FARM LIKE THE WORLD DEPENDS ON IT
“Farm like the world depends on it.” That’s the motto of the Regenerative Organic Alliance. But what does it mean?
Agriculture impacts all of the planetary systems that work together to keep Earth habitable: the carbon cycle, the water cycle, and the nitrogen cycle. Yet many modern agricultural practices undermine these systems.
Next to the oceans, soil is our planet’s largest carbon “sink,” but tilling the soil—standard practice in conventional agriculture—exposes buried organic matter to air. This triggers decomposition that releases CO2 into the atmosphere. By reducing or eliminating tillage we can transform agriculture from a climate problem into a climate solution.
In turn, by sequestering carbon in the soil and encouraging soil biodiversity (all those tunneling worms make a difference!), soils are able to retain more water and are more resistant to drought. Not everyone can “dry farm” (not irrigate) as we do at Ambar, but if the world’s agricultural soils can be farmed in a way that helps retain water, less will need to be diverted from rivers, lakes, streams, and aquifers.
Regenerative organic practices also include a ban on nitrogen-based synthetic fertilizers. Synthetic nitrogen is so heavily used in modern agriculture that half of all the nitrogen in your body comes from these fertilizers. Unfortunately, heavy use of synthetic nitrogen disrupts the natural nitrogen cycle and causes harmful algae blooms that destroy freshwater and marine life. In contrast, regenerative agriculture relies on natural sources of nitrogen. At Ambar we include different kinds of legumes in our cover crop (the plants under the vines and between the rows). Our legumes attract the nitrogen-fixing microbes that draw nitrogen from the air and turn it into a form our vines can use. The dung of the sheep that graze Ambar’s cover crop add additional nitrogen to our soils.
“Farm as if the world depends on it” – In fact, the world really does depend on it. At Ambar, we’re trying to do our part.
With heartfelt thanks,
Pam & Rob
