Sustainable Agriculture

Sustainable Agriculture is a holistic philosophy and design approach that aims to meet today’s agricultural needs while keeping long-term goals in mind for future farmers and consumers. By viewing and understanding our ecosystem as interconnected cycles, farmers work with nature to improve the health of their land, animals, people, environment, and financial viability.

Sustainable Agriculture Practices
Farms are viewed as living biological systems. Ecology-based approaches are used in place of industrial farming methods. By identifying and mimicking systems found in nature, farmers are able to increase on-farm nutrient cycling, thus reducing or eliminating the use of synthetic inputs.

Cover Crops
Planting cover crops during off-season times protects and builds soil health by preventing erosion and drought, while aiding in weed suppression. This helps to replenish soil nutrients, which reduces the need for chemicals and fertilizers.

Reducing and Eliminating Tilling
Conventional agriculture uses heavy machinery to plow (till) fields multiple times at different depths in order to prepare them for planting. This method can cause soil loss, erosion, and compacted soil. To reduce or eliminate tilling, seeds can instead be inserted directly into undisturbed soil either by hand or with a lower-impact machine that requires fewer passes and less depth. This preserves the soil structure, making it easier for the soil to absorb and distribute water more efficiently. As a result, this increases soil organic matter, which promotes overall productivity.

Integrated Pest Management (IPM)
This method uses an ecosystem-based strategy that lowers risk and harm to the environment by using preventative measures as a base. These methods include sealing cracks and other entry points, using natural predators and competitors, using physical controls like screens or mulching, and using chemical controls when needed. Genetically diverse crops and livestock are also important in achieving resiliency against disease.

Integrating Livestock and Crops
Conventional agriculture keeps plants and animal production separate. By having animals and plants work together like they do in nature, farmers can increase biodiversity in their soil. For instance, by using systems of rotational grazing in an alley crop system, animals help fertilize soil for future crop plantings as well as the tree crops already established.

Systems
Organic Agriculture, Permaculture, Biodynamics, Regenerative Agriculture, and Agroforestry are all systems that fall under the term of Sustainable Agriculture. They all have the same baseline goals of increasing biodiversity, soil health, biosequestration, nutrient cycling, and resiliency.

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