“no-till farming is a soil management system where you essentially do not disturb the soil prior to planting as is done in “conventional tillage,” said roderick rejesus, ph.d. professor in the department of agricultural and resource economics at north carolina state university.

as a result of not disturbing the soil, crops from the previous season are left behind to break down, further adding fertilizer to the ground.

the practice of tilling the soil is as old as agriculture and was practiced across the world. tilling or digging anywhere from eight to 12 inches deep was thought to aerate the soil and remove weeds, preparing the soil for new planting.

the concept of not disturbing the soil took hold in the 1970s. agronomists and soil scientists started to understand the micro ecosystems below ground were compromised by tilling and doing more harm than good, unable to fulfill their role in the natural cycle.

“80% of all the insects live in the first two-three inches of the soil,” said ray archuleta, a soil health expert and no-till innovator of the year. “if you dig up the mesofauna you have to replace them and they contribute to the delicate nitrogen cycle. mesofauna like protozoa and nematodes eat bacteria, and when they do they release nitrogen.”

tilling not only disrupts the natural nitrogen fertilizer process that gives life to crops, but it also makes the soil more dry, leaving conditions ripe for erosion.

a financial consideration

in a recent study, rejesus analyzed how land values grow monetarily by adopting the practice of no-till.

rejesus matched satellite data with land value data for 2007, 2012, 2017 covering 12 states. his study found a 1% increase in no-till adoption rate in the study states leads to an average increase of $7.86 per acre in agricultural land value.

no-till “curbs erosion, benefits soil organisms and adds to diversity, and creates a more stable internal structure. it requires 50-80% less fuel and 30-50% less labor, so its perceived as contributing to less cost,” he wrote.

erosion has already stripped away about half of the topsoil on farmland across illinois and iowa, according to naturalists.

according to census data in rejesus’ study, just 27% of the u.s. practices no-till and the u.s. ranked first among all countries in no-till acreage.

holland farmer, francis de dobbelaere attended this year’s no-till farmer conference in st. louis to continue to learn about no-till. dobbelaere plans to incorporate this practice for the land he recently purchased in latvia. dobbelaere and his brother own and operate a farm that grows potatoes, onions, and grains, in holland. when dobbelaere and his brother move to their new 740-acre farm, in neighboring latvia, it will be no-till.

“potatoes need to be plowed, so at our farm, sia karli, in latvia, we will only grow wheat, canola, peas, barley, all winter crops,” said dobblaere. “people in latvia are not familiar with this [no-till] practice. it is so efficient, low cost, with minimal employees.”

protecting the worker worms

kelly and deanna lozensky own and operate guardian grains, a thriving 2,000-acre grain farm in minot, north dakota. one hour south of the canadian border, the lozensky’s grow heritage variety grains and stone-mill their flours to sell to a local commodity market.

“[no-till] is at the foundation of everything we do,” deanna lozenskey said. “we rely on soil biology to produce our crop. if i destroy the home of the underground workers, i have no underground workers to make my crop.”

the workers–or worms–and mesofauna that deanna lozensky refers to are the result of switching to no-till in 2000 and fully removing nitrogen fertilizer in 2013.

at the time they also had 6,000-acres of farm. deanna and kelly lozensky experimented with not using fertilizer on 500 acres of their farm between 2000-2012. the results were encouraging.

in 2013 guardian grains cut out added fertilizer completely. at that time they reduced their farmland from 6,000-acres to 2,000-acres, yet still remained profitable in yields and income.

“we use the same two combine machines as we did with three times the amount of land,” said deanna lozensky. “we are more profitable from the way we do things now.”

a fraction of a percentage of their yields goes toward making their own pasta from their grain. their pasta is from a french heritage wheat, rouge de bordeaux, dating back to the 1800s.

committing to no-till

kelly and deanna lozensky weren’t always a no-tillers. in 1999 when they first started farming, they tilled for one year.

“there was more labor in the one year that we tilled compared to years we didn’t,” kelly lozensky said.

nitrogen fertilizer that runoffs from farms into waterways is a compounding issue that no-till farmers do not contribute to: eutrophication.

because tilling the soil destroys organisms and mesofauna and disrupts the nitrogen cycle, farmers continue to buy nitrogen fertilizer to make up for the lull in the naturally occurring chemical element.

