Tag Archive for: Regenerative Agriculture

From Despair to Repair

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I belong to an online climate discussion group that today asked three questions: what is the state of the movement, do we need climate change or system change, and do we need a meta-movement? Keying off the insights from the Earth Repair Conference, I wrote the following – and have added a post-script to include a week of research on the state of the movement for Earth Repair:

CLIMATE MOVEMENT: STATE OF PLAY

Last weekend I attended the Global Earth Repair conference and this workshop (long) where a new context clicked for me, though I’ve had all the pieces collected over all these years of low to the ground innovations.

The cumulative impact of the event revealed this: the Climate Movement is missing a crucial, essential element. It offers resistance but not repair. It is clear about the against, but largely mum on an equal scale restoration project. The anti-war movement allied with the Peace Movement had moral and spiritual power.

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The Next Regeneration

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Didi Barrett, a New York state assemblymember, has visited Stone House Grain, a farm in the Hudson Valley, enough times to be a seasoned tour guide. That’s what it felt like, at least, as we drove in a Jeep down a narrow road, through fields blanketed by cover crops and perennial pastures spread out like a gold-and-brown checkerboard. It was mid-March, a time of dormancy for most plants in the region. Poplar trees, bare of any leaves, lined either side of the road. But the farm was already teeming with life.

From behind the wheel, Ben Dobson, the farm manager, explained why his farm was unseasonably busy. “The basic premise of what people are now calling ‘carbon farming’ is that the earth’s surfaces were made to photosynthesize,” he said, eyeing his fields with a relaxed confidence.

It’s all part of a natural cycle: On warm days, Dobson’s crops pull carbon dioxide from the sky and release it into the soil where it nourishes developing plants.

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Ohio Soil Health Pioneer’s Farm is Classroom for Upcoming Regenerative Agriculture School

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CARROLL, Ohio (May 15, 2019) – He’s been described as the “Obi-Wan Kenobi” of soil health because of his masterful, Jedi-like ability to regenerate the soil. 

His Carroll, Ohio farm now draws hundreds of researchers, farmers and conservationists from across the globe to gain insights into the principles and practices that have enabled him to restore the health and function of his soil and to invigorate his farming business.

Today, the Soil Health Academy announced that Brandt Farms will host a soil health and regenerative agriculture school, June 4-6, so other farmers can see and learn, first-hand, how 74-year-old David Brandt has transformed his soil and improved his farm’s profitability.

As more farmers struggle to stay afloat in today’s turbulent agricultural economy, Brandt said he hopes to share his successful regenerative farming model so others can learn how to improve the profitability of their own farming operations. 

“Hosting an SHA school on the farm is my way of introducing other farmers to the wide-range of regenerative agriculture benefits, including improved water infiltration, reduced use of manufactured fertilizers and pesticides and improved soil health.” Brandt said. “They’ll see what can happen to their own soil through the use of no-till, cover crops and continuous cropping rotations.”

In addition to Brandt, attendees of the three-day, hands-on school will learn from world-renowned regenerative agriculture experts Ray Archuleta, Gabe Brown, Allen Williams, Ph.D., as well as other technical consultants.

While many traditional agriculture researchers and farmers were initially skeptical of regenerative agriculture’s potential, Brandt’s success has helped usher in a new era in agriculture that focuses on farming in nature’s image—practically and profitably.

“Conventional farming wisdom says it’s impossible to achieve the kind of improvements I’ve made in soil organic matter, soil health and soil function,” he said. “But the results are real and they speak for themselves.”

Brandt describes his soil-health focused approach as “part innovation, part perspiration and part determination” and admits he’s had his share of set-backs and challenges.

“My journey has come through many trials and some failures but mainly through hands-on learning to see what can really be done to be a better steward of the land,” Brandt said. “Now I simply want to share my experience and help other farmers become even more successful in their regenerative agriculture journeys.” 

To learn more about the Soil Health Academy School at Brandt Farms, visit www.soilhealthacademy.org or call 256/996-3142.

Reposted with permission from Soil Health Academy

México: el secreto de un proyecto que restaura ecosistemas golpeados por la deforestación

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Escuela de técnicas de agroecología trabaja en restaurar el sistema hídrico, los suelos, la biodiversidad y articular la economía local en un distrito de Guanajuato. Alrededor de 200 familias campesinas de San Miguel de Allende se han beneficiado de los talleres y comienzan a aplicar lo aprendido. Hoy cuentan con nuevos espacios para vender sus productos orgánicos.

