Saving Farms
Brown's Ranch in
North Dakota is a
prime example of
regenerated land.
Gabe Brown bought
his farm in 1991 and
started farming the
usual way, tilling the
land and using chemi-
cal fertilizers and pest
and it didn’t go well. Several years of
hailstorms and droughts left him on the
brink of ruin, until he started learning
about alternative methods.
“I was a farmer, but I didn’t know about
the soil,” he recalls. For example, he says,
“Tilling the land is releasing carbon into
the air instead of feeding the plants,” so
he stopped tilling. Planting many varieties
of cover crops and rotating animals
on grazing land are among the other
regenerative techniques that gradually
made his land much more fertile and able
to withstand extreme weather changes
and produce more nutritious food.
One of the ways soil scientists
evaluate soil health is by measuring how
much rainfall it can absorb in an hour—
better absorption prevents fl oods, stores
water for times of drought, prevents
erosion, and helps keep local streams
clean. Brown’s farm went from ½ inch to
8 inches per hour. One day, 13 inches of
a n fell in less than 6
ours and his land
happily soaked it up
while a neighboring
conventional farm
was still fl ooded
hree weeks later
because dead
so can’t absorb water.
own’s farm has
y successful, and
he has become a leading advocate of
regenerative farming, helping other
farmers to rescue their land. “We have to
become regenerative to fi x the human
health crisis,” he says. And, he encourages
everyone to buy food produced this way
and help drive the growth of this type of
farming. “We underestimate the importance
of our buying decisions,” he says.Cleaning the Environment
“The soil has an incredible ability
to store a lot of carbon,” says Adams,
but only if it’s rich in living organisms.
As those organisms die off , carbon is
released into the air. Scientists at Ohio
State University have estimated that
cultivated land around the world has lost
up to 70 percent of the carbon it once held.
The process can be reversed by
revitalizing soil, depending on how much
of the world’s farmland is cultivated in
the future with regenerative methods. IfContributing editor Vera Tweed has been researching and writing about supplements, holistic nutrition, fitness, and other aspects of healthy living since 1997. She is the author of
several books, including Hormone Harmony: How to Balance Insulin, Cortisol, Thyroid, Estrogen, Progesterone and Testosterone to Live Your Best Life.
these practices became the norm, they
could, theoretically, solve a signifi cant
part of the world’s carbon problem.The Role of Animals
Industrial feedlots may be inhumane
polluters, but on regenerative farms,
healthy animals thrive while playing a
vital role in enhancing the land. “When we
focus on ‘animals are bad,’ we’re missing
the boat,” says Nicole Hahn Niman, author
of Defending Beef, a former environmental
lawyer, and a vegetarian since her college
days. “If you just look at any kind of natural
system,” she adds, “there’s a tremendous
interrelationship, a very complex kind of
tapestry between the plants and animals.”How to Go Beyond Organic
“Make it a journey and begin to learn
more about your food,” says Hahn
Niman, “without becoming obsessive.”
In addition to buying organic and local
whenever possible, she suggests:kAsk if food was produced in a way that
enhances the soil and keeps it alive.
kSeek out pasture-raised hens, as well
as grass-fed beef.
kGet more connected with food by growing
some of your own, maybe starting with
herbs on the kitchen windowsill.
kGrow food in your own garden, or join
a community garden.The More You Know
To learn more about regenerative farming,
try these resources:BBrown’s Ranch: brownsranch.us
BHolistic Management International: holisticmanagement.org
BThe Land Institute: landinstitute.org
BOrganic Farming Research Foundation: ofrf.org
BOn Twitter: @DefendingBeef
BRegeneration International: regenerationinternational.org
BRodale Institute: rodaleinstitute.org- ticides,
rai
ho
h
w
c
w
th
bec
soil c
Brow
become veryDid you
know?
Since the 1970s, just one
regenerative farming tech-
nique—not tilling the land —
has reduced carbon dioxide
in our air as much as a
year’s emissions from
50 million cars.(^50) • SEPTEMBER 2017