regenerative 21st century farming: a solution to global warming & the organic green revolution

©2009 Rodale institute

Regenerative 21st Century Farming: A Solution to Global Warming& The Organic Green Revolution

By Timothy J. LaSalle, PhDCEO, Rodale Institute


The Farming System Trial ®


Energy Used in Different Corn Production Systems

0

50

100

150

200

250

Tillage No Till Tillage No Till

231.7

77.5

121.6

199.2

Conventional

Organic


CO2 Over Past 420,000 YearsC

O2 C

once

ntra

tion

(ppm

)

Years before 2005 from the Vostok Ice Core Data


Global Effect

3.5 billion tillable acres

40% Mitigation

60%

40%Agriculture


No-Till Roller Crimper

No-Till using Biology not Chemistry


Natural N Production

Hairy Vetch Biomass Measurement

150 - 200 pounds per acre


Carbon Impact by Field TreatmentCarbon Sequestration ( kg C / ha /year)

-44.6 -18.9 -8.1

300

744

12171261

2363

-500

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

MoldboardPlow

Sub Soil MoleKnife

Conv. No-till

Wintercovercrops

Raw DairyManure

CompostBroiler(litter,

leaves)

Compost(Dairy,

Manure,Leaves)


Soil Organic Matters

1%1% 5%5%5 % 1%


Rodale Institute

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

0 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 60 70 80

Soil Depth (cm)S

oil C

arbo

n (%

)


2025: 2 Billion People Without Water

Austin Brown II, 65, on his ranch in Beeville, TX. Much of the state has not had a significant rainfall since August. The worst drought in nearly 100 years is racking three-quarters of Texas Photo byMichael Stravato for The New York Times


C - N cycle

C - H2O

Soil Carbon Matter

Matters

Soil Carbon Matter(s)


Rodale Institute

The relationships of water and soil carbon

y = 22.363x + 0.0296R2 = 1

y = 38.893x - 10.474R2 = 0.982

0

50

100

150

200

250

0 1 2 3 4 5 6

Percent Soil Organic Matter

Soil Carbon Water per cwt

Linear (Soil Carbon) Linear (Water per cwt)


Organic Corn - 1995 Drought

Organic Conventional

Better infiltration, retention, and delivery to plants helps avoid

drought damage


Creating New Soil

A photo from a Canadian research station showing the root growth of bunchgrass plants that were kept clipped at certain levels.

Research efforts in the soil science arena have concentrated on reducing the rate of soil loss. The concept of building new topsoil is rarely considered.

From Dr. Christine Jones, Carbon For Life, Inc.


Proven, Affordable, Immediate

Mob Grazing

Keyline Plow


These basic processes determine whether landscapes end up like this:

…or like this.(Two rivers in the same area, with the same soils and rainfall, on the same day.)

© ManagingWholes.com

Restoring Water


• Higher corn and soybean yields in drought years

• Increased soil C and N

• Higher water infiltration

• Higher water holding cap.

• Higher microbial activity

Soil in Organic Systems


Organic Matter Increases Infiltration

Conventional

Organic Using Compost


Buildings floated in the cedar river in

Cedar Rapids, Iowa,

following a devastating flood last

year.

Flooding in Agricultural Zones


Gulf of Mexico Dead Zone


40% MitigationCuba – Two rice plants the same age and same variety

Systems Rice Intensification

By: Dr. Norman Uphoff, Cornell University


Systems Rice Intensification

40% Mitigation

After typhoon, FFS farmer in

Dông Trù village, Hanoi Province,

Viet Nam

By: Dr. Norman Uphoff, Cornell University


• Extends plant root systems

• Produces erosion-resistant, carbon enriched soil

• Provides mechanisms for soil biological carbon fixation

• Slows decay of organic matter

Mycorrhizal Fungi


Soil Aggregation:

A Biological Process


a relic of sampling methodology?

Dep

th (

feet

)

Corn plant root system Sampling depths of 140 studies comparing tillage impacts on soil carbon

(shaded area denotes sampling depth)

(Figure from Baker et al. 2007)

Soil Carbon Sequestration in Conventional No-till Agriculture


Global Effect

3.5 billion tillable acres

40% Mitigation

60%

40%Agriculture


Single biggest solution

11 billion acres

100+ % Mitigation


A sizable % of human

population now

depends on [artificial] N fertilizer.

T.E. Crews & M.B. Peoples 2002

Agricultural Calamity


Frogs Not Ready for Roundup

Roundup still killed up to 71

percent of tadpoles in

outdoor tanks. Rick Relyea, University of Pittsburgh


Human Sperm Count Decline


Representative drawings of a person by 4 & 5 year-old

Yaqui children from the FOOTHILLS

of Sonora, Mexico

Representative drawings of a person by 4 & 5-year-

old Yaqui children from the VALLEY

of Sonora, Mexico.

An Anthropological Approach to the Evaluation of Preschool Children Exposed to Pesticides in Mexico

© Elizabeth A. Guillette, María Mercedes Meza, Maria Guadalupe Aquilar, Alma Delia Soto and Idalia Enedina Garcia

4 Years Old5 Years Old

Female

Female

MaleFemale Male

Female MaleMale

4 Years Old

5 Years Old


In spite of current realities of soil loss,

global water shortages, high cost

of fossil fuels ecologically and financially,

increased aquatic dead zones,

and soil fertility depletion there exists

an agriculture that is

restorative, regenerative and profitable.

Agricultural Hope


• Build Soil

• Clean Waterways

• Improve Water Retention

• Increase Drought & Flood Resistance

• Improve Yields

• Increase Adaptability to Climate Change

Ecological Restoration Too


Biological farming and ranching works to build the biology.

“Bio-logical”

Chemical conventional agriculture degrades the biology.

“Bio-logical”


New Markets


Rodale Institute Reaches for Consumers


Rodale Institute Paradise Lost

1970


Organic Farm Conservancy

Rodale Institute

regenerative 21st century farming: a solution to global warming & the organic green revolution

Health & Medicine

global effect

soil carbon

yaqui children

soil loss

norman uphoff

4 amp

5 years

biology