FALL 2024 | TOWER 17 Regenerative Organic Agriculture 101 Regenerative Organic Agriculture prioritizes soil health to provide nutrient-dense food without the use of chemicals, increasing human well-being while at the same time improving the environment. KU alumnus Jeff Tkach ’01, CEO of Rodale Institute, the world’s foremost authority on regenerative organic agriculture, explains there are four basic tenets of organic agriculture. Do not use synthetic fertilizers and pesticides or Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs). “Organic farming works in harmony with nature to build and improve the soil,” Tkach says. Use diverse crop rotations. The right crop rotation promotes soil health and biodiversity above ground. “When you drive around Pennsylvania, you really see one of two crops growing: corn or soybeans,” Tkach says. “In organic farming, we’re espousing that farmers should have a more diverse crop rotation and not to plant the same thing year after year after year.” Alternatives may include grains like oat, millet, wheat and buckwheat. Plant cover crops in between cash crops. “Soils should never be left bare,” Tkach says. “If you came to the farm at Rodale in Pennsylvania, in the middle of wintertime, it’s bright green unless there’s snow on the ground, because we have a crop growing 12 months a year. The cover crop provides a layer of protection and helps build the fertility in the soil in between your cash crops.” Apply compost. “Applying biological food waste or other compost to the soil is our way of building the fertility in the soil,” Tkach says. “The science being done at Rodale has proven that regenerative organic farming can sequester more carbon in our soils than any other mechanism. We all are concerned about the climate, so farming can be a solution to the climate crisis,” Tkach says. “If we begin farming in harmony with nature, we can draw down carbon out of our atmosphere and store it in the soil where it belongs.” the soil. Biochar is a carbon-rich material that improves soil nutrients. A second experiment at the field involves planting different cover crops and assessing how well they impact the diversity of the microbial community found in the soil. Students gathered baseline data to measure how much bacteria and fungi are found in the soil. Rodale assisted with equipment to plant the field. About 20 students are enrolled in the regenerative organic agricultural track so far, but students in other environmental science tracks also take classes. Senior Rachel Erb from Sinking Spring, Pa., who is in the biology track, takes classes and completed an internship at Rodale Institute. She has career interests in research and health care. “One of the things that Rodale’s model promotes is healthy soil equals healthy plants equals healthy people,” Erb says. “I strongly believe that our diet can lead to a better life, but not everyone has that access.” Sewall says that KU environmental scientists and their students are attracted to studying regenerative organic agriculture because it offers a chance to be proactive about environmental challenges. “I think a lot of the time we spend in environmental science involves carefully measuring things that are going wrong. The question becomes, ’What can we do?’ (regenerative organic agriculture) … is certainly going to impact the lives of individuals, things as small as the soil microbes and it also has the potential to impact things on the scale of climate change. It’s great to be able to involve people in research and teach them about the way things can go right instead of just teaching them about the way things have gone wrong in the past.” FALL 2024
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