Published: March 4, 2021 By

By now, you’ve probably heard about the detrimental effects of climate change due to the increase of carbon emissions into our atmosphere. At this point in time, our society currently depends on the burning of fossil fuels for over 80% of our energy needs. We must learn about how important it is to take care of our soil because it is the unlikely hero in the climate change debacle.

How much carbon has been released into the atmosphere?

What is sequestration?

So, why is healthy soil important?

  • Healthy soil can store more carbon!

  • Absorb more water before becoming saturated (making it more resilient in drier years)

    • Reduce runoff from croplands

  • Produce more food for a growing population

What can be done to protect our farmland soils?

About 44.37% of all of the land in the US is used for farms!

  • Conservation tillage

    • Using new tilling processes on farmlands such as no-tilling (leaving the soil undisturbed between seasons), in-row subsoiling (soil surface and residue are undisturbed except for strips up to one-third of the row width where deep-tillage technologies loosen this soil), strip-till (tilling in strips only where some plants are being planted), etc.

  • Cover cropping

  • Crop rotation

    • Planting different crops after each yield on the same plot of land in order to optimize nutrients in the soil.

    • For example, a farmer may plant corn on a plot of land one year and beans on the same land the next year.

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