“soil is the most complex ecosystem on the planet. a farmer’s goal should always be to emulate the natural system,” archuleta said.  “we can attribute eutrophication–an access amount of nutrients commonly known as algal blooms– in the gulf from the overuse of nitrogen fertilizers.”

according to kelly lozensky, tilling farmers are in a hurry to get nitrogen, but they just need to adopt no-till farming to achieve the same results.

“human health depends on soil health so we better get it fixed,” deanna lozensky said.

this photo essay creates a geographically organized story using photos and interviews from the upcoming “hold our ground” soil health documentary series produced by colorado state university’s center for science communication.

to view the story in fullscreen, click here.

this story was featured in our series, slipping through our fingers: the future of water.

this year, visitors looking for a fun fall activity are in for a surprise when they head to at’l do farms, located just outside of lubbock, texas, for there will be no corn found. in its place – a maze of multi-species cover crops that contains seven different plants. sorghum, sunflowers, pearl and foxtail millet, cowpeas, sun hemp and radishes will all work together to reduce water inputs. 

a family affair

eric simpson was born and raised on the same property that at’l do farms still calls home today, and agriculture has been a family affair for generations. originally, the land was a monoculture system that rotated growing cotton, sorghum and wheat until the mid-’90s. 

when a low period hit, the simpson family was forced to reevaluate their business. they decided to use the land in a different way and planted their first corn maze in an attempt to bring visitors to the farm and generate a new stream of revenue. 

“it became more and more profitable and in fact, we slowly transitioned out of the production side of agriculture and now we just do the maze and a kind of agritourism type of industry,” simpson said. 

at’l do farms has operated the maze and other fall attractions for 21 years and the farm now welcomes over 50,000 visitors each season.

slideshow by katie perkins

a dry area in drying times

dubbed the llano estacado by early spanish settlers, this region is an approximately 32,000 square mile plateau situated atop the southern boundary of the ogallala aquifer that receives an average of 18 inches of precipitation a year. 

widespread drought and as little as one-tenth of an inch of rain during the winter of 2021 meant corn had a slim chance of growing to the height necessary to construct the maze. 

“what we could see from last year is it didn’t rain pretty much from september all the way until may,” simpson said. “corn, which is a very water-intensive crop, just wasn’t going to cut it. because of climate conditions, it just didn’t rain, and it forced us to make a better decision.” 

these conditions sent simpson to the drawing board in order to find a way the maze could still happen while reducing its water consumption footprint. his neighbor uses a traditional pivot irrigation system but simpson knew he did not want to be reliant on the ogallala aquifer.

globally, approximately 70% of groundwater that is drawn out of aquifers is used for crop irrigation. 

“the entire agriculture industry right now is propped up on the ogallala (aquifer) as its water resource,” simpson said. “the ogallala is depleting at a way faster rate than what is being recharged.” 

the ogallala aquifer is a finite resource. in the next 50 years, 70% of the ogallala aquifer is estimated to be depleted, with the main withdrawals stemming from the agriculture industry. 

“i think in my lifetime we will see a drastic transition away from agriculture on the llano estacado because of a depleting aquifer and extreme climate change,” said simpson. 

an artist by trade, simpson never planned on returning to the family farm after graduating from texas tech. he found himself back in west texas after being accepted to an art residency in lubbock.

“it was at that time that i saw that farming didn’t have to be the way that it’s always been here,” simpson said. “in the sense that you could make changes about biodiversity, soil health and planting drought-tolerant crops.” 

forging a new maze

creating a polycultural farming system like simpson has done at at’l do farms this season has a multitude of benefits for the health of his land. the variety of plants attracts pollinators, reduces erosion, decreases pesticide and herbicide usage, reduces harmful pests, and increases nutrient cycling. 

“lubbock is notorious for being a little bit behind the times, but i think that’s ok,” simpson said. “it gives us young folks the opportunity to see what other folks are doing in other parts of the country and jump in.”

simpson and his family are forging new paths in the agriculture industry and he believes they can spark change amongst his peers in the agritourism industry. change towards a more sustainable future. 

“to my knowledge, we are the first ones to do a multispecies crop for a maze,” simpson said. “i think we are showing people throughout the country the options for doing types of things like this.” 

looking toward the future, simpson says he definitely wants to continue planting non-traditional crops for the annual maze, building healthy soil and working with the land — not against it. 

“as long as we can continue to make little baby steps towards alternative and more drought tolerant and resistant practices, that’s what we are going to do to keep the farm alive,” simpson said.

both the increase in temperature and the wild swings in precipitation have a significant impact on the soil, said dr. margaret walsh, a senior ecologist in the u.s. department of agriculture’s office of energy and environmental policy.

