Farmer Actions

Table of Contents

Introduction

"Agriculture is the world’s single largest employer, sustaining the livelihoods of 40% of the global population." It also uses half of our habitable land, is the greatest driver of deforestation and soil erosion thanks in large part to overgrazing, plus it uses the majority of our safe drinking water. For these reasons, we believe this is one of the most important sectors to focus on if we want to save out planet. 

By working together with historians, ecologists, environmentalists, economists, and emerging technologies we can solve or mitigate some of the world's most pressing problems. 

Based on science and the data gathers from around the world we can ensure healthy food for everyone, while reducing our negative impacts, or even reversing them. Many of these solutions not only improve farmland, but can diversify a farmer's income, providing new or more stable sources of income even as the environment becomes harsher. Actions such as increasing tree cover can lower local temperatures, improve ground water levels, and provide resources such as food and medicine, or even tourism opportunities!

Some of this section is alphabetically ordered, but when problems or solutions are presented non-alphabetically, it is generally an indication that they are being put first because of higher level impact. This page is currently undergoing some work, and due to the complexity and number of issues/solutions, we're planning to start breaking it into smaller, more manageable pages, so that it should be easier to explore by topic.

Calls to Action: High-Impact Choices for Earth

Plant-Based Farming: Resources for Farmers

High Impact Products/Species to Avoid

Livestock has the biggest impact, but the other items listed in this section are not yet listed by impact.

Livestock

Livestock use the majority of our land, water, and other resources such as antibiotics, in return polluting, overgrazing, and helping to drive extinction with their emissions (among other impacts).

Click the button on the right to learn about alternatives to livestock farming:

Cigarettes & Tobacco

"Every year the tobacco industry costs the world more than 8 million human lives, 600 million trees, 200 000 hectares of land, 22 billion tonnes of water and 84 million tonnes of CO2."  - WHO

Non-Native Tree Plantations

Sugar

Oils

Organizations Working to Help Farmers Transition to Eco-Friendly Alternatives

International

Hands On Organic Learning Opportunities

North America



"Our mission is to help farmers transition their industrial animal-agriculture operations to plant-focused farms raising crops for human consumption."

Community Supported Agriculture

CSA Networks

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Resource Guide for Farmers - includes a lot of info including Web Resources: Economics and Farm Planning Tips such as:

Farmers Markets

Farmers' markets have existed throughout the world for perhaps as long as farming. They can be an important way for farmers to connect with their customers and find out what people would like more access to, or if they have concerns about how their food is produced. 

Energy

Energy use can help farmers harvest, process, and protect their harvest from spoilage. Access to reliable, sustainable energy can help improve yields while reducing waste. Energy production can protect farmers from increasing energy costs, or even provide additional income. General energy use (for heating, transporting, and producing every day goods) is the largest source of human-derived emissions, followed by the farming sector. This means focusing on energy use in farming, or producing energy on farm land we may be able to make a significant dent in global emissions. 

Solar panels over crops helps reduce evaporation, meaning less irrigation is needed to keep them alive. The panels have been found to protect plants from severe heat, hale, and other weather extremes. Solar and wind turbines have helped livestock farmers, with panels providing shade to livestock, and turbines having an almost negligible effect on grazing room for stock.

Electric Vehicles or EVs 

According to the Farmers Electric Cooperative, based on information from the U.S. Department of Energy the following are a variety of reasons why making the switch to EVs can be beneficial:

"Electric Vehicles (EV) Cost Less To Operate Than Gas Powered Cars.
EV operation can be three to five times cheaper than gasoline and diesel powered cars, depending on your local gasoline and electric rates.

EVs Are Environmentally Friendly.
EVs have no tailpipe emissions. The power plant producing your electricity may produce emissions, but electricity from hydro, solar, nuclear or wind-powered plants is generally emission-free.

Never Go To The Gas Station Again.
Electric vehicles do not require gasoline and can be charged at home with a standard 120V outlet or a 240V level 2 charger can be installed for faster, more efficient charging.

EV Performance Benefits.
Electric motors provide quiet, smooth operation, stronger acceleration and require less maintenance than gasoline-powered internal combustion engines.

EV Driving Range & Recharge Time.
EV range is typically around 80 to over 330 miles on a full charge. The average American’s daily round-trip commute is less than 30 miles. Fully recharging the battery pack can take four to eight hours. A "fast charge" to 80% capacity can take 30 min."

Solar For Farms

Solar panels can reduce water use by 20%, shelter crops from harsh sunlight, or be tilted to allow more sunlight. Click the image below to watch a 6:15 minute video in English and French, or read the article in English.

Solar Resources for Farmers

Click the links below to learn about Solar in general (PV, electic vehicles, solar dehydrators, ovens, and water heaters), or the Solar Resources for Farmers buttons to learn about what programs and rebates are available to help farmers in your area.

Rewilding

Scientists estimate that we need at least 50.4 to 60% of Earth to remain wild for her natural systems to continue supporting life, with the rich biodiversity that protects and feeds all of us. "In addition 20-25% of land needs to be devoted to semi-natural habitats such as parks, allotments and clusters of trees in order to maintain ecosystem services such as pollination, water quality regulation, pest and disease control, and the health and mental benefits provided by access to nature."

Farming currently takes up 46% of our Earth's habitable land, while urban and build-up land only takes up around 1% of habitable space. 

This means that farmers are in a unique position to help ensure that as much land stays wild or at least biodiverse as possible, which science has found time and again also helps boost soil health and food production.

