Carbon Rich Farming Worldwatch

Worldwatch institute, a well known think tank focusing on hard science, meticulous research and solution oriented analysis is pointing towards decentralized, carbon farming oriented agricultural solutions. The systems called for in the 09 Land Use Report follow three main strategies:

1. Enriching soil carbon: Through soil conservation such as no till or appropriate tillage practices, strictly organic agriculture and using biochar as an ammendment.
2. Farming With Perennials: year around ground cover, perennial systems and polyculture systems to enhance yeild and carbon capture.
3. Climate Friendly Livestock Solutions: reduction of markets for livestock, innovation in feed, rotational grazing and re-use of waste play central roles in the worldwatch strategy for livestock in agriculture.

This last point is the only part of the puzzle that does not seem to quite fit.
Using over designed nutrition supliments (with startch) to help cattle stop flattulating seems to miss the point: cattle raised in systems that mimic their natural environment eat foods with high startch (thus their intensive bicamaral digestive system). So using a system like holsitic management integrated into an agro forestry system we can pull the livestock design back into the pattern created by the first two recommendations. This option is illustrated in the graphic above.

The report is remarkably insightful, and points towards the need being addressed by inovative and timely courses and research being implimented by teams of farmers, permaculturalists and other regenerative landuse practicioners in the form Carbon Farming and Economy Courses.

These courses, designed by an integrative working group of landuse professionals from across the globe will be holding three major courses consisting of modules that address all three major strategic points outlined by world watch, and beyond. By integrating systems like Keyline Design, Holistic Management, Soil Food Web, Food Forestry, Permaculture, and economic relocalization, Carbon Farming also delves into the details of maintaing a healhty soil food web, creating localized food systems to that support the kind of business model needed to create resilient multi-crop carbon negative farms, and address water management issues to hep increase the capacity to bulid biomas, build soil and store water on the landscape.


Worldwatch readers seem well aware that this kind of design, moving agriculture to a smaller scale and fundign support for regenerative landuse through credits for systems that capture carbon is reflected by the poll I saw on the worldwatch page July 1st:



Time seems ripe for this kind of new agricultural revolution to sweep the world and provide healhty food while dealing with the key issues of carbon pollution and soil loss by creating resilient local carbon farming systems.

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