“for pretty much any crop, yields go up as the temperature goes up, until a certain point when it goes down fast,” said walsh. this increase in yields is also assuming that the nutritional deficiencies and amount of rainwater are sufficient, which often is not the case. 

soil nutrition is key

temperatures are not the only factor impacting crop yields. walsh highlighted that the long period of drought, followed by the heavy rain events, have also led to soil erosion. as a result, according to experts, soils are depleted and unable to sustain abundant yields, and even affect the crop’s nutritional levels. 

“soil erosion degrades the soil, meaning that the soil will lose most of its organic matter in the topsoil,” said dr. richard anyah, a natural resources and environment professor at the university of connecticut. organic matter is important for the protection of water and nutrients reservoirs within the soil that animals, plants, and microorganisms need to grow. 

dr. anyah points out that the combination of an increase in water run-off and the disturbance of the soil will lead to a decrease in topsoil. “the increase in precipitation leads to more frequent floods. so, that will mean that we have more run-off, that especially will take away topsoil.”

these impacts did not remain unnoticed by local farmers. diane dorfer, owner and full-time farmer of the cobblestone farm, employs a variety of methods to keep her soil healthy and productive. 

dorfer uses compost and organic soil amendments to maintain high nutrient content in her soil, such as nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus. these inputs were mainly agricultural byproducts like soybean meal and fish emulsion. with a smile on her face, she said her kids particularly liked the latter.

“when my kids were little, i would come into the house and smell not so great, and they would ask me: ‘what is that smell?’ and i am like, ‘fish emulsion.’ and they thought i was saying ‘fishy lotion.’ ‘oh, mom just put the fishy lotion on.’” 

another local farm employing similar practices is spring valley student farm. it is a one-acre vegetable garden owned by uconn dining services and run by uconn students. jessica larkin-wells, farm manager and old inhabitant of the student farm, explained that soil health was of high importance. 

“as an educational farm, we have the opportunity to pay a lot of good care and attention to our soil health,” said larkin-wells. “that is a central part of our mission. we can center that in a way commercial farms are not always able to.”

like cobblestone farm, they use organic inputs instead of chemical fertilizers. they also try to keep the soil covered to avoid soil erosion and nutrients loss due to long-term exposure.

“we never leave the soil exposed. there is always something like either cover crop, mulch, or whatever our vegetable crop at the time is,” larkin-wells said. “cover crops are an extremely important part of our growing rotation here and can do some pretty amazing things for the soil.” 

she defined cover crops as anything that is grown in the soil not to be harvested. they can prevent erosion, maintain nitrogen levels, or increase aeration in the soil. dr. anyah explains that nitrogen is important for the plant to develop healthy and more nutritious fruits. without these high levels, the nutritious levels of crop yields will be limited. 

changing temperatures, increasing pests

similarly, to protect their soil, both farmers do not use any damaging chemicals to fight increasing pests. according to walsh, the increased pest population is an example of an indirect effect of changes in temperature and precipitation. every vegetable is impacted by insect pressure, making them harder to sell. many bigger farms use aggressive pesticides to fight these infestations. 

dorfer used two different methods instead: insect-inclusion netting to cover some of her vegetables, and an organic pesticide to disrupt the molting cycle of larva. she explains that this organic pesticide is very specific. it will not affect the soil or any important pollinators like bees, just the larva growing on the plants. the adults will survive but their reproduction cycle will stop, limiting the hungry larva on crops. 

at spring valley student farm they scout and pick the insects by hand, and spray their vegetables with garlic spray. this is a mixture of garlic water and soap, to make each plant less attractive for animals. 

when confronted with the question of the future and the concern of climate change, both farmers seemed confident they would be fine, if they continue the methods described above. however, they also realized climate change is unpredictable. in the words of dorfer: 

“every year gives me more experience, expands my database, and i do adjust.”  

washington – surrounded by a dozen electric buses and a few other electric vehicles outside the department of transportation building wednesday, secretary of transportation pete buttigieg called on congress to fund electric vehicle initiatives—especially in polluted and low-income communities. 

consumers have been turning to electric vehicles as they reduce fuel costs and carbon emissions. in 2020, 1.1 million battery-powered passenger vehicles were on u.s. roads, according to the international energy agency. the industry has also expanded beyond passenger vehicles to battery-powered motorcycles, buses, delivery and garbage trucks, buttigieg said. 

