REGENERATIVE AGRICULTURE

Soil Health and Building Soil Carbon

We now understand that healthier soil can positively impact the overall health of farms, fields, and livestock. New ways of measuring soil health are helping farmers better understand its condition and identify changes that can improve it over time. Much like human health, regularly monitoring soil health can help guide better management decisions. Healthy soil supports a strong and diverse community of microorganisms, including fungi, bacteria, earthworms, and other beneficial soil organisms.

Core Principles for Maintaining or Improving Soil Health

The U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service (USDA-NRCS) has identified several key principles for maintaining and improving soil health:

• Increase plant diversity to encourage greater diversity within the soil.

• Reduce soil disturbance whenever possible.

• Keep living plants growing throughout as much of the year as possible to feed the soil.

• Maintain soil cover as much as possible.

• Incorporate livestock into cropland systems.