What is Regenerative Agriculture? - The Impact of the Water Cycle
- InspiringGreenLiving
- Jun 10, 2022
- 7 min read
Hello! Welcome for the first time or welcome back! This is my tiny corner of the internet. I'm very grateful that you're here with me. I mentioned regenerative agriculture previously in my last post, "What is Environmentalism?" so I recommend reading that before this one. However, I don't think it is a necessity as I tried to do a brief recap in this blog.
What is Regenerative Agriculture?
I spoke a bit about regenerative agriculture in my last post, "What is Environmentalism?" Wikipedia defines regenerative agriculture as, "a conservation and rehabilitation approach to food and farming systems. It focuses on topsoil regeneration, increasing biodiversity,[1] improving the water cycle,[2] enhancing ecosystem services, supporting biosequestration,[3] increasing resilience to climate change, and strengthening the health and vitality of farm soil," (Source: 3). To simplify, it means the soil and impacted systems are restored and improved, making them more resistant to 'stressors' like hail, floods, and droughts.
To recap: Gabe Brown, an American farmer, used conventional farming practices for two years until he had four years of no profits from his farm - a result of hail damage and drought. Finally, he decided to study soil ecosystems, and Brown turned to no-till farming using a "no-till drill" by John Deere. No-till drilling keeps the topsoil intact, allowing for healthier soil and keeping old root systems intact which helps protect the soil from wind and water erosion (Source: 8)(Source: 5).
However, I didn't mention how regenerative agriculture impacts the water cycle, which, considering places like California have been in a major drought for what seems like years, is crucial to the environment and its restoration. To understand regenerative agriculture, we need to understand a bit about the water cycle.
What is the water cycle?
If your education was a bit like mine, you probably learned about the water cycle in middle school science class. Maybe even in elementary school, or maybe in high school. Maybe you didn't learn about it at all, or maybe you don't remember. That's okay.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, a part of the U.S. Department of Commerce, explains the water cycle as, "the continuous movement of water within the Earth and atmosphere. It is a complex system that includes many different processes," (Source: 7). The following image depicts it fairly well. The important part we need to focus on for regenerative agriculture is "Transpiration," located in the center of the image above the tree. The image was retrieved from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's website (Source: 7).
The water cycle. (Dennis Cain/NWS)
What is "Transpiration," and why is it important?
Transpiration is defined as, "to pass in the form of a vapor from a living body," (Source: 6). "Living body," in this case, means plants, like crops. There are a few other definitions, but this is the relevant one. Plants will transpire water when they are hydrated enough, meaning they will release the excess water they have through the process of transpiration. This typically happens in their leaves. I'll explain it through a comparison to humans. We "transpire" in a way. Sweat. We can only sweat properly if we have enough water. If we haven't had enough water, then we won't sweat. In our case, if we can't sweat, we can overheat. For crops, beads of 'sweat,' or just water, in their case, don't form. They transpire water straight to water vapor, which condenses in the sky and forms clouds.
But Inspiring Green, if they don't have enough water, how are they supposed to shed excess water through transpiration?
Good question. They don't. That is part of the reason why places like California aren't getting as much rain - the plants simply aren't transpiring water. Kiss the Ground explains that approximately 40% of our evaporated water (that forms rain) comes from the process of transpiration through grass, trees, crops, and other plant life (I will explain more about this in a minute) (Source: 5).
So, if the plants aren't getting enough rain, and they don't have enough water to go through transpiration to make more rain, then how are they supposed to get enough water to go through this process if they aren't getting water?
Another excellent question. The system sounds a bit like a downward spiral into more and more severe levels of drought. You have to start with grass. Something small that can cover vast amounts of land, which will, in time, increase the amount of transpiration occurring in the area, eventually leading to more rain. That increase in the rain allows for bigger and bigger plants to grow, then again allowing for more rain, and the system continues. It will take time, but it is possible. Gabe Brown is already evidence of restorative agriculture's success. The plants might need help at first through external watering systems because there isn't enough water. But once that water cycle starts to get restored, it will slowly improve with time. With the help of humans and restorative agriculture, that process can be quicker. This is just one of the many aspects of restorative agriculture.
