of the Program

Through the restoration ecology program, students have had opportunities to travel to places such as Yellowstone National Park, the Tetons in Wyoming, as well as the rain forests of Belize and Australia.

For students interested in extracurricular involvement in their field, the Ecology Club was established to promote ecological restoration, develop and restore small ecosystems, and increase environmental awareness. By connecting with nature through positive learning experiences, the club goal is to benefit humankind, the local environment, and wildlife in the Defiance community. The organization is open to any student with an interest in environmental issues and the outdoors.

Thoreau Wildlife Sanctuary

Defiance College, in partnership with the Diehl Family Foundation, established the Thoreau Wildlife Sanctuary in 1989. More than 200 acres of farmland were converted to prairie, meadow, deciduous forest, wetland, and white pine forest habitats. Management of these habitats is ongoing and has been integral to the development of the restoration ecology major at Defiance College.

Students gain critical fieldwork experience at the Thoreau Wildlife Sanctuary where they have planted more than 40,000 trees in addition to herbaceous terrestrial and wetland plants. Students have also conducted research involving prairie burns, the reintroduction of bobwhite quail and ring-necked pheasants, and distributions of amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals. Current projects range from control of invasive terrestrial plants to effects of cropland on water quality.

read more original article www.defiance.edu

Soil Microbe Transplants Could Help Restore Damaged Ecosystems

Published Date : March 1, 2017

read more original article www.popsci.com

A Park That Makes Room for Wildlife, Farms, and Cities

Published Date : March 1, 2017

Canada’s Rouge National Urban Park embraces a diversity of landscapes

A valley with 10,000 years of human history is evolving into Canada’s first national urban park, with urban being the operative word. Rouge National Urban Park (RNUP), which was established in 2015 and spans 79 square kilometers — 22 times the size of New York’s Central Park — is spreading its roots in Canada’s largest and most culturally diverse metropolitan area, the Greater Toronto Area, making it one of the largest urban parks in the world.

The park includes a wide diversity of landscapes, including land in Toronto, Markham, and Pickering, and some 75 working farms. Twenty percent of Canadians live within an hour’s drive from the park.

Environmentalists had been pushing for the establishment of the park for decades in order to protect the Rouge River Valley ecosystem, which lies within Canada’s endangered Carolinian Life Zone and is home to fragile forest and wetland areas, and more than 1,700 species of plants and animals. The river and valley ecosystem, which is encircled by more than 100 square kilometers of publicly owned Greenbelt lands, lies right next to one of Canada’s most-urbanized areas.

photo by Michael SwanRNUP is Canada’s first urban national park.

Human presence in this ecosystem dates back tens of thousands of years, beginning with aboriginal hunters and farmers, explorers, traders, surveyors, and finally European settlers. More than 1,360 archaeological and heritage sites located within the watershed as well as historical accounts reveal the watershed area is rich in heritage value.

The rich environmental and cultural significance of Rouge Valley made it a prime candidate for protection. But due to its unique make-up, the process of establishing the park has been tricky and has, in some instances, pit environmentalists against farmers.

To accommodate a variety of land uses, Parks Canada, the country’s national parks agency, has recognized three distinct areas within the park – park areas, agricultural areas, and infrastructure and built assets – and uses a different management approach for each.

Many in the environmental community have raised concerns about the level of ecological protections in the Rouge, pointing out that environmental protections in the urban park are weaker than in other Canadian national parks, and that as a result, RNUP fails to meet the international definition of a protected area.

In June this year, however, the Canadian government proposed amendments to the Rouge National Urban Park Act to address these issues. If passed, conservation will be prioritized within the park, and the park boundaries expanded by another 17 square kilometers. Working farms, however, will be permitted to continue operations.

Environmental groups have applauded this decision. “This is huge,” Janet Sumner, executive director for CPAWS Wildlands League, said in a statement. “Nature will come first.”

Farmers, who have been concerned about restoration efforts associated with the park, also seem content with the amendments, which provides for longer, 30-year land leases.

Eighty-two-year-old farmer George Reesor was born and raised in what is now the Park area. “My ancestors arrived from Pennsylvania in 1804 to buy and settle 25 lots,” or roughly 1200 acres, Reesor said. “I farmed the land for 30 years.” His son Dale continues to farm there and raise his family of seven.

The last decade in the Rouge has been difficult for Dale and other farmers like him. The land they owned was expropriated in the 1970s for an airport that is yet to be built. Local families who were forced to sell their land for the project have been leasing their property back from the government ever since. But with five-year leases that could be terminated with a year’s notice, it became hard for farmers to make longterm agricultural plans. Proposals to reforest parts of the park also seemed to threaten agriculture in the region.

“[Previously,] there was no representation from agriculture on the Rouge Park Alliance, which was the governing body. And therefore, the entire focus was on reforestation and habitat restoration,” said Dale Reesor, who lost his best land, roughly 150 acres, to reforestation efforts a few years ago. “It was Class 1 agricultural land,” the most fertile type, he added. “The biggest threat was having people wanting to plant trees on my fields. I lost 20 percent of the land I farmed on but there was nothing I could do.”

