1. Sustainable Agriculture

2. Sustainable agriculture or regenerative farming has 2 goals
Produce food and fiber on a sustainable basis
Repair damage caused by destructive farming practices

3. Soil Conservation Land management Ground cover Climate Soil type
Tillage system

4. Managing Topography Contour plowing Strip farming Terracing
Plow across the hill instead of up and down
Strip farming
Planting different crops in alternate strips
Terracing
Creating shelves to hold soil and water
Perennial Species
Plants that do not need to be cultivated yearly

5. Contour Plowing

6. Strip Farming

7. Terracing

8. Perennial Species
Coffee and Tea

9. Providing Ground Cover
Row crops (corn and beans)
High erosion rates
Leave crop residues behind
1 ton of crop of residue per acre
Increased water infiltration and reduced erosion by 99%
Increase disease and pest problems

10. Ground cover con’t Cover crops Interplanting Mulch
Rye, alfalfa, or clover can be planted immediately after harvest to protect soil
Interplanting
Place 2 crops in the same field
Plant beans/pumpkins between corn
Mulch
Protective ground cover

11. Reduced Tillage Minimum till Conserv-till No-till
Reduces # of times farmer disturbs soil
Conserv-till
Uses sharp disc to slice through soil, opening slots for seeds
No-till
Drill seeds directly through mulch or ground cover

12. Cons of reduced tillage
Depend on pesticides to control insects and weeds
Is this a concern?
Combat pests and disease with crop rotation, trap crops, biological control

13. Corporate Farming Giant grain fields stretch over 1.000s of acres
Lg #’s of cows, hogs and chickens live in large warehouse size confinements
Cows have individual diets, antibiotics, hormone injections

14. Large #’s of animals in a warehouse require antibiotics to keep them healthy
Vast amounts of manure pile up and are spread on the large fields for crops
Hurricane Floyd caused 2.5 billion gallons of manure to wash into rivers and out to sea

15. Organic Farming Lichtenstein 33% of food is organic
Switzerland 10% of food is organic
Offer improved choices and higher quality
Small scale family farms
Support local agriculture
Produce is fresh and pesticide free