Don Manuel García Pacheco, parado en el borde de su campo de cultivo, ese que lo vio nacer hace más de seis décadas, cuando la tierra era arada por bueyes, sonríe ampliamente mientras observa a un enérgico equipo que ha llegado a trabajar a su milpa en el distrito de San Miguel de Allende, en el estado de Guanajuato. «Estoy feliz como una lombriz», dice con entusiasmo.

Y con razón. Mucho ha cambiado en su localidad desde su regreso de los Estados Unidos, a donde emigró como millones de agricultores de subsistencia de México que ya no podían ganarse la vida con los suelos degradados y el clima árido.

“Se llegó el día en que la gente emigró pa’l norte por la pobreza, porque aquí no había ni para comprarse un buen pantalón, mucho menos un carro”, narra el agricultor, mientras dos jóvenes siembran una hilera de maguey pulquero en su parcela.

Don Manuel no duda en decir que nunca fue fácil vivir de la agricultura. No lo es para muchos mexicanos. Un estudio de 2012, elaborado por expertos de la Universidad Autónoma de Chapingo, precisa que de las 26 millones de hectáreas cultivables que posee México, casi la mitad están abandonadas. Y, básicamente, por tres razones: la migración, la ausencia del Estado y la poca rentabilidad.

Pero también están las tierras que simplemente ya no pueden ser trabajadas, porque están degradadas y en camino a la desertificación. Este problema es el responsable de que México pierda más de 100 000 hectáreas de tierras de cultivo cada año, como precisa un estudio científico.

Por eso Don Manuel García no deja de repetir que lo que le pasó fue un golpe de suerte. Y comenzó cuando su vecina convirtió su parcela en un rancho ecológico destinado a la regeneración de sus suelos en el 2009. El proyecto fue bautizado como Vía Orgánica y se convirtió en un modelo para los campesinos de la región.

Un nuevo comienzo

Don Manuel confiesa que al principio no estaba muy seguro. Recuerda que «Doña Rosana», su vecina, le hacía ver que estaba envenenando el suelo, el aire y el agua, e incluso sus cultivos, usando productos químicos.

 “Antes hasta le echábamos químicos por ignorancia y me decía: ‘Te va a hacer daño, eso no sirve’. Ya cuando me hicieron ver las cosas le paramos, desperté y me di cuenta», narra Don Manuel. “Ahora solamente le ponemos el estiércol de borrego, de res y vemos mucha cosecha. Nomás de que Dios mande lluvia”.

El proyecto de su vecina solo seguía los pasos de un creciente movimiento que desarrolla una agricultura que va más allá de lo sostenible en las granjas.

En una zona tan deteriorada de Guanajuato, uno de los estados más deforestados del país, la conservación no es suficiente, dicen los cofundadores de Vía Orgánica Rosana Álvarez , Ronnie Cummins y Rose Welch. Por eso se trazaron una meta bastante ambiciosa: nada menos que la regeneración del ecosistema —del suelo, del ciclo hidrológico, de la economía local, e incluso de las vidas de sus habitantes.

Y fue así como lo que empezó en un rancho de 25 hectáreas, se convirtió en un programa de educación agrícola que hoy se expande rápidamente hacia las poblaciones locales.

Para Álvarez, Cummins y Welch, la agricultura regenerativa es la respuesta a muchos de los problemas que arrastra México. Se refieren a la agricultura industrial que,  como indican algunos estudios científicos, pueden impactar fuentes de agua, bosques y suelos, sin contar que está entre las principales fuentes generadoras de gases de efecto invernadero.

Cuando Vía Orgánica lanzó su proyecto en el 2009 —con 25 hectáreas en total— se enfrentó a un terreno que en un buen momento albergó un vasto bosque de encinos gigantes y que tras la colonización y deforestación agresiva se transformó en un cúmulo de tierra arcillosa dura, malezas secas y suelo pelado. Pero diez años de arduo trabajo bastaron para que  el rancho vuelva a ser un oasis floreciente y altamente productivo.

170 hectáreas más se sumaron al poco tiempo a este ambicioso proyecto, al que se han unido agricultores como Don Manuel.

Hoy alrededor de 200 familias de San Miguel de Allende se han beneficiado y tienen en el centro histórico de la cercana ciudad, el restaurante y el mercado del proyecto —en el que trabajan 45 empleados locales— un espacio donde pueden vender sus productos orgánicos.

