An Investable Proposal for Regenerative Agriculture Across the Steppes

Abstract

Farmers are responsible for one-third of greenhouse gas emissions and there is no plan to deal with this; their impact on land and water resources, floods, droughts, and the global extinction of species also cries out for attention. Half of the humus that makes the Black Earth what it is has been pumped into the air and, with it, the soil’s capacity to receive rainfall, supply water to crops, and recharge streams and groundwater is diminished. Since 1970, soil carbon across the steppes has been run down by 2.4–3.8/tC/ha/yr (5 times more where the soil has been eroded). Taking the least of these figures, mineralization of soil organic carbon (SOC) has emitted 195 Gt or 25 ppm of atmospheric CO2. Adoption of Conservation Agriculture that includes a diverse crop rotation with perennial legumes and grasses offers carbon capture of 0.5–1 Gt/yr, arrest of soil erosion, and bigger crops. At present, there is no market for the perennial grasses and legumes needed to put the organic matter back into the soil. The old-fashioned answer is to integrate crops and livestock – farmyard manure doubles the benefit of crop rotation, integrating crops and livestock will regenerate rural communities, and the extra production will make space to restore degraded land for wildlife, water resources, and amenity. But the people and skills needed for livestock enterprises are now hard to come by. Alternatively, the green biomass can be converted to biogas: a ready market for all the green biomass that can be grown would transform farming systems. This would be a strategic investment that can easily be funded through Green Bonds.