Fall 2022 ORGANIC REPORT 30 Climate-Smart, Organic Practices Build Soil and Improve Farming Under Changing Conditions Amber Sciligo, Ph.D. Soil Health on Organic Farms Healthy soils are essential for resilient crop production and supporting the ecosystem. They retain water, support a diversity of organisms vital to decomposition and nutrient cycling, provide crops with essential nutrients, and store away carbon, helping to mitigate global climate change. The growing demands for food, feed, fiber, and fuel cannot be met without healthy soils. Unfortunately, soils in the United States are being degraded by unsustainable agricultural practices. Techniques used by organic farmers can help stop soil health degradation, and even restore health in previously degraded soils, because they replenish organic carbon and preserve underground biodiversity. Many studies have shown that organic soils tend to score higher when it comes to soil health metrics than conventional soils. Organic soils have greater biological activity and stability, more biomass, and higher diversity than conventionally managed soils. Organically managed soils also tend to have higher waterholding capacity, porosity, and aggregate stability than conventionally managed soils, which can lead to yield advantages in extreme weather events such as droughts and flooding, meaning that organic may fare better as our planet continues to experience climate change. Healthy Soils Help Mitigate Climate Change Climate change is causing both gradual and extreme changes in weather conditions like temperature, rainfall, and devastating storms. These changes influence the success of crops by causing stress to the crops during drought, flood, or extreme temperatures. Populations of beneficial biodiversity like pollinators and natural enemies of pests are also impacted, while all kinds of pests and pathogens also change with the weather, typically increasing with more heat and humidity. Farmers are faced with fluctuating extremes in nearly every growing condition, which makes it challenging to produce reliable yields each year. Carbon sequestration is a critical tool for building soil health and combatting climate change—locking carbon away in soil reserves reduces greenhouse gases. By using farming practices that reduce GHG emissions and draw carbon back into the soil (such as reducing tillage, pesticide use, and reliance on synthetic fertilizer) not only helps mitigate climate change, it also improves the soil structure, which helps farmers cope with changes in weather conditions associated with climate change. Specifically, storing carbon sequestration: • Reduces erosion • Reduces compaction • Improves aeration, filtration, and water holding capacity • Provides a reserve of essential nutrients for plants The Organic Center has an ongoing research program to support soil health and climate change mitigation. After our groundbreaking large-scale study with Northeastern University showing that organic soil management sequesters significantly more carbon in the soil, we have built a network of studies that fit together to provide critical information for battling climate change. Our scientific publications and research reports look at everything from boosting carbon sequestration and soil health to reducing nutrient pollution. We have ongoing projects including research in collaboration with the University of California Berkeley that connects organic practices used to manage carbon sequestration and soil health to farmer yields. Stay informed at organic-center.org. •
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTY1NDIzOQ==