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How carbon farming reduces risk
Summary: Carbon farming is the adoption of new practice changes that reduce emissions and/or increase carbon sequestration. While these new practices can help growers generate carbon credits and diversify their income, carbon farming can also reduce risk across a number of agronomic challenges.
Improved soil resiliency is at the core of any successful carbon farming program. Key practices such as planting cover crops, reducing tillage, and improving nitrogen timing are all effective ways to generate credits, which, in turn, provide financial benefits to the grower. But they’re also important strategies in ensuring more stable yields, crop survival through increasingly inclement weather, and overall farm sustainability, so the land can be passed from one generation to the next.
Optimizing crop yields
Traditional farming approaches like tilling can break up the soil and destroy its natural structure, leaving it susceptible to erosion, compaction, and overall degradation. The depleted soil quality leads to nutrient loss through leaching, erosion, and/or denitrification, making the land less productive for agriculture. When soil health is actively managed through practices like reduced tillage, growers are able to produce healthier, higher-yielding crops, ensuring they can bring the best and most profitable product to market.
Protection against extreme weather
It’s no secret that the world has seen a noticeable increase in extreme weather over the last decade. Whether it’s long-term drought, intense flooding, or deadly heat waves, these environmental events stand to negatively impact farming output. One way to address these risks is by increasing soil resiliency through carbon farming practices. Not only does healthier soil lead to better yield in normal weather years, it also mitigates the impact of adverse weather through stronger water infiltration capabilities, allowing moisture to be fully absorbed during times of drought and effectively shed during excessive precipitation.
Improved soil resiliency is at the core of any successful carbon farming program. Key practices such as planting cover crops, reducing tillage, and improving nitrogen timing are all effective ways to generate credits, which, in turn, provide financial benefits to the grower. But they’re also important strategies in ensuring more stable yields, crop survival through increasingly inclement weather, and overall farm sustainability, so the land can be passed from one generation to the next.
Optimizing crop yields
Traditional farming approaches like tilling can break up the soil and destroy its natural structure, leaving it susceptible to erosion, compaction, and overall degradation. The depleted soil quality leads to nutrient loss through leaching, erosion, and/or denitrification, making the land less productive for agriculture. When soil health is actively managed through practices like reduced tillage, growers are able to produce healthier, higher-yielding crops, ensuring they can bring the best and most profitable product to market.
Protection against extreme weather
It’s no secret that the world has seen a noticeable increase in extreme weather over the last decade. Whether it’s long-term drought, intense flooding, or deadly heat waves, these environmental events stand to negatively impact farming output. One way to address these risks is by increasing soil resiliency through carbon farming practices. Not only does healthier soil lead to better yield in normal weather years, it also mitigates the impact of adverse weather through stronger water infiltration capabilities, allowing moisture to be fully absorbed during times of drought and effectively shed during excessive precipitation.
Preserving for the future
Farming successfully and profitably is no easy feat. Growers face a rising number of risk factors that can pose a threat to the health and longevity of their business. Adopting carbon farming practices and focusing on soil health can be an effective way to bridge these challenges, paving a path for future generations of young farmers.
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