Why Regenerative Farming Is Gaining Traction In Texas
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Texas has by and large been an agricultural state quite some decades. 86% of the land in Texas is in use for agricultural practice. Needless to say, we have a lot of farmers in our state. Every seventh person in Texas works in agriculture. The Lone Star State is on top in terms of total number of farms and ranches spanning more than 130 million acres. That’s a lot of land! This land is used in cultivation of cotton, sheep, hay, goats and horses. Cattle and broilers alone make up the top production spot worth close to 15 billion usd. Cotton, milk, and corn also take up a sizeable spot in Texan agriculture.
While all this data is available on the internet easily, there is some information which is largely left undocumented and unreported. That is the effects of industrial farming on the modern world. Only introduced in the 1970’s, Industrial farming has spread like a disease across the globe.
Industrial Farming And Its Impact
Industrial farming, or factory farming, yields a comparatively smaller quantity of dairy, meat and eggs but produces huge amounts of waste and gases, thereby polluting our environment.
With growing concerns over food quality, security and the environmental crisis, people are quickly learning about exactly how terribly factory farming can impact life around us. Allow me to reiterate:
Air And Water Pollution
Factory farming is responsible for more than 37% of methane emissions. During digestion, cattle emit this greenhouse gas, which has been reported by the EPA to have increased by over half between 1990 to 2005. Cattle and pig manure and other animal waste are mostly stored in huge open lagoons which can spill out.
In 2011, a hog farm in IL spilled over 200,000 gallons of animal waste into a neighboring creek killing over 100,000 fish! This naturally causes water bodies to be highly polluted, destroying whole ecosystems, disturbing human health in ways we can’t imagine.
Monocultures
To support this industry and the rising demand of livestock, a small number of crops are repeatedly cultivated. Surprisingly, while a small percent of these crops is eaten by us, the majority goes into feeding cattle. Monoculture farming is dependable on synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. This strips the soil off natural nutrients needed to stay healthy. What is worse is farmers receive subsidies to grow these commodity crops, so they have more motivation to stick to monoculture farming.
By continuing on this path of treating our living breathing farms as lifeless industrial machines, we are opening ourselves up to mortal danger. The current practices are degrading the entire system on which our food production is reliant. This extractive method takes vast amounts of soil to the point of no return.
These useless lands are abandoned every year and new forest floors are cleared as replacements. According to scientists, at this rate of soil destruction, in about 50 years, there is going to be literally no fertile arable topsoil to grow food.
Not only will there be serious impacts on our health due to loss of important nutrients and trace minerals, it will be near impossible to even feed ourselves. Sounds unbelievable, but looking at the stats, it seems very likely to happen.
Regenerative Farming In Texas
With these heartbreaking facts out there, there is some good news to share too. The Texas Department of Agriculture has a Family Land Heritage program. This program recognizes that more than 4700 farms and ranches in Texas are being maintained in continuous operation by the same families for over a century.
Texas farmers like to keep tradition alive, with 99 percent of Texan farms and ranches being family owned, or family held corporations. This is very helpful as family farmers are more interested in practicing sustainable farming practices. This is where regenerative farming comes into play.
Regenerative farming is practice that aims to capture carbon in the soil, thereby reducing carbon content in the atmosphere. It offers increased yields, climate stability and better health to the farming community.
To explain this in simpler words, think of it as building a house. You start with the foundation. The soil here is our foundation. To have a strong foundation, we must restore the soils health. How you ask? This is my favorite part.
Microbes
90% of good soil health and function depends on strong microbial population. These microbes are the “glue” which bind and hold the soil together, allowing it to retain more moisture.
Wait for it.
The soil also solubilizes minerals and slowly feeds them to the plants as and when they need it. How cool is that?
Regenerative agro eliminates the need for synthetic fertilizers, because it builds soil health through microbial strength, so the impossible seeming option of not needing chemicals can actually be an achievable reality.
Next step, how do we build microbial strength?
You Guessed It, PLANT VARIETY
Every plant matters. Each plant has an array of roots that attract a variety of microbes. Wider variety of plants attracts a wider microbe population.
