Dangerous levels of carbon in Earth’s atmosphere derive not only from burning fossil fuels, but also from land use changes like deforestation, industrial agriculture, and desertification. In fact, some scientists estimate that two-thirds of the excess carbon in the atmosphere derive from land-use changes by human activity. The good news is, with changes to farming, ranching and gardening practices, we can reverse the global trend of soil carbon losses and instead return atmospheric carbon back to the soil.

Building soil carbon can mitigate climate change while also increasing the security of our watersheds, ecosystems and food systems. At NOFA/Mass, we are teaching ourselves and others land management methods that increase the health of crops, farms, people and the planet.

  • Minimize soil ecosystem disturbance by reducing or eliminating chemical inputs and tillage
  • Promote biodiversity above ground and below ground through inoculation, cover crop diversity, crop rotation, and the integration of perennials, annuals and livestock whenever possible
  • Keep living roots in the soil for as much of the year as possible

Farmers

  • Plant nitrogen-fixing cover crops and living row paths
  • Reduce tillage with no-till rotations or shallow till practices
  • Recycle biomass with livestock
  • Replace pesticides and fungicides with diverse beneficial organisms
  • Incorporate perennials, pasture cropping, and cover crop cocktails into your farm plan
  • Inoculate soils with beneficial microorganisms and provide inputs that require microbial digestion (for instance, plant meals and micronized rocks and shells instead of chemicals and organic sulfates)

Gardener/Homeowner

  • Plant your lawn with diverse species, including deep rooted grasses and nitrogen fixing species like clover.
  • Mow or heavily mulch over weeds instead of pulling
  • Incorporate multi-layer, perennial, diverse plantings into your yard
  • Compost your yard waste instead of burning it or sending it to the landfill
  • Plant nitrogen fixing cover crops and living row paths in your vegetable gardens

Landscape Manager

  • Emphasize perennials in plantings (particularly native plants) and use annuals to fill gaps
  • Minimize the use of pavement and unproductive mulch
  • Use biological controls instead of fungicides and pesticides
  • Incorporate nitrogen-fixing trees and perennials into the landscape
  • Maintain diverse forested buffers and perimeters
  • Mow, cut back, and/or heavily mulch over weeds instead of pulling
  • Establish a composting area for your municipality or campus—or deliver to a commercial composting company

Consumer

  • Purchase food from farmers that use regenerative and organic practices
  • Reduce your purchases from large scale, conventional industrial agriculture which contribute to soil carbon losses and CO2 emissions
  • Compost as much of your household waste as possible
  • Consume only grass-fed and pasture-raised meats; seek out farmers and ranchers who prioritizing soil building
  • Invest your food dollars in local farmers building soil, invest your climate action donations and advocacy into reforestation and reversing desertification (rehydrating the land) locally and globally

Activist/Educator

  • Advocate against factory animal operations and for properly managed grass and pasture based farming
  • Support replanting your local environment, support diverse meadows and deep rooted grass landscapes
  • Get to know diverse plants and biodiverse ecosystems in your region
  • Invest your climate action donations and advocacy into reforestation and reversing desertification (rehydrating the land) locally and globally
  • Study soil microbe biodiversity and support composting everywhere

Policy Maker

  • Rule out synthetic nitrogen fertilizers on athletic fields, institutional and public park lands
  • Promote municipal land management that supports biodiversity and reduces inputs
  • Prioritize climate funding for carbon farmers and ecosystem restoration
  • Align local building codes with biodiversity and habitat regeneration and protection
  • Emphasize development projects that regenerate and preserve soil ecosystems
  • Prioritize green infrastructure for coastal and inland flood management

Investor, Funder or Business

  • Divest from agro-industrial businesses
  • Support ecosystem rehabilitation efforts and transition support for farmers and land managers who are switching to organic management techniques and regenerative practices

Additional Resources

Article: Soil Carbon Proxy Testing Can Help Your Soil

PDF: The Carbon Sequestering Garden

PDF: Soil Carbon: Can Biology Do the Job?

PDF: Soil Carbon Analysis Manual

Article: Understanding Soil Aggregation and Compaction