8/12/2019 Carbon Conscious Farmers

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mix of forage species (such as clover,vetch and alfalfa) that grow robustlyas good companion plants and allowhim to graze and rest the land foroptimum efficiency.

Furthermore, his soils retain morewater and his cows are healthier.

Julian Gold is an arable farm manageron over , acres in Oxfordshire. He

has been working hard to reduce chemicalinputs and increase soil carbon, whilstmaintaining protability. Throughcarefully controlling compaction frommachinery and minimising cultivationdepth, he has seen a signicant increasein earthworm populations and bettersoil quality.

All these farmers are serious aboutbuilding carbon in their soils, realisingthat the crops are secondary to thehealth of the ecosystem. Their approach

is backed up by hard scientic datafrom leading soil scientists such as PeteSmith and his colleagues at AberdeenUniversity, and world-renowned soilscientist Rattan Lal, who also advisesthe IPCC. Building soil carbon is notan approach of idealists. These areprofessional farmers who have tomake their farms protable, but whoare also concerned about the health oftheir soils for future generations.

The amount of atmospheric carbonthat can be absorbed in well-managedsoils is extraordinary. Lal estimates thepotential for soil carbon sequestrationacross the world as equivalent toa draw-down of about parts permillion of atmospheric CO by .This amazing gure proves that carbonsequestration in soils is one of the fewtools we have to actually reduce globalatmospheric CO levels. To buildorganic matter in the soil is a winwinsituation for climate change as wellas soil health and crop yields. Carbonfarming needs to become the focus offarmers everywhere.www.farmcarbontoolkit.org.ukThanks to Jonathan Smith, pioneer ofthe Farm Carbon Cutting Toolkit, forthis article.

7Issue 285 Resurgence & Ecologist

Lorna Howarth is the founder of The Write Factor. www.thewritefactor.co.uk

In , before the advent of agriculturebased on fossil fuels, chemicals and bigmachinery, Eve Balfour wrote in TheLiving Soil : The health of soil, plant,animal and man is one and indivisible.Since then, the soils of Britain havebeen severely depleted, especiallywhere they have been cultivated forannual crops like cereals. Nearly allthe organic matter stored in the soil that precious resource upon which weall depend for food has been minedand converted into ever-increasing cropyields supported by articial fertilisers.It took from the s to the s forthe reasoning of organic pioneers likeBalfour to be taken seriously.

But fast-forward to , andcarbon-conscious farmers are not justendorsing the same message as Balfour,but putting it into practice withenthusiasm. The principles of feedingthe soil, not the plant, understandingand encouraging soil biology, andharvesting sunlight to maximumeffect are all embraced. These farmersunderstand that we must repair ourdamaged soils because fossil fuels(from which articial fertilisers areproduced) are a non-renewableresource, and equally importantlythey reduce the health of soil systems.Carbon-conscious farmers aim towork with the grain of Nature in soilecosystems, not against it.

Martin Howard farms acresin the Tamar Valley and has seenlife breathed back into his soilsby a combination of minimisingcompaction (caused by overuse ofagricultural machinery), increasingaeration of the soil, and introducingbenecial bacteria and fungi. Heis passionate about improving soilbiology, not least because this activelyimproves the water quality of thenearby river Tamar.

Rob Richmond is a dairy farmer on acres in the Cotswolds who has

increased soil organic matter at anextraordinary rate whilst maintaininghigh milk yields. He uses a complex

Rebuilding soil carbon and soil health

These are professionalfarmers who are

concerned about thehealth of their soils for

future generations

Cows amongst clover Rob Richmond

CARBON-CONSCIOUS FARMERS