Cover Crops, Crop Rotations, and Livestock Integration

Regenerative agriculture practices have many goals including “improving soil health, increasing biodiversity, aiding in carbon sequestration, … and improving the overall larger ecosystem”. These practices make crops more productive, reduce variability in yield on fields, and produces crops that are more resilient to draught and flooding. Regenerative practices also provide opportunities for farmers to save money since they allow them to use less fertilizer and pesticides. Healthier soils also cause an increase in the nutrients available for plants, so the crops have more nutritional value. As you can see, there are many benefits of adopting regenerative agriculture practices, and this transition is necessary to protect the future of our food system.

At Carbon Yield, we believe that regenerative agriculture practices should be accessible to all farmers. We help growers integrate new practices that improve their bottom line while strengthening their land for the future. We help collect and organize farm management data to assess opportunities in carbon markets and we connect farmers to opportunities to save money on farm inputs and sell their crops at a premium. Transitioning to regenerative practices makes farming more resilient and more profitable, and with our help, we believe growers can prosper on healthy soil.

There are many practices that are considered regenerative, and below are more details on Cover Crops, Livestock Integration, and Diverse Crop Rotation on cropland.

Cover Crops

Instead of leaving the field bare after harvesting a cash crop, farmers can plant what’s called a cover crop to allow continued plant growth in the soil. Cover crops increase the amount of nutrients in the soil, while sequestering carbon, maintaining soil structure and limiting erosion, creating habitat for pollinators, and suppressing weeds. Growing a cover crop is a lot like growing your own fertilizer. Many cover crops fix nitrogen and set up the following cash crop for success during the summer growing season. This reduces the need to apply a synthetic nitrogen fertilizer the following year, while reducing yield variability across farms, particularly in sloping areas where liquid fertilizers tend to runoff. 

Diverse Crop Rotations

Another regenerative practice is crop diversity. Healthy ecosystems that naturally regenerate their soil tend to have more biodiversity. This helps balance and cycle nutrients and protects against pests and invasive species. Conventional agriculture relies on monocultures, the growth of one crop. Within a more simplified cropping rotation, pests have a chance to establish themselves, requiring farmers to spend more time and resources on pesticides and herbicides.

A more irregular crop rotation can help a farm outcompete pests, saving time and resources for farmers. Crop diversity also allows the plants and insects they attract to create a better balance of healthy soil with more nutrients and organic matter. Each plant sources nutrients in the soil by trading carbon rich sugars (produced by photosynthesis) from their roots with microbes in the soil. More diversity brings macronutrients (Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium) as well as micronutrients that are also essential for plant growth. Monocultures deplete the soil of these nutrients which creates the need to reintroduce these nutrients in the form of synthetic fertilizers.

A farmer can increase their crop diversity by rotating the crops they plant on each field every year, incorporating crops like alfalfa, wheat, and sorghum to lengthen the rotation, and even intercropping. Growing these crops improves the quality and yield of future cash crops, while reducing input costs. Carbon Yield is also looking to find premium markets for auxiliary crops in the rotation to ensure a farmer profits every year, not just when corn or soy is planted.

Livestock Integration

One more regenerative agriculture practice is livestock integration. This practice combines farm animals and crops on the same land. By introducing animals on cropland, it provides natural nutrient cycling and more carbon sequestration. Animals such as cattle graze the land and cycle the biomass, leaving behind animal waste which adds nutrients and carbon to the soil. Livestock are an important part of a healthy ecosystem because they can make the soil of the land they graze on healthier while living a healthier, pasture-raised lifestyle. Healthy soil prevents erosion, better regulates its temperature, retains moisture, and integrating livestock creates an opportunity for another revenue stream.

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By incorporating some of the regenerative agriculture practices mentioned or others such as silvopasture, no-till or reduced tillage, and composting, farmers can reduce the negative impact that agriculture has on the planet. If these practices were more widely adopted and there was only a 2% increase in the carbon content of the planet’s soils, then 100% of the carbon emissions currently going into the atmosphere could be offset. Regenerative agriculture practices can have such a powerful influence on the environment and the quality of our food system. It’s important to note that these practices aren’t new ideas but rather a return to the practices that Native Americans, Indigenous Peoples, and People of Color have been practicing for generations. Carbon sequestration is a powerful tool, and regenerative agriculture practices are a great way to improve soil health and sequester carbon. If more farmers adopted regenerative agriculture practices, it would have a huge impact on the health and future of the planet.

If you are a farmer and would like to learn more about your opportunities within the carbon market and regenerative agriculture, please fill out our form here.