Ahora cada año miles de personas llegan para aprender sobre agricultura regenerativa y llevar de vuelta esas técnicas, en muchos de los casos, a sus comunidades y granjas.

Una escuela orgánica

El propósito de la escuela, para Rose Welch, es compartir  las técnicas que serán necesarias para regenerar la tierra y fortalecer las economías con la producción local de alimentos.

“Al presentar a los estudiantes y al público ejemplos del bosque de alimentos y huertos —explica Welch— dándoles la oportunidad de hablar con la gente local que trabaja en la granja, lo que estamos haciendo es crear esperanza y mostrar que las cosas pueden comenzar a cambiar con un proyecto pequeño que no necesita una gran cantidad de recursos o tierra para iniciar la transformación”.

Y desde afuera este esfuerzo comienza a ser reconocido. Para Narciso Barrera Bassols, antropólogo y geógrafo afiliado a la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, que coordina a su vez un proyecto de agroecología en la Universidad Autónoma de Querétaro, lo que han logrado es “magnífico.”

“Este espacio que tiene Vía Orgánica en San Miguel de Allende es un oasis en un mar de degradación”,  dice Barrera, autor de estudios científicos enfocados en la investigación de temas agrícolas y de sostenibilidad. “La respuesta de alguien como yo que he caminado sus proyectos es que esta isla se tiene que repetir.”

Barrera se refiere a la agroforestería, a la reforestación, a la recuperación de los suelos y a la capacidad de estos para captar el agua y el carbono. Todas estas estrategias son claves, explica, para restaurar ecosistemas altamente degradados como los del Bajío de Guanajuato, especialmente en tiempos de cambio climático.

Eliane Ceccon, experta en ciencias forestales, destaca también en su libro “Más allá de la ecología de la restauración: Las perspectivas sociales en América Latina y el Caribe” que el concepto de restauración ecológica no es justificable a menos que fortalezca la sostenibilidad social tanto como la ambiental.

“Tú no puedes llegar a un agricultor —asegura Ceccon— tan pobre como existe en la mayoría de Latinoamérica y decirle: ‘Sabes qué, tienes que restaurar este ecosistema.’ Muchos de ellos viven con problemas de inseguridad alimentaria, entonces lo primero en lo que tienes que trabajar es en la seguridad alimentaria. En segundo plano tratar de restaurar algunos elementos de la estructura del ecosistema; trabajar con plantas nativas multipropósitos, siempre dentro del concepto que produzca bienes y servicios”.

El reto de trabajar en suelos áridos

Ronnie Cummins, cofundador de Vía Orgánica, es de origen tejano, pero se considera mexicano de corazón. Él y su esposa Rose Welch fundaron la Asociación de Consumidores Orgánicos en los EE. UU. en 1998, y abrieron su primera sede mexicana en Chiapas.

Con el tiempo trasladaron el proyecto a San Miguel de Allende y se dieron cuenta que estaban en el lugar ideal para comenzar una granja orgánica.

“La agricultura orgánica no es una invención traída de los Estados Unidos; en realidad, es la forma tradicional de agricultura practicada por los pueblos indígenas de estas tierras durante miles de años», dice Cummins.

La biodiversidad era una característica de la agricultura indígena y campesina, con la milpa tradicional, que generalmente contiene hasta 50 tipos diferentes de plantas, la mayoría de ellas comestibles o medicinales: plantas silvestres como el amaranto, las verdolagas y el huazontle, conocidos colectivamente como quelites.

Estas prácticas tradicionales son las que han sido rescatadas y valoradas, y se han incorporado productos nativos como el mezquite, cuyas vainas de semillas son ricas en nutrientes; el nopal, un alimento básico de la dieta mexicana; y el agave, que antes de que los españoles comenzaran a destilarlo en tequila y mezcal, se cultivaba tradicionalmente para el nutritivo y delicioso aguamiel.

“Lo que están haciendo con su proyecto es rescatar historia, rescatar memoria, rescatar cultura, innovar”, señala Barrera. “Y lo más importante: ¿cuántos investigadores en México están dedicados al estudio de la transición agroecológica de las áreas áridas del país? La mayor parte está concentrada en el sur o sureste del país, que no son las áridas. Entonces que haya un proyecto que está haciendo eso me parece muy importante.”