His father George Reesor doesn’t mince words. He loves the park but also his family farmland. “The planting of trees is commendable if they are planted on marginal land. Dale has been impacted by the planting of trees on some of his most productive farmland,” he said.

All that changed when the RNUP was formally established in May last year, with agriculture as one of its four major pillars of conservation. “Parks Canada has been collaborating with park farmers to reconfigure and replant hedgerows with native trees, improve agricultural access to roads and crossings, control problematic invasive species like Manitoba Maple and Buckthorn, and promote the presence of beneficial wildlife – pollinators, birds, snakes,” said Veinotte, part of the compromise between environmental groups and farmers in the region. “Parks Canada is also working with farmers to examine the potential for channel redesign and regrades to improve both stream health and agricultural drainage throughout the park.”

By roping in farmers to be a part of the consultation and planning, the RNUP has adopted a democratic approach. Mike Whittamore, a sixth generation farmer who grows strawberries, raspberries and 15 different vegetables, runs a “pick your own” business smack in the middle of the Rouge. Like the Reesors, he faced a difficult few decades when his land was expropriated and he had to rent it back from the government. With the new plan for the RNUP, Mike is excited about the future. He believes the park is an initiative ahead of its time.

“I was thrilled to know that the government is working to give us a 30-year lease,” he said. “In the 35 years that I have farmed, this is the best outcome I could have hoped for. We can now do the long-range planning that sustainable farming is based upon. Agriculture is now going to be part of the solution to achieve ecological integrity of the land.”

Whittamore believes that a park with farms lining the urban landscape presents a robust plan for educating people about farmland ecosystems. “In an urban population, most people don’t know where their food comes from and how it is produced. The new national urban park will address some of these concerns with its accessibility,” he explained.

It is estimated that more than 75 percent of the current Rouge Park landscape has been altered or disturbed in some way, whether by farming or industrialization. With that in mind, Parks Canada is also working hard to restore native landscapes. “Restoring the Rouge’s native ecosystems is our prime concern,” said Veinotte. “Parks Canada has already begun working on restoration projects with municipalities, environmental groups and local farmers by reintroducing endangered turtles, making it easier for wildlife to cross park roads, and enhancing the health of agricultural wetlands.”

Restoration efforts are well under way. Four new wetlands, seven re-naturalized areas, 21 baby Blanding’s turtles and 3,000 native trees and shrubs all took home in the Rouge within the last year with the help of volunteers, school students, teachers, First Nations representatives, as well as community organizations and conservation groups.

Larry Noonan, who grew up right beside the Rouge Valley, is a champion of the RNUP and calls himself its “unofficial historian.” The former environmental studies teacher has led numerous hikes along trails in the Rouge and studied archaeological sites, gathering vast knowledge of the park. “There has been a very high concentration of native participation in the formation of the national park and I hope that Parks Canada will continue to confer with them as time progresses,” said Noonan. “Right from history and archaeology to the early settlers’ stories, there is a lot to be unearthed at Rouge National Urban Park.”

With a $15 million investment announced in July 2015 by the Canadian government, the RNUP is slated to become the nation’s best protected park. “For the first time in the Rouge’s history, dedicated park wardens will have a year-round presence in the park to enforce laws and stop poaching, dumping, pollution and other harmful activities,” said Veinotte. “Early efforts in 2015 included the initiation of 15 conservation and restoration projects. More than 20,000 Canadians are involved in the planning for RNUP, making this one of the largest public engagement programs in Parks Canada’s 105-year history,”

It might well be one of the smartest too. As Whittamore pointed out, “The impact of RNUP is going to be very positive. A hundred years from now, people will look back and commend the foresight possessed by their ancestors.”

read more original article www.earthisland.org

Trees can help UK farming cut emissions

Published Date : March 1, 2017

Increasing yields produced in UK fields and using the spare farmland to plant trees and restore wetlands could greatly reduce emissions, says a study.

Combining this approach with strategies to cut food waste and meat consumption could help the farming sector cut its emissions by 80% by 2050, it adds.

Crop and livestock agriculture accounts for about 9% of the UK’s annual greenhouse gas emissions.

Details have been published in the journal Nature Climate Change.

The study suggested that increasing yields would free up land currently used for growing crops and rearing livestock.

The researchers added that if this “spare land” was used to increase UK tree cover from 12% to 30% by the middle of this century and to restore 700,000 hectares of wet peatland, it would help the farming sector to deliver its contribution to the legally binding target of cutting carbon emissions by 80% from 1990 levels by 2050.

“Every sector has to lower its emissions – that’s a commitment outlined in law and part of what we signed up to in Paris last month,” said co-author Andrew Balmford, professor of conservation science at the University of Cambridge.

“Agriculture is no exception yet a report published in 2011 that looked at how farming could be made more efficient found that there was very little room for manoeuvre.”

