Editor’s note: This commentary is by Stephen Leslie, co-owner of Cedar Mountain Farm and Cobb Hill Cheese, both located at Cobb Hill Co-housing in Hartland. He is an author at Chelsea Green Publishing.
We are living in perhaps the most critical moments in all of human history. The very survival of our species is hanging in the balance — depending on what we as a global civilization decide. The climate scientists of the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change are telling us that we have about a two-year window to halt carbon emissions and begin drawdown if we are to avoid the most catastrophic consequences of accelerated abrupt climate change.
The passage of the Global Warming Solutions Act presents Vermonters with a historic moment full of unprecedented challenges and unique opportunities. Transportation, weatherization, wind, solar, geo-thermal and hydro are all technological fixes that are being implemented or are under consideration to meet our binding targets. We must lower greenhouse gas emissions by technological means — but the agriculture and forestry sectors are also vitally important. Not only can a shift in management practices reduce greenhouse gas emissions on farms through greater efficiency, the adoption of organic regenerative practices can sequester carbon by transforming it into long-term stable humus. This is incredibly important because the oceans have absorbed 90% of the CO2 that humans have emitted. This means that as we reduce emissions the oceans will begin to re-equilibrate by releasing CO2. Simply reducing emissions won’t ever be enough to halt climate change. We need to maximize the sequestration capacity of our farms and forests.
Healthy soil can sequester 3-10 tons of carbon per acre per annum. It is estimated that if all 8.3 billion acres of rangeland and 3.8 billion acres of cropland on the planet were converted to organic regenerative land management we could sequester enough carbon to bring CO2 in the atmosphere back down to 350/ppm in just five years. A Vermont healthy soil protection and restoration act could be the policy path to grant organic regenerative land management (healthy soil practices) a prominent role in achieving our greenhouse gas emission reduction targets.
The California Healthy Soils Program passed in 2018 provides an excellent framework for envisioning how this could work in Vermont. The California program was also implemented as a response to greenhouse gas emissions targets. The strategy is to build out on already existing programs such as Natural Resources Conservation Service Environment Quality Incentive Program and payment for ecosystem services initiatives, Vermont Environmental Stewardship Program, UVM Extension research and pilot programs, Farm to Plate and Farm to School programs, and the many USDA programs administered through NGOs like the Vermont Land Trust and NOFA-VT — in order to coordinate and amplify the collective impact of all these programs exponentially. This will require spending for incentives, technical assistance, farmer-to-farmer training, and educational opportunities for schools and the general public. The good news is that the Healthy Soil Program in California has demonstrated that investment in incentivizing land managers to adopt healthy soil practices has proven to be the most cost-effective way to sequester carbon.
Prior to European occupation soils in North America classified as agricultural had soil organic matter above 10%. Soil organic matter now averages at less than 1% (it is approximately 50% carbon). Since the dawn of civilization human activity has released half of all atmospheric carbon through habitat degradation. Currently, one third of annual U.S. atmospheric C02 leading to global heating comes from the agricultural sector.
As the pace of climate change crosses tipping points and accelerates, Vermont is experiencing more prolonged droughts and more extreme precipitation events that cause catastrophic flooding. Every increase of 1% organic matter in the top six inches of soil will hold an additional 20,000-27,000 gallons of water per acre. This water infiltration and holding capacity increases farm yields, and provides resiliency in the face of flood and drought.
Roughly 80% of the agricultural soils in Vermont are currently managed by the dairy sector. These soils have been systematically degraded — often with soil organic matter at 1% or less — and annual soil loss at 4 tons/acre or more. But they also represent our greatest opportunity for regeneration and subsequent drawdown. In the process we can also bring resiliency back into our food system and restore vital ecological functions to our landscapes while returning economic vitality back to our farms.
To meet our binding greenhouse gas emission reduction targets, clean up our rivers and lakes, and renew our agricultural economy, we need to elevate healthy soil as the essential ingredient to solving the climate and ecological crisis. Soil needs to be treated as the most basic infrastructure of our society. It is the single most important resource in our world. It drives and sustains all terrestrial life and in syncopation with the oceans, it governs all the cycles of our living biosphere. We cannot have clean air or fresh water or nutritious food without maintaining healthy soils.
Soil is such a critical resource that we can no longer leave its management unregulated. The Legislature must offer greater protections for this resource and offer incentives for the adoption and maintenance of healthy soil management practices. Healthy soils acts and programs in other states build upon the work of the soil and water conservation districts established by the Natural Resources Conservation Service. Now is the time to take this a step further in Vermont by having our government proclaim that ecosystem protection is the fiduciary responsibility of the state.
It is not practical to measure carbon sequestration and enhanced landscape functions on every farm every year. Therefore UVM should continue to conduct trials and be charged with monitoring pilot farms to establish median averages of what can be reasonably expected from the implementation of healthy soil management plans. Farmers will be expected to document all practices. Using the Nutrient Management Plan as a model, NRCS agents can assist farmers in developing whole farm soil conservation management plans. These plans will aim for long-term adoption of practices with commensurate long-term financial incentives and technical assistance. Field agents can do yearly farm visits and regular follow-ups to monitor and assist in the implementation of practices.
Each participating farm would have a “team” of experts to help implement and troubleshoot. This team could coordinate with the Farm Viability Program to strive for successful farm outcomes at every level.
Incentives may be paid for implementation of each practice — but all practices should be seen as comprising a synergy of effects to enhance and restore all the landscape functions of the farm ecosystem. Incentives to farmers would no longer be granted piecemeal for specific practices — rather farmers (ranchers, loggers) should be aided to develop healthy soil management plans. For example, paying farmers to plant rye cover crop on fields in continuous corn will help reduce soil erosion over the winter compared to land that is left bare, but it will not sequester carbon or do much else to improve soil health as long as it is still being heavily tilled in the spring and laced with chemical fertilizer and pesticides. Even conventional no-till can at best be described as a “sustainable” practice as it has not been shown to increase soil organic matter, and studies conducted around Lake Erie have shown that pelletized superphosphate applied to no-till corn actually increases run-off compared to conventional tillage.
Conservation soil management plans would allow for the land manager to apply for assistance on a variety of practices through a single contract process. This would greatly increase enrollment and voluntary compliance with any new regulations regarding soil health protections (along the line of required agricultural practices). Incentives and training (carrots) are a favorable approach over regulations (sticks). Successful pilot projects and farmer-to-farmer training are proven methods for accelerating the adoption of healthy soils practices among the legacy farming community.
The passage of the Global Warming Solutions Act in August 2019 presents us with the opportunity to transition our farms and forests to healthy soil management. Organic regenerative agriculture and green technology can partner to meet our climate targets and goals. Vermont has the potential to become a national leader in this international movement.
Sources
Lal, Rattan, Soil Carbon Sequestration Impacts on Global Climate Change and Food Security
Kitteridge, Jack, Soil Carbon Restoration: Can Biology do the Job?
Jehne, Walter, Restoring water cycles to naturally cool climate
Estrada, Torri, Insights for Healthy Soils and Carbon Farming: California’s experience with soil health policies
Jones, Christine, Liquid Carbon Pathway
Rodale Institute, Regenerative Organic Agriculture and Climate Change
Savory, Holistic Management: Portfolio of Scientific Findings