skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Tuesday, April 30, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Three US Marshal task force officers killed in NC shootout; MA municipalities aim to lower the voting age for local elections; breaking barriers for health equity with nutritional strategies; "Product of USA" label for meat items could carry more weight under the new rule.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Big Pharma uses red meat rhetoric in a fight over drug costs. A school shooting mother opposes guns for teachers. Campus protests against the Gaza war continue, and activists decry the killing of reporters there.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

More rural working-age people are dying young compared to their urban counterparts, the internet was a lifesaver for rural students during the pandemic but the connection has been broken for many, and conservationists believe a new rule governing public lands will protect them for future generations.

Farmers Encouraged to 'Champion Soil' in Face of Climate Change

play audio
Play

Friday, December 28, 2018   

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.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
MDHHS reports many cardiac deaths among young people in Michigan could be prevented through screening, detection and treatment. (Rawpixel.com)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Sudden cardiac arrest claims the lives of about 250 Michigan children and young adults each year. Legislation signed into law over the weekend aims …


Social Issues

play sound

Cities and towns across Massachusetts hope to increase young voter turnout in local elections by lowering the voting age to sixteen or seventeen…

Environment

play sound

Minnesota is a leader in renewable energy - getting 54% of its electricity from zero-carbon sources last year, according to the 2024 Minnesota Energy …


play sound

For active-duty service members and veterans eyeing a college degree, the march to academic success just got easier. The University of North Carolina …

Over the span of a decade, the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust has invested $107.5 million across ten North Carolina counties including Beaufort, McDowell, Halifax, Rockingham, Burke, Edgecombe, Nash, Bladen, Columbus and Robeson.

Health and Wellness

play sound

A new report reveals that investing in rural areas can improve essential resources for the people living there. Despite a significant rural …

Social Issues

play sound

New Mexico is taking a deep dive into its funding of public colleges and universities to determine if inequities need to be addressed. The Higher …

Health and Wellness

play sound

Birth doulas assist new moms with the stress, uncertainty and anxiety of childbirth. Another type of doula offers similar support - to those who are …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021