Farming has never been easy, no matter the era or geography. Drought, pests, wars, and politics have always gotten in the way. And in the face of climate change, farming seems to be getting imminently more difficult. We can approach these times as either obstacle or a bridge and go in one of three directions – forward, backward, or neutral. Standing still won’t work since where we are isn’t viable; and going backward only retraces the steps that brought us to where are today. Going forward is our only real option.

In a recent letter to Mother Jones, renowned environmentalist Paul Hawken mentioned two things that stuck with me. The first was that the soil is a living organism, not a medium. The second was that we do not know how much carbon the soil can hold until regenerative farming practices are engaged over time. Neither of these statements were revelatory, but each underlined both the complexity and simplicity of the challenges we have before us. We need to stop treating the soil like a ‘thing’ we plant crops into and we just need to get started. We can argue all day about what will and will not work, but until we start the actual task of regenerative farming, we’ll never know what we can accomplish.

When it comes to the way many of us were "taught" to farm, we need to change course and, in some cases, throw the proverbial baby out with the bathwater. Plant nutrition, for example, that’s taught in many universities is akin to the kind of nutritional education medical doctors get – basically none, and all pretty mechanistic. We need to think of plant nutrition not as a series of inputs we inject into the soil to get a response, but rather like a dance troupe that together with the physical and biological components create this vibrant living organism with a consciousness and energy all its own. We are merely conductors of a very large ballet.

Carbon is the source of life in the soil. It is the holder of the keys and the navigator all in one. With it and our guidance as farmers we really do hold the fate of the planet in our hands. Without it we are dead in the water. When it comes to carbon sequestration, we really do not know what impacts regenerative agriculture can ultimately have – how much carbon the soil can hold – until we really try. If we follow the so-called guidelines, we’ll fall woefully short of what is truly possible. If the guidelines tell you that the ‘appropriate’ amount of carbon or organic matter in your soil is a certain ‘target’, then I suggest doubling that target immediately. And once you reach that target, double it again. We need to build back the diversity of life in a geometric fashion and we can only do that by pushing past artificially derived ideals.

Its only within the last 20 years that I have come to truly realize what sustainable farming must mean to the future of our planet. I don’t farm, I nurture an ecosystem. I don’t fertilize the soil, I orchestrate a dance of life. And just when I think I have the answer, I split that thought in two and expand the opportunities for thought and action. Industrial farming is a contractive endeavor that has brought us to the brink of ecosystem collapse. Farming forward is an expansive opportunity to change the way we not only grow food, but in healing the earth. It’s time to fully grasp the transformative powers of regenerative farming and stop limiting ourselves or our opportunities with short-sighted notions of “what’s possible.”