‘Land sparing’

So the study asked a question from a “different point of view” and considered how much agriculture was able to boost its yield by using available or soon-to-be-available technologies,” he said.

He explained that the increased yield would result in “land sparing”.

“Land sparing is a concept based on how much land we need to use for agriculture depends on the yield, how much we are producing per unit area of land,” Prof Balmford told BBC News.

“The higher the yield, the less area we have to devote to farming to meet a given level of demand.

“If we pursued higher yields as one of the primary goals in agriculture then we could free up quite a lot of land for other uses, including – in this case- greenhouse gas storage. But the key is not just to have high-yield farming but linking that to commitments or restore or safeguard remaining natural habitats.”

In order to improve yields, the study did take into account that there would have to be higher inputs such as fertilisers and irrigation, he explained.

“We consulted a broad spectrum of experts across crop and livestock science, asking them to envisage what they considered to be feasible, They do include in many cases greater inputs per unit area but actually lower inputs per unit of production,” the Cambridge University professor said.

Prof Balmford added that the study showed that areas showing the most promise were “improved crop plants” that were more efficient at capturing nutrients from the soil, more efficient at using water and photosynthesising.

“So if we went down the high yield route then it would be possible to say that some avenues will deliver on-farm savings in terms of emissions but the greatest part of the saving will come from the fact that the footprint needed to produce that food will be considerably reduced.

“Our models suggest that if we achieved the upper reaches of high-yield production then that would result in 30-40% of land currently being used for food production being used for carbon storage.”

Biodiversity benefits

But the study also said that when it came to planting trees to sequester the carbon, it said it was not looking at vast monocultures of fast growing conifers. Instead, it considered mixed broadleaf woodlands.

“We have done a bit of sensitivity analysis to look at what it would mean if we went for the fastest growing species or if we went for very heavily managed woodlands with lots of coppicing,” Prof Balmford observed.

“Those approaches do improve carbon storage levels but by not very much, whereas restoring native woodlands would be much better for biodiversity.

“This study does not go into much detail on that but we are doing other work looking at this and there are definite biodiversity gains from this approach.”

read more original article BBC

Landowners Encouraged To Convert Old Farmland To Wetlands

Published Date : March 1, 2017

State officials want landowners to convert old farmland to wetlands. The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service is accepting applications for its Agricultural Conservation Easement Program.

The government helps landowners install levees and plant native grasses and trees. It’s part of the national Farm Bill and is designed to restore and protect wetlands across the nation.

Tim Landreneau, assistant state conservationist with the program, says private landowners play an important role in environmental restoration efforts, both on the coast and across the state.

“We do have a lot of land that was historically bottomland hardwood swamps and wetlands that years ago were converted — either cleared and turned to agriculture land, or drained and converted in some way,” he says. “It’s a very good fit for Louisiana.”

He says most of the land already enrolled in the program is in the Mississippi River delta, in northeast Louisiana. The state could add about 9,000 acres to program this year. Landowners must apply by February 29.

Up to $17 million in financial and technical assistance is available for participants in Louisiana.

read more original article http://wwno.org/post/landowners-encouraged-convert-old-farmland-wetlands

Sustainable agriculture gains momentum in the Puyallup Valley

Published Date : March 1, 2017

January 28, 2016

Between 1997 and 2007, Pierce County lost nearly 23 percent of its farmland, much of it in the abundant Puyallup Valley. At this time, one quarter of the county’s farmland was slated for development. With the announcement of these startling numbers, PCC Farmland Trust began working with partners in an effort to curb the conversion of some of the state’s best farmland. About 2,000 acres were identified as top priority for conservation.

Between 2010 and 2015, the Farmland Trust invested $4.9 million to conserve 397 acres  —  20 percent of the acreage identified in the long-term goal. Seven family farms on that land produce an array of products, including eggs, honey, herbs, vegetables, pork, poultry, beef, animal feed, berries and hay. They represent a shift back toward sustainable and diversified land management and continued celebration of local agriculture in the region. Across Pierce County, the total market value of agricultural products is $91 million — making farming a critical economic driver.

Renewed farming interest

Three farm families tell us they moved their farm operations to the Puyallup Valley, in large part due to the conservation work of PCC Farmland Trust and the political support of the county and the City of Orting toward agriculture.

In 2009, Kim Shelstad and his wife fell in love with a farm in the heart of Orting. While it had the potential to be prime grazing land, it needed substantial cleaning and clearing. The couple restored the property and their hard work will have a lasting benefit now that the Farmland Trust has conserved the farm in perpetuity.

PCC Farmland Trust recently surveyed 250 farmers across Washington to gauge interest in the Puyallup Valley and other regional focus areas, and to identify ways to support new and expanding farm businesses. We, and our partners in the area, are committed to building and retaining the region’s agricultural legacy.

Leveraging community

A strong sense of agricultural neighborliness can be credited for much of this renewed interest. Beyond the rapidly increasing price of land, startup costs can be extremely prohibitive for new or expanding farms. In the Orting area, there are several farmers who share resources, from tractors and equipment to expertise and an extra hand.