“the question is: how do we make sure that evs are accessible to all americans?” buttigieg said. “especially those who would benefit the most from the fuel savings, which includes people in underserved parts of cities and in rural areas?”

malina sandhu, business development director for lion electric co. –– a zero-emissions electric school bus manufacturer –– said making electric vehicles affordable is an equity issue. 

“when electric cars came out, they were expensive,” she said. “and people thought evs were only for higher (income) demographics.” 

according to sandhu, low-income communities, communities of color and residents living in polluted neighborhoods near highways and airports need evs the most because they live with noise and air pollution, but charging infrastructure for evs is often not found in these communities. 

lion electric co. is working to bring its school buses to diverse communities, sandhu said.

but jackie piero, vice president of policy at nuvve corp., which develops charging stations, said electric school buses cost three times more than current buses.

the bipartisan infrastructure bill before congress includes a $7.5 billion investment in electric vehicle charging and more than $10 billion for zero and low-emission buses. if passed, this money would bolster the country’s ev infrastructure to be internationally competitive, and it would connect more americans with evs. 

orville thomas, lion electric lobbyist, said federal funding from the bill is key to getting electric buses into more communities. 

“that is going to help communities get to a point in a post-covid world where they have the ability to spend,” thomas said. “and not in a program that says, ‘okay, you (school districts) pay for it first and then we (the federal government) will pay you back,’ but a program that says, ‘we’ll make it easy for you on the regulatory side and we’re giving you the funding to get buses into communities and full of children.’” 

with additional funding, lion electric can also expand its supply chain, bringing down the cost of its buses, he said. 

“everything right now is just a matter of money,” thomas said. “because the more that they fund, the more that we can get ready to do.”

secondhand shopping is helping the economy 

while the traditional retail sector is expected to shrink 15% over a two-year period, the secondhand shopping sector is set to drastically increase. by 2021, the online secondhand shopping sector is set to grow 69%, according to thredup’s 2020 resale report. 

despite its negative impact on the economy, covid-19 has set up the perfect situation for secondhand shopping. thredup’s report states 50% of people are cleaning out their closets and homes – more than they were pre-covid-19, and 80% of consumers shared that they’re more open to secondhand shopping during economic certainty. 

the combination of free time, home cleanouts and less set aside in peoples’ budgets makes secondhand shopping the perfect solution. sellers now have a thriving customer base to sell to, and buyers on a budget now have more options.

unintended consequences

as with any sustainable solution, there are consequences to online secondhand. 

due to covid-19, traditional secondhand sellers are struggling to survive. the combination of stay-at-home orders and surge of secondhand sellers has traditional secondhand shops like thrift stores battling to survive. even used clothing store giants like crossroads and buffalo exchange shared the unexpected problems they’re encountering since the beginning of the pandemic. 

plus, online shopping – secondhand or not – isn’t for everyone. for clothing, some prefer to feel materials and try on items without solely relying on photos and descriptions. secondhand shopping complicates this further since both vintage and previously worn clothing can have untraditional sizing. for other goods, pictures don’t always successfully translate size, color, or material. 

and of course, there is an inherent risk with secondhand buying. while many buyers have positive experiences, there is always a possibility that the seller can scam you, provide false details, or unfairly price products. 

a more sustainable option 

traditional retailers have come under under fire for unsustainable and unethical practices, like paying workers low wages, contributing to 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions and shedding microplastics into water and food supplies. 

but clothing retailers are not the only offender. the environmental protection agency’s product-specific data indicates that in 2017 alone, nearly 10,000 thousands of tons of furniture and furnishings ended up in landfills along with 2,500 thousands of tons of carpets and rugs. 

luckily, secondhand retailers are able to provide second homes for these items, which would otherwise end up in a landfill. forums like facebook marketplace – a platform any facebook user can utilize to buy and sell secondhand goods – have swept the nation as people refurnish home offices, college students decorate apartments and parents turn living rooms into classrooms. 

when i moved to d.c. in july, i spent weeks without a dresser. retailers like target, amazon, and wayfair were sold out of almost all affordable options. i didn’t want to pay the $50 shipping fee for ikea, but i also didn’t have a car to go in person. after not paying attention to facebook marketplace notifications throughout quarantine, i finally bit the bullet and started scrolling. 