Los sistemas agroecológicos de los ranchos intercalan hileras de diversos cultivos arbóreos como el mezquite, el olivo y la granada, a esto se suma el pastoreo de cabras, ovejas y caballos con manejo holístico y pollos, que fertilizan los árboles y que ayudan en el control de plagas.

La estrategia ha sido comenzar poco a poco, pero no ha sido fácil. Toda la región depende de las 20 pulgadas (500 mm) de agua que se generan al año, la mayor parte entre los meses de junio y agosto. La escasez de agua en una región que es, naturalmente, semiárida se ha visto agravada por el crecimiento de las agroindustrias, que son los grandes productores que pueden obtener un permiso del gobierno que les permite regar con agua subterránea de los pozos.

Según Cummins, alrededor del 14 % de los agricultores en la región tiene pozos. El otro 86 % depende de la captación del agua de las lluvias para poder cultivar fuera de esta breve temporada. Por eso se han desarrollado una serie de sistemas que se valen de los techos de las casas, las cisternas y estanques para almacenar el agua que los agricultores usarán a lo largo del año.

Gerardo Ruiz Smith, ingeniero agrícola y experto en permacultura, ha contribuido también con el diseño de un sistema que contornea los terrenos y los caminos para canalizar las aguas de lluvia hacia cuatro grandes estanques. A esto se suma que la restauración de los suelos ayuda también a mejorar la capacidad de estos para retener el agua.

«El problema real es que en los suelos muertos no puede infiltrarse mucha agua. Si tenemos escorrentía superficial, encuentro una manera de reducirla e infiltrarla, pero prefiero concentrarme en mejorar la vida del suelo y la capacidad de retención de agua», precisa.

«El terreno lo tengo que recuperar»

Para Azucena Cabrera, Lourdes Guerrero y Martín Tovar restaurar sus tierras se ha convertido no solo en un reto, sino también en una deuda pendiente que tienen con sus  ancestros.

Azucena, como tantos hijos de campesinos, recuerda que en un momento su padre se vio obligado a abandonar el campo y mudarse a la ciudad para trabajar como electricista y fontanero. No tenía otra salida, la agricultura no le permitía mantener a su familia.

Pero nunca renunció del todo a su parcela, siguió regresando cada fin de semana.

 “Él dijo: ‘Aquí nací, en estos terrenos comí y tengo que recuperarlos’”, cuenta Azucena Cabrera, quien por la decisión de su padre tuvo la oportunidad de crecer jugando en la milpa, de probar los tomatitos silvestres y el huitlacoche, de recoger flores y admirar a las abejas. Su infancia fue la que la convenció de estudiar agronomía, aunque asegura que buscar empleo era uno de los temas que más le preocupaba.

“Los modelos agrícolas me hacían pensar, ‘¿Qué haré cuando termine?”, confiesa Azucena Cabrera, quien encontró pronto una salida en Vía Orgánica, ahí donde hoy trabaja como coordinadora y maestra para cientos de habitantes de la zona. Ella heredó el vínculo inquebrantable que tiene su padre con la tierra.

Por eso está convencida de que es necesario “voltear a ver el sistema en su comunidad” y acercarse al abuelo para preguntarle: ”¿Qué fue, qué hacía, qué comía, cómo sabía? Porque hay mucho conocimiento nuevo y el instinto se queda dormido, y ahora el conocimiento moderno nos deslumbra”.

Hoy es testigo de cómo la agricultura orgánica va regenerando las vidas de sus compañeros de trabajo. Es el caso de Don Martín Tovar, que tras trabajar 12 horas al día en una fábrica procesadora de pollos en Estados Unidos, se siente ahora satisfecho de haber vuelto a su tierra natal y de poder mostrarle a su hijo cómo sembrar, cultivar y hacer abonos orgánicos.

Lourdes Guerrero fue de las que prefirió quedarse en México para encontrar su suerte. Sin embargo, no deja de lamentar el “terrible error” que cometió al dedicarle tantos años de vida a la industria de pollos. Aún se estremece al recordar las condiciones bajo las cuales trabajaba. Ahora se siente orgullosa de cuidar su “Granja regenerativa”,  donde circulan las aves abonando los árboles frutales mientras producen huevos orgánicos.

Rosana Álvarez ha visto muchos cambios a lo largo del trabajo con los productores. Algunos han dejado de usar agroquímicos; otros, que estaban a punto de usarlos, han tomado la decisión de resistir a las ofertas del paquete convencional del gobierno. Algunos han aprendido a hacer composta y cubrir la tierra expuesta con un colchón de materia orgánica para protegerla. La mayoría ha tomado clases y talleres, que son gratis para los campesinos.