As Kim Shelstad began making improvements on his new farm, he joined forces with another recent Puyallup Valley farmer transplant to pool their resources to buy tools and equipment, eventually helping one another build two hoop houses on each of their farms.  Kim recalls reaching out to countless other farmers for support and advice when he first started, and now he gets to pay it forward. He recently hosted a tour for young farmers who will call on his experience as they start or expand their own operations.

When farming communities are fragmented by development, this type of sharing can be limited, or lost. Similarly, without a critical mass within a regional service area, agricultural resources and support can be harder to come by.

Environmental ethic

These and other farm properties also are bringing environmental restoration to the Puyallup Valley watershed. On Farmland Trust conserved properties alone, 6,300 feet of restoration and enhancements have been made by hundreds of Farmland Trust volunteers and experts, improving more than half of all on-farm riparian habitat. Many farms are taking their environmental efforts to the next level, receiving Organic, Salmon Safe, and other sustainability certifications, employing resource conservation efforts, and managing for safe flooding.

In addition to their organic production and soil and water conservation practices, Dan and Kim Hulse have installed solar panels on one of their barns at Tahoma Farms. They produce 10,000 kilowatt/hours of electricity annually, offsetting one-third of the farm’s energy consumption. They are reinvesting these savings in other efficiencies, like converting their 1940s cultivating tractor to run as an electric vehicle. These are all part of an important broadening of the meaning of sustainable agriculture.

What’s next?

The Pierce County community continues to come together to invest time, expertise and resources in advancing the interests of agriculture and sustainability in its most important farming regions, like the Puyallup Valley.  PCC Farmland Trust has an additional 300 acres queued up in the conservation pipeline for 2016 and 2017. Of the 2,000 priority acres originally identified, this would bring our progress to 40 percent. Together, we can sustain this momentum.

read more original article PCC farmland trust

Farmers and ranchers making a difference

Published Date : March 1, 2017

Farmers and ranchers across the country are working to fight climate change and clean our air, protect drinking water, provide habitat for wildlife and keep our agricultural lands sustainable for the future.

SAFE DRINKING WATER

 Tom Hutson, New York

 Millions of New York City residents have clean drinking  water, thanks to help from healthy farms in the Catskill Mountains and farmers like Tom Hutson. Hutson was one of the first farmers to participate in programs administered by the Watershed Agricultural Council (WAC) to reduce organic pollution in the Catskill/Delaware reservoir systems. more

FEWER PESTICIDES

 The Bailey Family, Oregon

 The Baileys are five generations working to ensure the  health of their consumers and their community. They have  been using Integrated Fruit Production practices that includes more efficient and responsible pest management, irrigation practices and control of weeds without residual herbicides. The Baileys are dedicated to a healthier environment and sharing their stewardship practices with other farmers and members of the agricultural community. more

Jim and Moie Crawford, Pennsylvania

“Creating a healthy, naturally balanced environment is good  for us and for our productivity and profitability. And we think  it’s the right thing.” The Crawfords have perfected a cropping  system that relies on innovative plant rotations, fertility management and cover cropping. Cover crops—non-cash crops planted for soil-enhancing benefits—add organic matter, fix nitrogen and restore nutrients that may have leached during the off-season. more

CLEANER AIR

The Russell Family, Illinois

For the Russells, windmills offer the promise of clean energy to light homes and fuel industry—and an environmentally friendly income stream to help keep their farm profitable and family-owned.  The three brothers and two sisters farm corn and soybeans together through a family trust, no-till two-thirds of the ground and have six brand new windmills situated on their 560 acre farm. more

Dave Legvold, Minnesota

Dave is growing corn, soybeans and hay on his 700 acre farm and helping to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases in the Earth’s atmosphere. By using a “no-till” method that requires fewer tractor passes and gives soil a rest, the Minnesota farmer is burning less fossil fuel and sequestering carbon in the soil to offset greenhouse gasses. He’s also introducing other farmers to the “BMP Challenge,” a program that makes it easier for farmers to use healthy practices without risking their income. more

HOME FOR WILDLIFE

Steve Sinton, California

Steve uses a variety of proactive and innovative practices on his ranch to promote sustainability and protect wildlife habitat. Oak trees have never been removed from the 18,000 acre ranch; the Tule Elk herd has lived there for the past 20 years; and parts of the ranch are designated as within the Machesna Wilderness Area—protecting the nesting ground of the California Condor. more

Jay Gordon, Washington

Driving down a highway in northwestern Washington, en route from a meeting in his role as director of the Washington State Dairy Federation, Jay Gordon can’t help but ponder whether some of the state’s highway beautification money would be better spent protecting the Skagit Valley farmland that provides feeding habitat to a quarter of the world’s Trumpeter Swans. more

