World Soil Day

Read our blog, "Heal the Soil, Heal the World," here.

Zoom in on Heifer USA’s 1,200-acre farm in Perryville, Arkansas, and you’ll likely see pigs cavorting?under forest canopies and cows grazing in fields of diverse forage. Look down and you’ll find soil underfoot webbed with plant roots, crawling with critters, and awash with the unseen creatures that keep the land — and planet — healthy.

“We take care of the herds above the ground, of course,” said Donna Kilpatrick, director of regeneration, who runs?the land and cattle operation at the ranch. “But we also manage the herds beneath.”

These “herds” — a community of tiny organisms that include insects, fungi, bacteria and microscopic worms called nematodes — stimulate healthy plant growth and perform critical functions like nutrient cycling.?As consumers of?greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide and methane, they support the soil’s resilience to climate shocks.

For Donna and the specialists?at Heifer Ranch Center for Regenerative Agriculture , who train farmers nationwide in regenerative practices, fostering healthy soil is key to supplying local food systems. And as extreme weather events become?increasingly common, producers who steward their environment with a focus on these underground agents are better positioned to continue growing the food their communities rely on, while replenishing the land.

Supporting a “Soil Sponge”

Soil microbes are microscopic, and abundant: It’s estimated that one teaspoon of soil contains?more microbes?than there are people on Earth. When managed right, these populations of bacteria, fungi and arthropods should flourish into a network that traps moisture. An effective soil sponge needs less irrigation,?supports greater biodiversity?and is?less likely to?suffer severe erosion.

Donna leads her team in the finely tuned dance that serves macro- and microorganism alike: they use holistic planned grazing, moving cattle from one pasture to the next to prevent overgrazing and give crops time to recover; to keep root systems intact, they avoid tilling the fields; and they plant cover crops, vegetation grown for the explicit purpose of improving soil instead of for harvest.

Ecological Versus “Egological” Farming

Regenerative practices implemented by smallholder farmers, like the ones Heifer supports in the U.S. and around the world, stand as?an alternative to conventional?agriculture. At the Ranch, that means managing the land and animals holistically; understanding that what happens above the ground affects what’s below it, and vice versa.

When soil and its tiny inhabitants are neglected, farmers suffer — and so do the communities they support and local food systems they supply.

But building?thriving and climate-smart farms ?is possible, said Donna. And it starts with embracing regenerative agriculture.

“The bottom line is we can’t grow food if we don’t have healthy land to grow that food on. Resilient futures start with our soils.”

Read our blog, "Heal the Soil, Heal the World," here.

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