«Están entendiendo más —dice Álvarez—, sus ojos están más abiertos, más brillantes. Están más felices, están haciendo lo que aman. Solo necesitaban una manera de mantener su economía en marcha».

Este aspecto económico es la clave del cambio, es lo que ha impulsado la aparición de más mercados orgánicos y artesanales, y es también lo que está regenerando el paisaje, sostiene Álvarez.

En marzo de este año, el proyecto dio otro gran paso:  lanzó el primero de una serie de Campamentos de Regeneración de Ecosistemas junto con el reconocido científico de suelos y experto en restauración ambiental, John D. Liu. Treinta personas de siete países llegaron a San Miguel de Allende para estudiar y con la intención de difundir luego estas técnicas en sus localidades.

«Los centros de agricultura regenerativa como Vía Orgánica están restaurando tierras degradadas y creando modelos reproducibles para reparar ecosistemas completos, literalmente desde cero», dijo Liu. «Estos métodos se están propagando como semillas para que broten en otras regiones del mundo».

Publicado con permiso de Mongabay

A Green New Deal Must Prioritize Regenerative Agriculture

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We are at a radically new stage in our fight for the planet. The Green New Deal proposed by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the youth-led Sunrise Movement, and hundreds of other climate justice leaders and organizations has given us a new holistic framework for tackling both the climate crisis and structural inequality.

This bold vision for the future has, in a matter of months, radically expanded what is politically possible and clarified what is morally required of us as a society. Just a year ago, the progressive movement was struggling to articulate climate solutions that were capable of meeting the severity and scale of the problem, relying instead on piecemeal reforms.

With any luck, those days are decisively behind us. The goal is no longer to slow the bleeding; it’s to heal the wound.

KEEP READING ON TRUTHOUT

New Project in Carbon Farming Launched in India

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A new project will help farmers increase their income as well as store carbon in their soil. Starting with 20 farmers in two districts of Maharashtra state in India, the carbon farming project will compensate farmers for increases in soil organic carbon. These farmers follow no-till practices in growing rice and other cover crops.

The project is an initiative of Shekar Bhadsavale, a California-educated progressive farmer from Neral, and Emmanuel D’Silva, an agriculture and environment scientist from Mumbai who previously worked at the World Bank.

Bhadsavale has pioneered Saguna Rice Technique (SRT), a form of zero-till conservation agriculture, which has been accepted by over 1,000 farmers in several Indian states. D’Silva had initiated carbon credit programs through tree plantations in 44 tribal villages a decade earlier.

“The farmers we selected are mostly smallholder farmers with less than a hectare. In Karjat [area], they are mostly tribals growing rice followed by vegetables,” explains Bhadsavale who grows rice, string beans, and other cover crops.

“SRT will not only increase farm yields and income, but also improve the health of soils, thereby, storing more carbon in the process,” said Bhadsavale.

“Increasing soil organic carbon through conservation agriculture practices like SRT will benefit everyone on the planet,” observes D’Silva, the agriculture and environment scientist.

“A one-percent increase in soil organic carbon in one acre is equivalent to storing 18 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide underneath our ground. Agriculture can provide a better solution to the climate crisis than some other sectors, if done right,” notes D’Silva.

Looking back on his decade-long experiences in growing multiple types of rice, a variety of legumes, and other crops, Bhadsavale believes that a one percent increase in soil organic carbon can easily be achieved over three years, if farmers practice sustainable farming methods like SRT. He has done a lot to spread the message of SRT in India, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Bhadsavale and D’Silva are not the only ones confident of agriculture providing solutions to climate change. Cornelia Rumpel and other soil scientists at CNRS Institute of Ecology and Environmental Sciences in France believe that increasing the carbon content of the world’s soils by just a few parts per thousand (0.4 percent) each year would remove around 3-4 gigatons of carbon from the atmosphere and also boost soil health. They cite studies from Africa, Asia, and Latin America, which show increasing soil carbon by 0.4 percent a year can enhance crop yields by 1.3 percent.

Rumpel chairs the scientific and technical committee of the 4 for 1000 initiative launched by France in 2015. The goal of the initiative is to “demonstrate that agriculture, and in particular agricultural soils, can play a crucial role where food security and climate change are concerned.”