HEALTHY LAND

The McNeil Family, Colorado

The McNeil family ranches in one of the last undeveloped stream corridors in the 8,000 square mile San Luis Valley. To keep it that way, the McNeils spearheaded the Rock Creek Heritage Project, a landowner-driven effort to protect 15,000 acres of farm and ranch land in the Rock Creek watershed. The multi-faceted project, which involves 27 landowners, includes land protection, watershed enhancement and training in holistic management. more

Steve Percy, Idaho

Steve Percy, a fourth-generation rancher, has experienced first-hand the urban pressure on agriculture. Seventeen years ago, as development created more crowding, he gave up ranching in southern California and moved to Idaho. Now, his ranching practices are helping to restore land east of Boise. “Maybe we’ll realize the importance [of land] when food gets to be as expensive as gas.  You can park your car, but you can’t park your appetite.” more

RENEWABLE ENERGY

Glen Riekhof, Missouri

For years, Glen Riekhof, a farmer from Concordia, contributed countless hours of research and meetings to make Missouri’s first ethanol plant a reality.  Still, Riekhof doesn’t see ethanol transforming the way he manages his land or produces his crops.

“I feel like ethanol is a good hedge for me, but I haven’t changed my cropping patterns much and I don’t plan to,” says Riekhof.  “On my ground, planting corn after corn is not the best idea.” more

Peter Melnik, Massachusetts

Massachusetts dairy farmers don’t have the land base to expand into 1,000 or 2,000 cow herds, according to Peter Melnik, a fourth-generation dairyman from Deerfield. Instead, he believes diversity
is the key to preserving his family’s 250-cow farm. more

read more original article http://162.242.222.244/programs/environment/success-stories/default.asp

22 Organizations Working to Restore Soils in

Published Date : February 25, 2017

According to the recent United Nations report, Status of the World’s Soil Resources, the world can ameliorate soil degradation if more sustainable practices are promptly implemented. The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) defines soil degradation as “a change in the soil health status resulting in a diminished capacity of the ecosystem to provide goods and services for its beneficiaries. Degraded soils have a health status, such that they do not provide the normal goods and services of the particular soil in its ecosystem.”

Soils are naturally incredibly diverse. One teaspoon of soil could contain billions of microbes, thousands of species of protozoa and fungi, mites, and nematodes, and a couple of termite species. But a 2003 study, “Soil Diversity and Land Use in the United States,” published by the University of Berkeley, found that 4.5 percent of the soils in the United States are in danger of substantial loss or complete extinction as a result of urbanization and agriculture. In sub-Saharan Africa, soil is under threat as a result of overgrazing and other unsustainable practices.

According to FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva, “further loss of productive soils would severely damage food production and food security, amplify food-price volatility, and potentially plunge millions of people into hunger and poverty.” It is imperative that we take action now to protect and renew soils to ensure a more food secure future.

Luckily, there are solutions. One answer is growing a diversity of crops. Monoculture crops like corn and soybeans tend to be hard on soils, depleting nutrients rather than restoring them. But growing crops in rotation and growing a variety of crops can help restore soils and help both large and small farms produce more nutrients per acre or hectare.

Farmers all over the world are also revitalizing soils by incorporating cover crops such as winter wheat, rye, and clover or planting perennial varieties of sorghum, sunflower, and wheatgrasses that can help hold soils in place.

Thankfully, there are hundreds of organizations and individuals working to improve soil health and restore land quality, and Food Tank is excited to highlight 22 of these projects which recognize that soil is more than just dirt.

