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December 2020

Picture of the Month

Introduction: Growing Understanding

by Wendy Millet and Kevin Alexander Watt

In a blink of geologic time, humans have created technologies and societies that have altered the planet’s climate, eroded more than a third of its topsoil, and caused the extinction of countless species. In our defense, it is fair to say that most of these outcomes did not happen intentionally. However, if that is true, we face a troubling reality: we have become a geologic force on the only planet that can sustain life, and we don’t really know what we’re doing.

We are in this unenviable situation because much of human progress has focused on increasing outputs from the world rather than increasing our understanding of our relationship to it. We have poured money and energy into herbicides to control weeds without understanding the broader toll on the land and human wellness. We have sacrificed local and regional food systems to create global industrial supply chains without understanding how that degrades equitable and resilient access to nutritious food. We have plowed millions of acres of the planet’s precious soil to plant monocultures without understanding how that impacts water and carbon cycles.

Understanding the interconnectedness of life’s essential systems is the cornerstone of regenerative management. Regeneration starts with patient and curious observation of how systems work and using that understanding, combined with one’s goals and relationships to those systems, to inform what to do and, perhaps more importantly, what not to do. Tools and programs that increase understanding of complex systems can have transformative impacts. Sensitive monitoring technologies, peer-to-peer learning networks, and programs that improve people’s ability to understand natural systems and the impact our human actions have on these systems can enable regenerative action.  

Across the country we’re excited to see more universities beginning to teach and research regenerative agriculture. The University of Pennsylvania recently launched their “Farm of the Future” symposium, Yale’s Center for Business and the Environment launched a student-led Regenerative Agriculture Initiative, and the University of Vermont Gund Institute for Environment partnered with Ben & Jerry's to recruit UVM's first-ever Postdoctoral Fellow in Regenerative Agriculture.

Here in California, Cuesta College and California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo are offering coursework in regenerative agriculture and the Center for Regenerative Agriculture and Resilient Systems at CSU, Chico has the distinction of being the first university-based ag program to offer a Master’s degree in regenerative agriculture and its production practices. 

These programs offer hope and show increasing interest in better understanding the power and potential of regenerative understanding and action.  We look forward to 2021 being a year of more such action and wish you all well as we head towards the end of a most challenging year!

Last month, members of our team had the opportunity to attend the Climate Underground Conference hosted online by Caney Fork Farms.  Caney Fork Farms is an organic crop and livestock operation owned by former Vice President Al Gore focused on growing healthy and affordable food while inspiring others with “living proof that regenerative, organic farming in Tennessee benefits farmers, the community, and the environment.”  The event was an inspiring 3-day conference to explore the state of the food system including what is being done and what more can be done to accelerate adoption of regenerative agriculture, build resilient food systems, revitalize ecosystems, and stabilize the climate.

The conference began with a talk by Mr. Gore on the accelerating impacts of climate change and the promise of regenerative agriculture. Currently, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) estimates that the global food system accounts for approximately 28% of all global warming pollution, with 10-12% from crop and livestock activities, 8-10% from land use and land use change (including deforestation), and 5-10% from supply chain activities like transportation and food waste.

Good Meat Breakdown

Kathy Webster

For the past nine months, I’ve been part of an incredible cohort of farmers/ranchers, butchers, nonprofits, businesses, authors, and journalists. We have been watching centralized meat production systems across the country struggle to continue their operations during the pandemic. At the same time, we have seen consumer demand for meat raised with attention to human, animal, and environmental health continue to rise and producers scrambling to pivot their businesses to meet that increased demand.  

This group has been on weekly video chats to talk about what we were seeing and how we can help. Our conversations led to the launch of the Good Meat Breakdown born from our shared commitment to “good meat” and transparent production systems that give value back to the land, animals, and people integral to those systems (including the people doing the eating!) 

My Thoughts On Regenerative Fire Mitigation - Part 2

Mark Biaggi

When thinking about a big problem like how to manage fire-prone landscapes, I often return to the writings of Stephen Covey who advocated that we begin with the end in mind. What do we want?  What do we need? How will our actions impact the land, the environment, the people on the land, the life downstream, from the smallest microbe in the soil to the wildlife moving across the landscape?

In the case of fire, the end I have in mind for the landscape I manage is not a landscape free of fire, but a fire-resilient one. In a fire-resilient environment, fire simultaneously cycles nutrients, reduces dangerous fuel build-up, and stimulates new growth. Fire is a natural part of the landscape after all and therefore a fire resilient community is one where humans and fire can coexist.

• In a fire-resilient forest, fires move slowly, “skunking” along the forest floor burning duff and consuming sick, dead, and dying trees. Slow-moving fires “scar” healthy trees, create cavities for wildlife to shelter, and stimulate cones and acorns to open and start the natural process of regrowth.  
   
• In a fire-resilient grassland, fire consumes old and woody fibers no longer palatable to grazing animals releasing stored minerals back to the soil. Seeds get switched on by fire allowing new growth that will feed wild and domesticated herbivores. Areas choked by invasive species are opened up allowing space for perennial and native plants to reestablish.

In the book, Grain by Grain: A Quest to Revive Ancient Wheat, Rural Jobs, and Healthy Food, Bob Quinn shares his experience of transitioning his multi-generational family farm near Big Sandy, Montana to organic practices. With a Master’s degree in plant pathology and a Ph.D. in plant biochemistry, Bob made the decision to go organic and experiment with ways to improve his soil’s health and fertility. As Bob puts it, “My farm became my laboratory.”

One interesting challenge that Bob faced was that as a dryland grain farmer, he didn’t have access to large quantities of compost or animal manure to improve his soil. To address this, Bob experimented with planting leguminous cover crops to bring beneficial nitrogen into the soil, improve soil structure, reduce compaction, and activate soil biology. This proved to be a big success and helped set his farm on the path to not only sustainable but regenerative management.

Excitingly, this type of success is not unique. The upside of well-designed and managed cover crops is both financial and biological and benefits can accrue to all systems of farming. Improving groundcover and the diversity of living plants creates powerful beneficial synergies that allow both conventional and organic farmers to reduce destructive labor-intensive tilling and costly fertilizers. 

As our team at TomKat Ranch conducts our own soil health experiments, we are eager to learn from others. Already we know there is no "right” cover crop mix as cover crops should be designed to address whatever resource concern (shortage) you are trying to address. There are many factors to consider including; residue from the past season, demands of the future crop, mineral shortages or imbalances, biological activity, soil compaction, pathogenic population, water cycle challenges, etc. In addition, mixes may need to be changed annually and as was said, there will be different mixes for different fields, seasons, and crops. 

We look forward to continuing to learn from pioneers like Bob. As for our own experiments, the seeds are in the ground just waiting for the winter rains to come…