Preserving Golden Ground

Soil Health and Regenerative Agriculture

Did you know that soil has only existed for roughly 10% of Earth’s history, yet it is partly responsible for making life on Earth possible? For billions of years, Earth’s surface consisted of uninhabitable landscapes, including molten lava and eventually, barren and rocky landmasses. Everything changed when soil first began to form around 500 million years ago (King, 2024).

Soil is one of the most valuable natural resources provided by our incredible Planet Earth. It is considered a nonrenewable resource due to the time and circumstances required for it to form. Much of life on Earth begins and ends with soil. For these reasons, we must work to protect and preserve our soils to ensure their longevity for future generations - and regenerative agriculture is the key to accomplishing just that.

First, let’s acknowledge the distinction between dirt and soil. Soil is teeming with life, an organized ecosystem containing a variety of living organisms including fungi, worms and insects, bacteria, and organic matter. Dirt is devoid of the minerals, nutrients, and/or living organisms found in soil. Just think dirt=dead. Plants cannot survive and thrive in dirt. 

Let’s face it - we need to feed our growing population, which already has ballooned to proportions never before seen on Planet Earth. We need to figure out creative solutions to preserve food and natural resource security, and to do so on a planet with worsening climate conditions will be no easy task. Regenerative agriculture is the key in unlocking this sustainable future due to its emphasis on soil health.

Regenerative agriculture is the process of restoring degraded soils using management practices based on ecological principles. For more information about what these practices might look like and what their ecosystem services include, check out RIPE’s research. There are five principles of regenerative agriculture:

1. Minimize soil disturbance, both physical and chemical, to preserve the health and integrity of the organisms living in the soil

2. Keep the soil covered with living plants or a mulch of crop residue to minimize the impacts of precipitation and erosion

3. Maintain living roots in the soil to keep the underground ecosystem alive and well

4. Maximize plant diversity to improve the variety of soil creatures that can be supported

5. Reintegrate livestock to support the regeneration of soil while diversifying farm income as well

Essentially, regenerative practices should mimic natural processes. Keep in mind that the optimal regenerative practices on any given farm will vary depending on geographic location, local climate, commodity types, etc.

Let’s explore a few regenerative agriculture practices and discuss why they are beneficial for soil health. 

1. Cover crops are any crop grown to cover the soil and may be incorporated into the soil later for enrichment. Cover crops are primarily grasses, legumes and forbs. Some common cover crops that are recommended for seasonal cover and other conservation purposes include annual ryegrass, oilseed radish, winter cereal rye, and more. They can provide many environmental and economic benefits, and improve soil health by increasing soil organic matter and improving soil fertility by capturing excess nutrients after a crop is harvested.

2. Reduced tillage, or conservation tillage, promotes healthier soil management by leaving the previous year’s crop residue on the ground when planting the next crop, with little or no mechanical tillage. This practice also reduces erosion and runoff, and improves water retention and drainage.

3. Silvopastures are the integration of trees and forages into a working system on a farm. The forage protects soil from mechanical and chemical erosion (wind and water), and adds organic matter to improve overall soil quality. Silvopastures can also increase wildlife diversity and improve water quality.

4. Conservation crop rotation is a planned sequence of crops grown on the same ground over a period of time (i.e. the rotation cycle). This practice can reduce erosion, maintain or increase soil health and organic matter content, improve soil moisture efficiency, and more - all while providing feed and forage for livestock, and food and cover for wildlife (including pollinator forage).

5. Forage and biomass planting is defined by the United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service as “establishing adapted and/or compatible species, varieties, or cultivars of herbaceous species suitable for pasture, hay, or biomass production.” The roots of the forage and biomass benefit soil health by building organic matter, retaining soil nutrients, and more.

These are just a few of many regenerative practices that promote soil health - there are tons more which promote water quality and conservation, wildlife conservation, etc. RIPE proposes that producers be compensated for several regenerative agriculture practices as a result of the ecosystem services they provide, including those listed above and others.