If the carbon level in the top 30-40 cm of soils were increased by 0.4 percent, the annual increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere would be stopped, concludes the website of the 4 for 1000 initiative.

The carbon farming pilot in Maharashtra will make a small contribution to the global goal of improving 1.5 million km2 of degraded and deforested land by 2020. If the 20 farmers participating in the pilot practice conservation agriculture on all of their land—rather than just half an acre—they should be able to store 2,000 tons of CO2 in their soil over three years, says D’Silva.

Under the project, farmers would be compensated for increases in soil carbon by contributions from individuals, private companies, and NGOs concerned about climate change.

One of the contributors is Prabhakar Tamboli, a professor of Agriculture at the University of Maryland. “This is the first baby step to find a solution to mitigate the adverse impact of climate change,” he observes. “In addition, the project will introduce environmentally sound agronomic practices in the fields of farmers and help increase their incomes.”

Initially, the ‘carbon check’ to farmers is expected to be about Rs 9,000 (US$128) over three years based on half-acre experiments. But this could change if the project is expanded after the pilot phase.

The Saguna Rural Foundation, headed by Bhadsavale, will provide technical support to farmers, collect soil samples, and distribute the carbon checks at year’s end based on increases in soil carbon. The verification and validation of the soil increases would be conducted independently by Zenith Energy Climate Foundation, Hyderabad.

The Director of the foundation, Mohan Reddy, believes that “verification and validation by a third party (such as us) would bring credibility to the process of measurement of the carbon stored in the soil and quantification of CO2 reduction.”

Reddy has participated in a number of projects requiring measurement of greenhouse gases under terms of the Kyoto Protocol, but admits that establishing baselines and measuring carbon storage in agriculture, a new activity, could be a challenge.

The farmers involved in carbon farming, however, are up to the challenge. Parshuram Agivale, a pioneer farmer who has been practicing no-till rice cultivation for six years, says SRT has changed his life. “My workload has decreased, agriculture production has increased, and income has gone up. I have been able to send my daughter to a nursing school and she is now a nurse.”

“Even though I am uneducated, I am now happy to share my experience and educate other farmers on the merits of zero till and SRT.”

Sitting under a banyan tree on his 2-acre farm, Agilve, along with other farmers participating in the project, shared ideas and excitement on being among the first to take up carbon farming. They recognized they were making a contribution not only for their children but also for the planet by storing carbon in their soils.

Reposted with permission from Food Tank

Study: White Oak Pastures Beef Reduces Atmospheric Carbon

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BLUFFTON, Ga., May 1, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — Will Harris is many things to many people. To chefs and foodies, he is a legendary farmer producing some of the world’s best pasture-raised meats infused with the terroir of south Georgia. To athletes, body-hackers, and health-conscious consumers, he is the owner of White Oak Pastures, which ships humanely-raised, non-GMO, grassfed proteins to their doorsteps. To the communities surrounding Bluffton, Georgia, he is one of the last good ole’ boys and the largest private employer in the county. To his colleagues in agriculture, he’s a renegade and an inspiration. But Will Harris’ legacy might turn out to be something else entirely. He may be remembered as the cattleman who figured out how to enlist cows in future generations’ struggle to reverse climate change.

Industrial-Sized Cow Farts

Almost everyone these days has been educated that carbon emissions from industrialized beef production are a startlingly large contributor to man-made climate change.

KEEP READING ON PR NEWSWIRE

The Fate of Planet Earth Lies in the Hands of Just Two Generations, Warns Climate Columnist David Wallace-Wells

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The global impacts of global pollution are so terrifyingly vast and all-encompassing that fully comprehending the potential consequences can prove difficult for the human mind. 

If it continues unchecked, scientists warn1 of an increase in extreme weather including rising sea levels, intensified and more frequent wildfires, devastating flooding, stronger hurricanes and prolonged droughts — all of which are projected to have colossal and costly impacts on public health, agriculture, politics, economic growth and human migration. 

But there’s good news: Humans have the power to stop, and potentially reverse pollution, but only if appropriate action is taken immediately, and on a global scale. 

While most people think of the burning of fossil fuels as the primary driver of pollution, data point to industrial agriculture as the greatest contributor of greenhouse gas emissions. An estimated 44% to 57% of all greenhouse gases come from the global food system. This includes deforestation, agriculture, food waste and food processing, packaging, refrigeration and transportation.2

So, while some argue that, in addition to curbing greenhouse gas emissions and transitioning to 100% renewable energy, implementing new and costly carbon-capturing technology3 is the solution, mounting evidence points to a less costly and more natural solution: Harnessing the power of Mother Nature. 