Another recap, this time from Kiss the Ground, time stamp starting at 00:18:30 (in case you'd like to review):
Throughout the documentary Kiss the Ground, Ray Archuleta, a conservation agronomist for NRCS (Natural Resource Conservation Service), continuously explains the process of restorative agriculture, and the impacts current agricultural systems have on the planet. To try to recap: water and soil are tied to organic matter. Healthy soils absorb water and carbon dioxide through a process called sequestration. By damaging soil through processes like tilling, water and carbon dioxide are released from their storage in the ground. This soil will then dry out, and turn to dust, thus representing how we are losing our topsoil. The process of healthy soil becoming damaged, and losing its water and carbon dioxide storage, is called desertification(Source: 5). Desertification is "a fancy word for land that is turning to desert, which happens when there is too much bare ground," states Allan Savory, founder of Holistic Management (Source: 5). "If you don't have a living plant, you're going to have more evaporation. What we want is transpiration, when the moisture leaves through the plant. When it does that, it increases humidity. And when it increases the humidity, we have more rain." - Archuleta (Source: 5). So, more plants, in the end, mean more rain.
Back to the water cycle...
When people think of the water cycle, I believe they think of the ocean. The ocean, after all, covers 71% of the planet (Source: 1). However, only 60% of the rain formed on the planet actually comes from the oceans. The other 40% comes from something called "small water cycles" - Ray Archuleta (kiss the ground). These small water cycles occur inland via plants through a process called transpiration, which I mentioned earlier. Ray Archuleta states that we have disrupted those small water cycles, have too much heat rising from the bare soil, and the rain clouds are literally being pushed away from these areas. So, the hotter it gets, the more the rain gets pushed away. Allan Savory states that bare soil is much colder in the morning and much hotter at midday than soil covered by something called "plant litter," which is just another way of saying an array of plant cover for the soil. This heat and the bare soil results in a changed microclimate. What is a microclimate? It is "any climatic condition in a relatively small area, within a few [meters] or less above and below Earth’s surface and within canopies of vegetation" - (Source: 2). More than half of the world's land has a changed or changing microclimate. Savory states that 2/3 of the world is decertifying. Forty million people have become refugees of desertification, and that number is estimated to go up to one billion by 2050. It is estimated that within 60 years, our topsoil will be gone. In other words, "We have 60 harvests left," (Source: 5).
That's not a pleasant thought. But, with advocates like Ray Archuleta and farmers like Gabe Brown, we are more than capable of change. Do not get discouraged. We aren't just capable of change, we are changing! One farm, one person, one community at a time. We are able to overcome this.
So, how do you, the consumer, come into play?
This probably needs more information in order to really answer. However, by spreading this information, the word gets out. Support local farmers who are trying regenerative agriculture, if you have any. Start a garden! A great way to restore your own soil and positively impact your microclimate. Plus, it makes a great hobby and is a wonderful way to get outside. Don't have room for a garden? Look online - more and more communities are building community gardens. Or, if you want something low maintenance, purchase some wildflower seeds that are native to your area, and designate a small part of your yard or a couple of pots on your balcony to some different kinds of wildflowers. They're a great way to help out our pollinators.
Thank you again for reading this post. Thanks for joining me in my little corner of the internet. Thank you.
Inspiring Green
Sources:
1. U.S. Geological Survey - U.S. Department of the Interior
https://www.usgs.gov/special-topics/water-science-school/science/how-much-water-there-earth#overview
2. Britannica - Definition of Microclimate
3. Wikipedia - Definition of Regenerative Agriculture
4. U.S. Department of Agriculture - Synthetic Substances
5. Kiss the Ground - Documentary - Netflix
6. Merriam-Webster - Define Transpiring
7. The Water Cycle - The U.S. Department of Commerce
8. Inspiring Green - Blog post, "What is Environmentalism?"
Works Cited (in corresponding order to links above):
“How Much Water Is There on Earth? Completed.” How Much Water Is There on Earth? | U.S. Geological Survey, U.S Department of the Interior | USGS, https://www.usgs.gov/special-topics/water-science-school/science/how-much-water-there-earth#overview.
“Microclimate.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., https://www.britannica.com/science/microclimate.
“Regenerative Agriculture.” Regenerative Agriculture, Wikimedia Foundation, 5 June 2022, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regenerative_agriculture.
“Synthetic Substances in Crop Production.” Synthetic Substances in Crop Production | Agricultural Marketing Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, https://www.ams.usda.gov/grades-standards/synthetic-substances-crop-production.
Tickell, Joshua and Rebecca Harrell Tickell, directors. Kiss the Ground, Netflix, 2020, https://www.netflix.com/search?q=kiss%20the%20ground&jbv=81321999. Accessed 2 June 2022.
“Transpiring Definition & Meaning.” Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/transpiring.
“Water Cycle.” Water Cycle | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, https://www.noaa.gov/education/resource-collections/freshwater/water-cycle.
“What Is Environmentalism?” Inspiring Green, 3 June 2022, https://inspiringgreenliving.wixsite.com/inspiringgreenliving/post/what-is-environmentalism.
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