Many of these practices emphasize the reduction of erosion. So, why is that important? Soil erosion is a gradual process that occurs when the impact of water or wind detaches and removes soil particles, causing the soil to deteriorate. You’ll recall that dirt can be referred to as “dead soil.” Soil erosion can lead to soil death. This can be detrimental on farms and in natural ecosystems alike. Soil erosion contributes to decreased soil fertility as nutrients are stripped away, which can negatively affect crop yields. It can also lead to soil compaction and poor drainage, loss of organic matter and more. Remember that soil is considered a nonrenewable natural resource due to the length of time it takes new soil to form - this is why it is vital that we protect and preserve our healthy soils.

Organic matter has come up a few times as well - but what does it mean, and why is it so important? Soil organic matter, which contributes to soil productivity and fertility, is the fraction of the soil that consists of plant or animal tissue in various stages of breakdown (decomposition). Most productive agricultural soils have between 3 and 6% organic matter (Fenton et al., 2008). On farms, the main sources of organic matter are plant litter (plant roots, stubble, leaves, mulch) and animal manures. Through the process of decomposition, humus is created. This black crumbly material is a complex chemical substance that stores plant nutrients, holds moisture and improves soil structure. Organic matter makes soil “golden ground” - a highly-valuable and often overlooked resource, but one that biological life is dependent on.

RIPE believes that American producers should be compensated for the public benefits created by their regenerative agriculture practices. For a full list of these practices, visit our Research Page.

RIPE is working to make regenerative agriculture the norm on American soil. We see the environmental benefits of regenerative agriculture for soil health, natural resource conservation, biodiversity, and more. We also see the benefits to human health through more nutrient-dense food and less harmful pollution entering our air, water and soil. RIPE sees the path to the wide-scale adoption of regenerative agriculture beginning and ending with the farmer. Farmers and ranchers are crucial environmental stewards who should be compensated for the ecosystem services created by their voluntary conservation efforts.

 Learn more about Our Approach to Scaling Regenerative Agriculture the RIPE Way.

REFERENCES

1. Al-Kaisi, M. (n.d.). Soil erosion: An agricultural production challenge. Integrated Crop Management. https://crops.extension.iastate.edu/encyclopedia/soil-erosion-agricultural-production-challenge 

2. Bjorkman, T. et al (n.d.). Cover cropping to Improve Climate Resilience. Climate Hubs. https://www.climatehubs.usda.gov/hubs/northeast/topic/cover-cropping-improve-climate-resilience 

3. Driscoll, T. (2017, January 17). What can farmers do about climate change? Forage and Biomass planting. National Farmers Union. https://nfu.org/2017/01/09/what-can-farmers-do-about-climate-change-forage-and-biomass-planting/ 

4. Fenton, M., Albers, C., & Ketterings, Q. (2008). Agronomy Fact Sheet Series: Soil Organic Matter. Cornell University Cooperative Extension.

5. Government of New South Wales. (1970, January 1). Soil organic matter. NSW Department of Primary Industries. https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/agriculture/soils/guides/soil-carbon/organic-matter 

6. Horton, M. (2020, July 14). Reduced soil tilling helps both soils and yields. Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability. https://sustainability.stanford.edu/news/reduced-soil-tilling-helps-both-soils-and-yields 

7. King, C. (2024, September 6). How soils changed life on earth. Edinburgh Impact . https://impact.ed.ac.uk/research/climate-environmental-crisis/how-soils-changed-life-on-earth/ 

8. Sulaeman, D., & Westhoff, T. (2020, February 7). The causes and effects of soil erosion, and how to prevent it. World Resources Institute. https://www.wri.org/insights/causes-and-effects-soil-erosion-and-how-prevent-it 

9. The difference between soil and Dirt. Nature’s Path. (n.d.). https://naturespath.com/blogs/posts/difference-soil-dirt 

10. The principles of regenerative agriculture. The Royal Agricultural Society of England. (2023, July 18). https://www.rase.org.uk/news/the-principles-of-regenerative-agriculture/ 

11. United States Department of Agriculture. (n.d.). Cover crops and crop rotation. People’s Garden. https://www.usda.gov/about-usda/general-information/initiatives-and-highlighted-programs/peoples-garden/soil-health/cover-crops-and-crop-rotation 

12. United States Dept. of Agriculture. (2014). 328 - 1 Natural Resources Conservation Service Conservation Practice Standard (CONSERVATION CROP ROTATION).

13. USDA Forest Service. (n.d.). Silvopasture. Agroforestry Practices. https://www.fs.usda.gov/nac/practices/silvopasture.php