• African Forest Landscape Restoration Initiative (AFR100)—AFR100, an African-led initiative funded by the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development and the World Resources Institute, aims to bring 100 million hectares of degraded forest landscapes into the process of restoration by 2030. The initiative seeks to carry out the restoration project in a balanced way that includes women, local communities, and vulnerable people.
• Aga Khan Rural Support Programme in India (AKRSP)—An offspring of the Aga Khan Foundation, AKRSP strives to provide communities with food security, increased net incomes, and improved outcomes for farmers. To date, AKRSP’s programs have enhanced over 40,000 hectares of land in India’s rural areas. The programs are composed of watershed groups, irrigation and groundwater recharge systems, river basin management, and over 1,000 check dams and irrigation tanks.
• Asia Soil Conservation Network for the Humid Tropics (ASOCON)—Formed in 1989 with the support of United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the FAO, ASOCON strives to assist member countries in developing and disseminating soil and water conservation practices for small-scale farmers. It is composed of a coordinating unit at the Ministry of Forestry in Jakarta and National Coordinating Committees established by China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. Hosting regional workshops and training, ASOCON helps small-scale farmers be more sustainable and productive. ASOCON has also worked on the Conservation of Lands in Asia and the Pacific project.
• The British Society of Soil Science—Founded in 1947, The British Society of Soil Science furthers the study of soil, encourages participation from all those interested in the study of use and soil, and issues an annual publication. The Society serves as a forum for the exchange of ideas for soil improvement and provides a framework for soil scientists to represent their views to other organizations and decisionmaking bodies.
• DeCo!—DeCo! is a Ghanaian NGO that uses a social business approach to produce organic fertilizer for small farmers. It strives to include the local community in its work as much as possible while using rich organic compost to double farmers’ crop yields and increase food security.
• The Hummingbird Project—This project trains rural farmers in India’s suicide belt, an area in Punjab state where there is a high rate of farmer suicides. The program teaches about the soil food web and various composting techniques in the hopes of facilitating a transition back to organic, natural farming methods. Since 2011, The Hummingbird Project has reached 2,500 individuals in six states across India and has provided infrastructures such as water harvesting and compost and irrigation systems to 12 farmers’ cooperatives.
• International Soil Reference and Information Centre (ISRIC)—Established in 1966, ISRIC is an independent institute in The Netherlands that prioritizes work in three areas: soil data and soil mapping, application of soil data in global development issues, and training and education. To celebrate its 50th anniversary this year, ISRIC has many events planned throughout 2016 which will highlight its history and focus on its future.
• Kiss the Ground—This organization uses media campaigns, community gardening, and networking to preserve soil in California. Kiss the Ground emphasizes the potential for healthy soil to sequester carbon, reduce climate change, and pave the way for better water supplies, restored habitats, and improved farming.
• The Land Institute—Founded in 1976, The Land Institute is a science-based research organization that uses nature as a model for agriculture to promote sustainable food production. The Land Institute accomplishes this through growing perennial grains in mixtures to create ecosystems that reflect the productivity and resilience of prairies. Other goals include ending soil erosion, moving away from chemical inputs in agriculture, restoring soil health, cutting back on carbon emissions, and enhancing food security. The organization’s recent strategy focuses on partnering with public institutions to further research the Natural Systems Agriculture.
• People 4 Soil—People 4 Soil is an open network of European NGOs, research institutes, farmers associations, and environmental groups that aim to have Europe recognize soil as a common good. People 4 Soil wants to prioritize soil in the European Union’s legislation, so they launched an online petition to be promoted by European citizens that calls for giving a right to the soil.
• RECARE—RECARE aims to prevent and remediate soil degradation in Europe through better land care. RECARE noticed a dearth of knowledge on soil threats in Europe particularly regarding the functioning and complexity of soil systems and how they are affected by human activities. They use 17 case studies covering a range of soil threats in different socio-economic and bio-physical environments across Europe to integrate and advance the knowledge of stakeholders and scientists.
• The Red Soil Project—This project, with offices in Uganda and Canada, teaches the building blocks of sustainable agriculture to African farmers to improve productivity and create self-sufficient communities which can be sustainable without the help of aid. To reach rural farmers, The Red Soil Project partners with local community organizations and utilizes their existing community networks to deliver hands-on workshops in soil building, integrated pest management, rocket stoves, agroforestry, and animal husbandry.
• Rodale Institute—The Rodale Institute, located in Pennsylvania, conducts independent agricultural research in the field with the objective of giving farmers the knowledge and tools to improve soil health, yields, and crop quality while simplifying farm management. By helping to build healthy soils through organic practices, the Rodale Institute wants to ensure that people feel confident that they are feeding their families food that is good for them and the world around them.
• Society for Ecological Restoration (SER)—Comprised of ecosystem activists around the world, SER is a nonprofit organization focused on promoting and advancing the sciences and practices of ecological restoration. It aims to address desertification, land and water degradation, and associated loss of sustainable livelihoods. SER also has its own scientific and technical peer-reviewed journal titled “Restoration Ecology.”
• Soil Association—Based in the United Kingdom, Soil Association campaigns for healthy, humane, and sustainable food, farming, and land use. The organization works in schools through the Food for Life Partnership to improve health outcomes for children. Additionally, through the Soil Association Certification, the U.K.’s largest organic certification body, Soil Association creates and develops consumer trust and knowledge about organic food.
• Soil Conservation Service of Iceland (SCSI)—SCSI is a governmental agency founded in 1907 that operates under the Ministry for the Environment in Iceland. Recognizing that soil degradation is the largest environmental problem in Iceland, SCSI is dedicated to working both on the large-scale, policymaking level, as well as on the small-scale level with reclamation projects. SCSI also is part of the United Nations University’s Land Restoration Training Programme.
• Soil Science Society of America (SSSA)—Founded in 1936 and based in Madison, Wisconsin, SSSA is made up of thousands of members and certified professionals who are dedicated to advancing the soil science field. SSSA provides information about soil topics such as ecosystem sustainability, waste management, and wise land use. The Society is also part of the Alliance of Crop, Soil, and Environmental Science Societies.
• Soil and Water Conservation Society (SWCS)—SWCS, a nonprofit organization founded in 1943, is based in Iowa but has chapters throughout the United States and Canada and over 4,000 members around the world. Its mission is to foster the science and art of natural resource conservation and improve the way land is used to produce food. SWCS also published the Journal of Soil and Water Conservation, which focuses on the science and art of natural resource management for sustainability.
• Sustainable Organic Integrated Livelihoods (SOIL)—Based in Haiti and founded in 2006, SOIL is dedicated to transforming human waste into useful resources. SOIL uses EcoSan, an ecological sanitation process that returns nutrients from human waste to the soil. SOIL operates under a Liberation Ecology philosophy that the most threatened and marginalized people will be found living in similarly threatened ecosystems. This philosophy guides SOIL’s focus on promoting dignity, health, and sustainable livelihoods.
• Trees for the Future—Trees for the Future is dedicated to planting Forest Gardens that provide families and livestock with sustainable food sources as well as increased annual income. The organization currently has fourteen tree-planting projects in Cameroon, Kenya, Senegal, Uganda, and Tanzania, which are helping to restore soil that was unproductive for decades.
• Valle La Paz—Valle La Paz, based in Mexico, believes that there can be no healthy man on a sick planet. The organization educates youth about environmental conservation and healthy lifestyles, and it works to increase soil fertility by creating agricultural biodiversity.
• World Overview of Conservation Approaches and Technologies (WOCAT)—Founded in 1992 and based in Switzerland, WOCAT is a global network of specialists in soil and water conservation. WOCAT supports innovation and decisionmaking processes in Sustainable Land Management. WOCAT was officially recognized by the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in 2014 as the most highly recommended database for Sustainable Land Management best practices.

