1) Overselling regenerative agriculture could be the demise of an otherwise promising movement. Can regen ag reverse climate change? NO. Can it sequester C & do other good things? YES YES YES.
But it is maddening to see such BS around its benefits.
civileats.com/2020/10/01/doe…
To be fair, this @CivilEats doesn't get it totally right either. Humus IS 👏 NOT 👏 A 👏 REAL 👏 THING. We have a much more evolved understanding of SOM now.
And no, soil C sequestration *doesn't* have to be accompanied by some crazy rate of fertilizer application. Come on.
This @RodaleInstitute white paper is dangerously incorrect. They misuse data from my own work to say that regen "pasture management" (??) could sequester 114% of all CO2 emissions. Tell that to the arid soils of the Western US. Regionality is a thing.
rodaleinstitute.org/wp-content/upl…
Regen ag has huge potential for agroecosystem health, food provisioning, supporting local economies, and #climatechange mitigation (to an extent). There are studies to support this, and much more research happening now.
Why not use the actual evidence? & be open about the gaps?
Why is all this dangerous?
Because if regen ag has any future in improving our ag systems, it needs to be taken seriously.
Most people would look at BS like this and want to throw the baby out with the bathwater. I desperately don't want that to happen.
So there it is. An early morning rant about why the cure-all promises being made about regenerative ag are hurting the actual movement - from your friendly soil scientist/grazing ecologist .... who studies regenerative grazing.
Now back to my actual science work.
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