DES MOINES, Iowa – Farming practices aren't changing as fast as the climate, and food production is likely to suffer, according to one expert who advocates for more sustainable or regenerative agriculture.

University of Washington Professor of Geomorphology David Montgomery was the keynote speaker at this month's third annual Soil Revolution conference. He notes that conventional farming practices can lead to excessive soil degradation – and says combined with a rising world population and a warming climate, that could severely impact food production by the middle of this century.

"And a lot of it boils down to over-reliance on the plow, on tillage, on mechanical disturbance of the soil to prepare it for planting,” says Montgomery. “And think about the Dust Bowl – that was a man-made disaster that was triggered by plowing up the grass."

And any farmer knows that once the grass is gone, soil erosion is inevitable. The director of the Iowa State Extension Service has said the average organic farm will gross $1,000 per acre this year, compared to $600 to $800 per acre for conventional farms of 2,000 acres where corn is grown.

Montgomery believes if more farmers adopted conservation practices he describes as simple and affordable, they could help mitigate the climate crisis, while increasing ag productivity.

"That there was a common set of principles that guided their practices,” says Montgomery. “And those principles could really be boiled down to a simple statement: 'Ditch the plow, cover up and grow diversity.'"

According to Montgomery, traditional ag practices degrade the soil so slowly that it doesn't seem like a major concern. But over generations, it dramatically affects soil fertility.

"So there's the idea of rebuilding healthy, fertile soil can help with the resilience of a farm and its ability to better tolerate droughts.,” says Montgomery. “There's good studies that show that regenerative farmers have better yields during drought periods than their conventional neighbors."

It's estimated the planet is losing soil 10 times faster than Earth can regenerate it.


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Farmers in Iowa are studying interactions between crops, water usage, carbon and nitrogen storage, and how those factors combine to affect longterm soil biodiversity. It's part of a seven-state project in the Midwest.

Researchers are looking at the effects of crop combinations on soil and moisture across the Corn Belt.

Iowa State University Agronomy Professor Sotirious Archontoulis is running one research site in the five-year, $16 million project.

He's monitoring how crop management, carbon and nitrogen content affect soil moisture - and will try to predict the impact on the viability of future crops.

"We have the same setup in many different environments to capture different organic matter, soil hydrology conditions," said Archontoulis, "so we get a better understanding of the complexities in the agronomic system."

Archontoulis said scientists can also study greenhouse gas emissions from the soil.

He said these ultimately affect its health and can have an impact on large ag operation waste runoff, which is known to pollute nearby ground and surface water. The research is gearing up now.

Based on the computer model's findings, Archontoulis said researchers can make recommendations to farmers based on - for example - how much nitrogen the soil is losing in certain places, and how they can adjust planting schedules as a result.

"We can say, 'This cropping system with this management practice typically loses that amount of nitrogen,'" said Archontoulis. "'However, the other combination of cropping system could reduce nitrogen loss and improve productivity by X%, so this is a better strategy to move forward.'"

Archontoulis said the research begins across the Midwest this summer.




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Washington state has allocated nearly $1.5 million in grants to support local food systems and supply chains. The Washington State Department of Agriculture distributed the funds to 40 projects, supporting farmers, food and meat processors, and distributors.

Galen Van Horn, local food system and supply chain specialist with the Washington State Department of Agriculture directed distribution of the funds and said there has been consolidation in the large-scale market that small and mid-sized operations can combat.

"We've just seen a clear need for investment to support those small and mid-sized operations and make sure the infrastructure is scaled to meet their needs, and that we don't just have very, very large food system infrastructure - like processing facilities and aggregation points - that are only really scaled for very large farms and food businesses," he explained.

The seeds of the program began in 2021, when the Washington Legislature distributed federal COVID-19 recovery funds to support local food infrastructure because of the pandemic's impact on supply chains. Since 2023, the Local Food System Infrastructure Grant program has distributed $8 million in state funds.

Van Horn said the program is popular and received nearly $19 million in requests - well over what it could provide. One project selected in 2022 was the nonprofit Columbia Community Creamery, which received more than $450,000.

"They got a large grant to get the equipment necessary to receive bulk milk deliveries, and then process that into jars and have it ready to be consumed. A lot of food safety involved there," he continued.

The Washington State Department of Agriculture expects to start the next application round in the summer or fall of next year. Van Horn said the agency looks for proposals that impact the regional food system, are achievable and ask for a reasonable amount of money.


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Three members of Nebraska's student-run climate advocacy organization Students for Sustainability were among the youngest participants at the recent Citizens Climate Lobby conference in Washington, D.C.

Evalina Sain, executive director of the group and an incoming senior at Omaha Central High School, said one of their takeaways is how many values farmers and environmentalists share. She pointed out although some city dwellers may be inclined to tell farmers what they should be doing differently, farmers are, in her words, "some of the most sustainable people we know."

"Because they're so incredibly connected with nature, and their values are just rooted in what they can provide for the earth and what the earth can provide for them," Sain noted. "So, really prioritizing our farmers is so crucial as we transition towards a sustainable future within our state."

Sain stressed the nonpartisan nature of the Citizens' Climate Lobby, which starts all its meetings with an "appreciation." Nebraska attendees used the occasion to thank their congressional delegation for supporting the National Center for Resilient and Regenerative Precision Agriculture, which recently broke ground in Lincoln.

Sain added they met with Sen. Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., personally and with legislative staff for the rest of the delegation. One of their "asks" was for lawmakers to prioritize helping Nebraska farmers get Inflation Reduction Act funds for regenerative agriculture.

"If we want them to transition, it shouldn't be such a financial burden on them," Sain argued. "Millions of dollars were dedicated to building this across the nation but it's extremely difficult for farmers to get access to these programs."

Jacki Petrow, a recent Bellevue High School graduate who plans to pursue environmental studies with an emphasis in policy at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, said the conference made her realize climate change doesn't have to be a polarizing issue.

"Being able to be in D.C. and seeing how people come together, especially on these topics like renewable agriculture," Petrow explained, "And learning about how it's really good for everyone has really just cemented my excitement for this topic."

Petrow added the experience also alleviated some of her concerns about environmental studies as a career path.

"We need bipartisan support to get things done, and there is bipartisan support there," Petrow emphasized. "It was really incentivizing and helped me see this as more of a positive future for myself and not like I'm going to have to fight people."


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