read more original article Foodtank

A Boon for Soil, and for the Environment

Published Date : February 25, 2017

When Gabe Brown and his wife bought their farm near Bismarck, North Dakota, from her parents in 1991, testing found the soil badly depleted, its carbon down to just a quarter of levels once considered natural in the area.

Today the Brown farm and ranch is home to a diverse and thriving mix of plants and animals. And carbon, the building block of the rich humus that gives soil its density and nutrients, has more than tripled. That is a boon not just for the farm’s productivity and its bottom line, but also for the global climate.

Agriculture is often cast as an environmental villain, its pesticides tainting water, its hunger for land driving deforestation. Worldwide, it is responsible for nearly a quarter of all greenhouse gas emissions.

Now, though, a growing number of experts, environmentalists and farmers themselves see their fields as a powerful weapon in the fight to slow climate change, their very soil a potentially vast repository for the carbon that is warming the atmosphere. Critically for an industry that must produce an ever-larger bounty to feed a growing global population, restoring lost carbon to the soil also increases its ability to support crops and withstand drought.

Can conservation agriculture combat climate change in tropical regions?

Published Date : February 25, 2017

Conservation agriculture (often termed CA) is often claimed to lock up (“sequester”) carbon in soil and thus contribute to the “mitigation” of climate change. Scientists at Rothamsted Research, which is strategically funded by the BBSRC, and colleagues at The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), in the U.K., Delhi and Harare, reviewed results from a total of 76 studies in the two regions of the world, to assess whether CA practices increased the stock of organic carbon in soil. Two regions of the world that are vital for food security, though for very different reasons, were studied: the Indo-Gangetic Plains, known as the bread-basket of South Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa where yields of maize, the staple crop for many people, are extremely low and further threatened by climate variability and change. They found that there was a general trend for soil carbon to be slightly increased under CA compared to conventional practices, but the magnitude was less than is often claimed and there were a significant number of cases where there was no measurable increase. The study, which was funded by the Climate Change, Agricultural and Food Security (CCAFS) and MAIZE programmes of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), is published in the journal Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment.

CA comprises three principles: reduced soil disturbance, maintaining soil cover with crop residues or green manures, and diversifying cropping systems. The practice is widely promoted around the world, in both developed and developing countries. It can improve soil quality, reduce erosion and conserve soil moisture.

Lawes Trust Senior Fellow at Rothamsted Research and lead study author, Professor David Powlson said: “The current study showed that even where soil carbon was increased the data had to be interpreted carefully to assess whether there was a genuine additional transfer of carbon from atmospheric carbon dioxide to soil organic matter – the requirement for mitigating climate change. In many cases the impact was to relocate organic carbon within the soil profile or landscape, with limited additional accumulation compared to conventional cropping practice due to low availability of biomass for surface retention”

“In addition, it is well known that there are significant social, economic and infrastructural barriers to the adoption of CA by small resource-poor farmers in tropical regions, so the realistically achievable degree of climate change mitigation is further limited. However, there are some good examples of these barriers being overcome with economic and livelihood benefits for farmers.”

The authors concluded that claims for CA slowing climate change were over-stated. However, by concentrating organic carbon near the soil surface, the practice was usually beneficial for soil physical properties and retention of water. It can therefore be regarded as contributing to climate change adaptation, even if the mitigation impact is small. Professor David Powlson said: “We recommend that CA should be promoted because it often improves soil quality and, if local conditions are right, can improve farmers’ livelihoods. Any climate change mitigation that occurs should be regarded as an additional benefit, not a major policy driver for its adoption.”