i was shocked at the abundance of options i had to choose from, but i was even more shocked by how quickly items sold. i messaged dozens of sellers only to find out items had sold seconds after they were posted. and while i was upset about not being able to immediately get a dresser, i was happy to hear that i was just one of hundreds also looking for secondhand furniture. 

eventually, i got my hands on my dream dresser. with luck on my side, i was able to snag the exact ikea dresser i had been looking for from a facebook marketplace seller. plus, it was at a reduced price and already built. the hunt for a dresser was definitely tiring, but the environment – and my wallet – are definitely thanking me. 

the buzz surrounding these meatless burgers is undeniable. but i wanted to take a step back from all the hype and investigate the marketing claims most consumers are using to inform their decisions. for example, these companies say their products are saving the planet by reducing the effects of climate change, but can we verify that? or we’re led to believe that plant-based burgers are healthier. are they really? after interviewing food experts and poring through scientific research, we finally have the answers every consumer needs to know.

it’s necessary to focus on resilience if we want to build a sustainable world. a system that lasts has to be resilient to stress. the problem is, most people know the word, but don’t understand what resilience consists of in this context. through case studies such as this one, i want to offer listeners a chance to understand the climate fight from the inside out. this isn’t a government issue, it isn’t a community issue. it’s everyone’s challenge, and i’m telling stories of resilience to showcase everyone who helps. 

at the feb. 13 planet forward salon on tackling the food waste and loss problem, experts chip bowling, meghan chapple, and vimlendra sharan joined host frank sesno to lead the discussion on the topic. this event brought students, professionals, and policy leaders in the field together as the conversation covered how to combat food waste and loss here in the u.s. and abroad — and the challenges and potential solutions for each.

1. food waste is personal.

everyone has wasted food, or has seen it happen. the way we grow, sell, and consume food must fundamentally change if we are to sustain our growing population and reduce the carbon footprint of food waste. a cultural shift must occur in order for this to happen. in developed countries, we waste as much food as sub-saharan africa produces in a year.

food waste is one of united nation’s sustainable development goals. partnered with the world resources institute, the u.n. aims to halve total food waste by 2030, and to do so the problem must be tackled at both production and consumption levels.

2. food loss is different from food waste.

according to un-fao director vimlendra sharan, 35% of food is lost between delivery and retail sale. produce is easily damaged en route to supermarkets, and retailers will reject food for aesthetic reasons, such as bumps on vegetables or a slight discoloration of fruits. the top three food groups in terms of share of total value of food loss are meat, poultry, and fish, followed by vegetables and dairy products.

startups like local cowboy help match food delivery services with charities and food banks in the area. on a policy level, incentives like the good samaritan food donation act encourage retails to donate food with liability protections. currently, there are no financial penalties in the u.s. for wasting food.

3. 28% of all variable land contributes to total food waste.

it’s not just the food we are wasting—it’s the water used to cultivate crops, the energy used to harvest it, and the fuel consumed to transport our food. about 1.4 billion hectares of land (about 3.5 billion acres – the equivalent of about 1.7 brazils in land mass) is used annually to produce food that is lost or wasted.

farmers like chip bowling, a third-generation farmer from newburg, md., and chairman of the u.s. farmers and ranchers alliance, know they must heed the call for more sustainable harvesting practices. “we’re becoming more transparent about how we grow and cultivate our food,” he said on the panel. “while people like farmers, they may not like how we farm.”

4. students are leading innovators of food waste solutions.

college students are on the forefront of implementing sustainable changes in their communities. last call, for example, is an organization founded by two innovators from gw: alumna erin mcgeoy and senior chloe king. last call shares end-of-the-day restaurant deals with members of the community. food that otherwise may be thrown away is sold to subscribers at a discounted rate, anywhere from 50% to 70% off, benefiting both the vendor and the consumer.

5. how we communicate the story of food waste is key.

“people aren’t thinking about how they are connected to the planet,” said meghan chapple, director of gw’s office of sustainability. food is an afterthought in urban metropolises since city dwellers are so far removed from the production of the food they eat. many colleges like gw have opened community gardens and kickstarted on-campus compost programs to bring students closer to their food.

the panel agreed: guilt and shame aren’t effective when it comes to changing behavior. telling a story on food insecurity or sharing a personal anecdote is a compelling way to convey the real challenges of food waste. all across the supply chain, we must work together to curb food waste and better appreciate what we consume.

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