It keeps getting better, believe me. Different plants produce several arrays of metabolites(compounds that help in plant defenses), which act like medicine for the livestock. They actually help in deworming the animal, which means animals don’t have to be dewormed chemically.
Adaptive High Stock Density Grazing
Apart from plant variety, animals themselves play a vital role in helping microbial numbers grow. Farmers adapting the regenerative farming practice in Texas are raising their livestock using the Adaptive High Stock Density Grazing. This method, instead of letting the animals graze on a same area for weeks, contains them to a smaller area for a lesser duration of time. They eat all the plants in that area and then are moved to another area. The grazed land can then regrow by itself using no fertilizers or chemicals. As a result, what grows there is what should be growing there in the first place.
This grazing method allows the cows and hogs to eat a more variety of plant species which gives healthier and tastier meat full of nutrition. The AHSD style of grazing has achieved good results in building soil matter, soil carbon and health.
Bison roaming is also a practice that’s making a lot of sense to the farmers here. The idea behind this is the fact that hordes of bison population which roamed and grazed freely in the lands of America before the start of industrialization. These big groups of bison helped trample plants into the soil. These plants then provided microbes to the soil making it naturally healthier.
Regenerative farming is basically the natural system which is activated by natural factors like rain, sun and animals. It restores the land and produces nutritional and flavored food. This is now gaining popularity across whole of Texas where farmers are getting the act of farming right.
Farms In Texas Practicing Regenerative Farming
Webinars, seminars and tutorials are helping farmers in Texas learn about how crop rotation, cover crops and no till methods are beneficial in improving the microbiome of soil. Close to 400 farmers and experts attended the second annual No-Till Texas Soil Health symposium in Amarillo, Texas to discuss the perfect production system of regenerative farming. The goal is to rebuild the farm ecosystem for a future of sustainable and safe food production and balanced environment. The no-till farming is a type of regenerative farming practice that is used to reduce soil disturbance and helps reduce soil erosion.
Now that we have got the science of regenerative farming crystal clear, lets see how farms in Texas are using this approach to bring back to life, tired soils and grow fresh, healthy produce with hardy genes.
Ranger Cattle
Ranger Cattle in Austin, Texas are farmers raising free grazing cattle, free from additives and hormones. Their herds roam freely across 3000 acres. Ranger Cattle produce delicious full blood wagyu beef all the while maintaining environment friendly farming practices.
Eden's Cove Farm (Business Closed)
Situated in Central Texas, Eden’s Cove farm is a beautiful farm where the family provides farmstead bacon and sausages. They raise their animals with ample space to roam and offer them nutritious diets. The USP of this farm is that everything is done as naturally as it can, from no unnecessary use of medicine and vaccines to allow natural growth of the hogs.
Lettuce Network (Business Closed)
Incredibly fresh, hyper local ingredients, in zero waste packaging are the principles on which this company runs. Run by 3 regular guys who want sustainable food to be more affordable, Lettuce Networks provides well rounded meal kit plans on a subscription basis. Best part is they also help people grow their own gardens!
Blue Star Ranch
This Austin ranch is a fun place offering certified non GMO chickens and eggs. The birds here live in a cage-free facility. They are gently raised which ensures the eggs are nutritious and delicious. White leghorns, Rhode Island Red, Black Australorp, Buff Orpingtons-yes, these are the variety of chicken we find at the Blue Star ranch. The cutest thing about this farm is that they sell chicks too!
The Future Of Farming
Regenerative farming is truly the future of farming. More than a style of farming, it is basically the need of the hour if we want to continue having real, nutritious food for ourselves and our children. Heck, if we even want an earth to live in! Everything about nature works in a cycle and there cannot be one without the other. Acting wisely on farming can by itself affect several other components of the environment such as healthier soils, less soil run offs, less deforestation and way lesser pollution. Reduced carbon in the atmosphere will impact global warming and this danger of climate change will be a thing of the past.
I started writing this piece with a worrisome heart but as I conclude, I take encouragement and hope from the thought of the brave and innovative farmers around us who are not just talking the talk, but walking the walk too.
Try some Texas longhorn meat at these local ranches, where you can see the cows that were raised by responsible farmers.
Looking for the best BBQ in Dallas-Fort Worth? Check it out here.