This includes organic regenerative agriculture,4 which promotes soil health, biodiversity, soil carbon sequestration and large-scale ecosystem restoration such as reforestation and the restoration of peatlands, mangroves, salt marshes and other important ecosystem habitats capable of drawing down and storing excess atmospheric carbon.5

Climate Columnist: ‘The Main Driver of Future Warming Is What We Do Now’

What happens on Earth within the next century in regard to climate change depends on the action humans do or don’t take, said David Wallace-Wells, deputy editor and climate columnist for New York magazine, in a recent interview on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast. 

Wallace-Wells, who wrote “The Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warming,”6 says we tend to think about climate change as something that began centuries ago during the Industrial Revolution, but the truth is that in the history of mankind, 50% of all the carbon we’ve released into the atmosphere from the burning of fossil fuels has occurred within the last 30 years.7

That means the fate of the entire planet may lie in the hands of just two generations, because what happens in the next 50 to 100 years from now will depend on how humans address climate change today, Wallace-Wells says.

Deadlier Wildfires in California

In the featured video, Rogan and Wallace-Wells discuss how climate change is worsening wildfires in California, causing the fires to burn hotter and more frequently. Science shows California wildfires could get up to 60 times worse as climate change intensifies, says Wallace-Wells. 

That’s an alarming prediction considering California, in the past two years, had some of the most destructive fires on record. In fact, the Mendocino wildfire in July 2018 was the state’s largest ever, causing 60% more damage than any fire before it.8

There are a number of ways in which climate change may be intensifying California wildfires. For starters, hotter temperatures can create a drying effect, turning once-green vegetation into flammable wildfire fuel. Secondly, scientists say climate change is shortening California’s rainy reason, and shifting the Santa Ana winds in a way that fan deadly wildfires in Southern California. 

In the podcast, Rogan says a firefighter once told him that with the right wind, it’s only a matter of time before a fire hits the top of Los Angeles, California, and burns all the way to the ocean, and there will be nothing anyone can do to stop it.

Development and urban sprawl are another reason wildfires could get a lot worse in California. When Native Americans stewarded the land, they often performed controlled burns to prevent the buildup of timber, but because some of America’s wealthiest elite insist on living in the California hills, controlled burns are out of the question, says Wallace-Wells. 

His observation leads to an interesting statement about how the situation in California is unique in that climate change tends to impact the world’s poorest first. But in places like Bel-Air, a ritzy upper-class neighborhood in Los Angeles, the effects of climate change are working in reverse as it has largely been the ultrarich who are most affected by wildfires. 

The damage has been both destructive and costly. Just three California wildfires, the Camp Fire, Woolsey Fire and the Hill Fire, are estimated to have killed 88 people, damaged or destroyed close to 20,000 structures and caused more than $9 billion in damage.9 Those costs may be just the tip of the iceberg.

Reposted with permission from Mercola

How Will We Produce Food in the New Era of Climate Extremes? The Solution Lies in The Soil

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At the recent Nebraska Farmers Union Convention Dr. Martha Shulski, our State Climatologist who co-authored the 4th National Climate Assessment, eerily foretold to a large group of farmers that we are moving into a new era of weather extremes. Dr. Shulski also noted it was likely that as farmers, we would need to consider a change in our farming practices due to extreme climatic events if we expected to maintain sustainable businesses. Only 3 months later the 2019 Bomb Cyclone hit the midwest, and a perfect storm of conditions led to a series of catastrophic flooding events that cost our farmers millions of dollars. Many of these costs took years of sweat investment and will never be recovered.

As the water recedes, at least for now, Nebraskans face an unknown climatic future. While the future may be uncertain, there is no doubt the recent events have sent a ripple across the Great Plains.

KEEP READING ON THE BIG GARDEN

Regeneration: Updates from Around the World

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Ever since its creation in 2015, Regeneration International has been working locally to strengthen a global movement of solidarity. So far, 218 regenerative farms or projects located in 55 different countries are part of the Regeneration International Partner Network.

Since the beginning of the year, several workshops, conferences and regional and international meetings have been held to nourish and connect the global regeneration movement. Regeneration Belize held its first General Assembly. In Kenya, we will be present at World Soil Week. And in Chiapas, Mexico, we will participate in the First Mexican Congress of Agroecology.

