Soil-building Agriculture
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Farmers and ranchers have a very important role to play in establishing the Northwest as a biocarbon solutions leader. Standard practices on crop and range lands too often essentially mine carbon from the soil that took millennium to build up. Biocarbon-friendly farming and ranching build carbon-rich soils and long-term fertility, while supplying healthier food.

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No till ag
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Biocarbon friendly agricultural practices include:

  • Planting crops without tilling the soil;
  • Replacing artificial nitrogen fertilizers with organic compost and other carbon-filled soil amendments; and
  • ‘Holistic range management’ techniques that raise premium grass-fed beef while restoring the soil vitality of our grasslands.

Meet John Aeschliman

John Aeschliman has been farming the rolling hills of eastern Washington with a no-till drill for over 25 years. John’s no-till farming practices retain significant amounts of carbon in the soil, which is beneficial both for his crops and our atmosphere:

NBI Innovation Partners in agriculture:

Resources

Re-grounding Agriculture: Restoring the Soil 
Farm practices to build soil carbon, fertility and moisture while cutting fuel and fertilizer costs
--Patrick Mazza, Research Director, Climate Solutions (July 2010). Part of a series of briefing papers on biocarbon that focus on how the Northwest can mount regional initiatives to accelerate biocarbon progress.

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