The team also said that the improved soil physical properties usually resulting from CA “can reasonably be regarded as contributing to climate change adaptation and to sustainable intensification, whether or not they consistently deliver increased crop yields in every season.” And in regions where nitrogen fertilizer is already used at high rates, such as the Indo-Gangetic Plains, improved management of nitrogen will often deliver greater reductions in greenhouse gas emissions than CA. An additional finding from the study, though based on limited experimental data, was that crop diversification (either through crop rotation or integration of tree-based elements) may deliver more soil carbon sequestration than reduced tillage or crop residue retention. This third principle of CA is often overlooked and the authors suggest it deserves greater attention.

read more original article www.rothamsted.ac.uk

Dell Packaging Made From Recycled Ocean Plastics, an IT Industry First

Published Date : February 24, 2017

Dell is the latest company to turn ocean plastics into new products and packaging as businesses increasingly address the problem of plastic waste — and see potential in creating circular supply chains and using recycled materials.

Dell today said it has developed the technology industry’s first packaging trays made with 25 percent recycled ocean plastic content. It is part of Dell’s goal of 100 percent sustainable packaging by 2020 and is a response to the growing environmental problem of plastics in the oceans.

It also follows a slate of recent announcements from companies turning ocean plastics into new products and packaging.

Last month Procter & Gamble, in partnership with recycling and environmental management companies TerraCycle and Suez, developed the world’s first recyclable shampoo bottle made from up to 25 percent recycled beach plastic.

Also in January Unilever CEO Paul Polman called on the consumer goods industry to address ocean plastic waste and employ circular economy models to increase plastic recycling rates.

Additionally, Adidas is working to solve the problem of plastic pollution in oceans by turning this waste stream into new material for its shoes.

Dell’s new packaging consists of recycled plastics collected from waterways and beaches. The company will start shipping its new laptop in the ocean plastics packaging on April 30. In 2017, Dell says its ocean plastics pilot will keep 16,000 pounds of plastic from entering the ocean.

Additionally, each tray will be stamped with the No. 2 recycling symbol, designating it as HDPE, which is commonly recyclable in many locations. Dell’s packaging team designs and sources its product packaging to be more than 93 percent recyclable by weight so that it can be reused as part of the circular economy.

The ocean plastics supply chain process works like this: Dell’s partners intercept ocean plastics at the source in waterways, shorelines and beaches before it reaches the ocean. It then processes and refines the used plastics, mixes the ocean plastic (25 percent) with other recycled HDPE plastics (the remaining 75 percent) from sources like bottles and food storage containers. Finally, it molds the resulting recycled plastic flake into new packaging trays and ship the trays for final packaging and customer delivery.

Dell’s pilot program, which the company says is also an industry-first, follows a successful feasibility study launched March 2016 in Haiti.

Since 2008, Dell has included post-consumer recycled plastics in its desktops, and as of January, reached its 2020 goal of using 50 million pounds of recycled materials in its products.

In an earlier interview, Scott O’Connell, Dell’s director of environmental affairs, said using recycled plastics saves the company money as well as reducing its environmental impacts. “We’ve been able to show a slight cost reduction from closed-loop plastics compared to other types of plastics that are out there, and we think with scale and volume that will continue to be the case,” he said.

The company has increasingly focused on creating a circular approach — where waste-stream materials can be used as inputs into products and packaging. Dell was the first, and so far, the only, IT firm to produce computers and monitors that contain e-waste plastics and recycled carbon fiber.
Dell has also published a white paper on sourcing strategies and says it plans to convene a cross-industry working group that will address ocean plastics on a global scale.

“This new packaging initiative demonstrates that there are real global business applications for ocean plastics that deliver positive results for our business and planet,” said Kevin Brown, chief supply chain officer at Dell, in a statement. “We look forward to working across industries for broader impact.”

Watch this truck roll out solar panels like a carpet

Published Date : February 23, 2017

Engineer creates a device capable of producing drinking water in the desert

Published Date : February 23, 2017

Spanish inventor, Enrique Veiga, has created a machine that condenses water from the atmosphere into drinkable, filtered water.

The machine runs on the same amount of electricity a domestic washing machine would use and condenses the water to 30 degrees Celcius at a relative humidity of 17%.  The water is filtered and stored for use at any time.

Veiga’s company, Aquaer Generators, has patented the machine is is currently creating 1,500 of them for the government of Namibia.

“I started working on this device nearly twenty years ago,” said Veiga.  “The first registered patent is from 1995, when a drought was crossing Spain and made me work on this.”

According to Aquaer Generator’s website, at 30 degrees Celcius and 60% humidity, there is more than 16 grams of water per kilogram of air.  When the air temperature is lowered below the dew point, water is created, similar to rain.  By moving more or less air, they are able to obtain the desired amount of water.  This works, even in the desert.

They also state that the machine does not create any pollution.

The cost of the creation of water is directly related to the cost of energy.  In California, where a kilowatt hour costs about $0.12 one liter of water would end up costing the consumer about $0.04.

read more original article www.minds.com