BELIZE: Regeneration Belize Holds First Annual General Meeting in Belmopan

Regeneration Belize held its first General Assembly meeting on February 13 in the National Agriculture & Trade Show (NATS) conference room in Belmopan, compliments of the Ministry of Agriculture.

Regeneration Belize is the result of the common effort of producers, educators, consumers and educators from Belize and international allies. The first step for the formation of this group was taken during the First Tropical Agriculture Conference that took place in Belmopan in November 2018.

On March 19, Regeneración Belice organized a biocarbon workshop, by Christopher Nesbitt from Maya Mountain Research Farm and board member of Regeneration Belize, with a participation of 51 people. A seed preservation workshop is planned for June with the participation of RI, Sustainable Harvest International (SHI), the Ministry of Agriculture and others involved in seed preservation. Regeneration Belize continues to develop numerous events for 2019, from its Second Conference on Regenerative Tropical Agriculture in November to its participation in World Food Day in October.

URUGUAY: Regeneration Movement Gaining Traction in Uruguay!    

On February 14, the workshop “José Ignacio, Regenerative Lighthouse: Water and Soil Free of Agrochemicals” was held La Excusa restaurant, in José Ignacio, Uruguay. The event was held in conjunction with the local Gastronomic Fair, sponsored by several local, national and international organizations and NGOs, including Savory International.

Workshops on regenerative farming practices will be held monthly, in order to spread the regenerative movement across Uruguay. For more information, call or WhatsApp: 598-98106116.

UNITED STATES: Global Earth Repair Conference, Port Townsend, Washington (USA), May 3-5, 2019

The Global Earth Repair Conference will bring together about 500 people to talk about earth repair at local, regional, state, national and international levels. The Global Earth Repair Conference facilitates the exchange of information between earth repair practitioners.

This year’s event will focus on how to apply earth repair to urban areas, farmland, forests, rangeland, shrub steppes, deserts, streams, rivers, coral reefs, oceans and other ecosystems.  Seed collecting, earthworks, swales, nurseries, native plants, plant establishment, hoedads, live staking, sprigging, and much else will be on the menu.

MEXICO: 1er. Congreso Mexicano De Agroecología, San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, May 12-17, 2019

Regeneration International and the Organic Consumers Association (OCA), together with the Mexican Seeds Network, will participate in the First Mexican Congress of Agroecology with a series of activities related to the defense of seeds and agricultural diversity.

On Wednesday, May 15, there will be workshops on seed production and on the 100% nixtamalized tortilla. There will also be a presentation of “SIEMBRA!,” an educational series on seed production, and a seed exchange.

On Thursday, May 16, there will be a table entitled “seeds and resilience: learning, resistance and construction through the defense, conservation and production of seeds,”  which will feature speakers from the academic and public sector and nonprofits.

EAST AFRICA: Global Soil Week, Nairobi, Kenya, May 27-30, 2019

Global Soil Week will bring soil scientists and practitioners to deliberate on how to create environments that enable the Land Degradation Neutrality in Africa. Regeneration International’s Precious Phiri will partner with the German Federal Office for Agriculture and Food (Viridiana Alcántara) to conduct a field trip to the Kenyan Savory Hub on the Masai Mara lands. This event will showcase the potential for soil health regeneration in the dry lands of Kenya. The hope is that this will trigger interest among scientists to partner with Savory Hubs on projects geared toward regenerating rangelands.

UNITED STATES: Green New Deal Incites Hope for Comprehensive Ag Policy Change

Regeneration International supports the Green New Deal (GND), a 10-year mobilization plan to address climate change and income inequality in the U.S. The GND offers an unprecedented opportunity to finally unite the environmental, climate, food, labor and economic justice activists in the U.S.  around one policy platform that offers solutions for the multiple crises we face.

RI is working behind the scenes in the U.S. to build a national coalition of farmers and ranchers for a GND with the ultimate goal of drafting and building support for major agricultural policy reforms to address global warming and other crises, including deteriorating public health, water pollution, the collapse of family farms and their communities, loss of wildlife and biodiversity, and low wages for farm and food industry workers.

We’ll make some important announcements about our partnership with the Sunrise Movement in the coming months. For now, if you live in the U.S., please use this form to ask your members of Congress to support the Green New Deal.

Are you a farmer or rancher in the U.S.? Please sign this letter to Congress urging support for a Green New Deal.

Thank you!