Tree Planting

Around the globe, the constant expansion of farm land into area that once supported rich, biodiverse forests is having a huge effect negative effect on millions of wild species, air quality, water quality, erosion, and rising temperatures. 

As forests disappear, we're more at risk from floods, and droughts. One reason is the loss of roots from the trees which have always helped rain water penetrate the soil and refill our aquifers. Then there's the other "water pump" ability where trees respire water into the atmosphere but since they are being replaced by farms, this means that the rivers in the sky are drying up, and farmers can no longer easily predict when the next rains will come.

Around the world farmers are suffering from these consequences, but livestock farming and feed have historically caused the most deforestation, and politicians are continuously giving subsidies to the cattle farms and farms producing livestock feed currently eating up forest faster than other industries. 

Now farmers are starting to turn away from the livestock industry, experiment with silvopastures, food forests, allowing trees to sprout in their fields, and even planting trees deliberately. 

Planting Configurations

Prairie/Meadow Strips

The name of your regions' wildflower and grassland ecosystem may go by any number of names, but the biological value of these diverse systems is just as high.

"Native bees and other pollinators are essential to the successful production of many fruit and vegetable crops and the reproduction of many plant species in our surrounding environment. Wildflower meadows and gardens are extremely valuable habitat, providing floral resources, nesting sites and a protected environment for hundreds of bee species, moths and butterflies, and other insects. Many birds, bats, small mammals and some amphibians also thrive on the food and shelter that a meadow ecosystem provides.

Meadows provide many important ecosystem services including infiltration and filtration of stormwater, carbon storage, nutrient recycling, soil building, and provisioning of food and shelter for biodiverse communities of flora and fauna. By establishing native perennials and grasses in a dense and diverse meadow planting, property owners can enjoy the beauty of a succession of flowers and plant forms and experience a renewed connection with nature. Done properly, wildflower meadows are ecologically-friendly landscape components that, once established, have minimal maintenance requirements." - University of New Hampshire

The info in the link above specifically talks about species native to certain areas in North America. 

To understand what species belong in your region please check out our Wildflowers page for resources on plants by region.

The Seeds page includes wildflowers and organic crop seeds. We've collected a list of charities, companies, and seed libraries, but may have missed some in your area. If in doubt, try contacting your local extension office or other government support channels for farming resources in your area.

The Invasives page is designed to help people identify invasive species before they do too much damage or spread to far, and offers some solutions on how to remove them.

Prescribed Burning

Burning in ecosystems that are evolved to burn each year helps kill off invasive species while helping fire-dependent species germinate and thrive. Burning old growth can open up spaces to get more sunlight, and burned matter enriches soil. The dark colour can help the soil warm faster, allowing more seeds to germinate. Open spaces can be important to species such as lizards and grassland birds to forage and find mates.

When prescribed burning is reintroduced, it can significantly boost wildlife populations, bring back plant species that haven't been seen in a long time, and can prevent much larger, more harmful fires later in the year.

The resources in this section are intended to demystify prescribed burning and to empower land managers to return to this time-tested practice with understanding about local guidelines, safety, and species.

Click the Prescribed Fire button to learn more about this practice, find useful tools and organizations you can join or ask for help.

Why Burn? 8:23 minute video.

"The average steer or heifer turned out on pasture land, in the summer, on burned grass, will gain approximately 25 pounds per head more than they will on unburned grass." "Cattle performance ... for about a 90 day period is going to improve by as much as a point-two or point-three, or a little over a pound a day of additional gain."

Tools & Apps

Europe

UK

Ireland

North America

Canada

Alberta

USA

Oklahoma

Grants & Funding

North America

USA

California

Organizations

North America

USA

California

Water for Wildlife

Nature acts as a filter, taking dangerous chemicals out of water, and returning it to the sky or ground. When farmers maintain a body of water on their land, they can help protect water for everyone by planting trees to create or restore riparian borders, which is one of the best ways to keep water clean from sediment and pollution.

If you don't have a body of water, there are a number of ways you can provide water for wildlife. Options range from cleaning and refilling a birdbath, or the ancient technique of digging and building dew pools which mysteriously harvest water from the environment, and provide habitat for insect-eating animals like frogs and newts.

Pest Control

Non-Lethal Pest Control 

Generally the best way to do this is through non-fatal methods because of the harsh consequences of kill methods. For example insecticides that get into human food and drinking water, in many cases contaminating soils and water sources for decades or longer, causing cancer and other serious illness in farmers and their families. 

In the case of birds, killing them has led to problematic imbalances in insect and other pest species which birds can help control, or lack of trees due to fewer birds remaining to spread their seeds.

Extermination of ground-dwelling animals such as ants, goffers, moles, and groundhogs has led to soil deterioration.

Killing of apex species such as wolves, wild cats, bears, wild dogs, and birds of prey has backfired with increases in livestock attacks, mesopredator explosions, and trophic cascades that generally causes far more expensive damage than anything caused by the apex species which were initially removed from that environment.

Invasive Species

While we strongly discourage killing native species who are often valuable food sources for beneficial species, Earth is currently under siege from species that plant nurseries, pet owners/importers, and other careless people have allowed to escape into the wild. These species often disrupt local ecosystems by competing some species and driving them to extinction. Some imported plants aren't edible to any local species, or don't have natural predators, meaning they can run rampant, replacing important plants or keystone animal species. 

Some of these can be handled non-lethally, even shipping them back to their own regions if they are endangered there, but others can be eaten or turned into crafting materials.

Disturbed earth (for example, after ploughing), provides ideal conditions for certain invasive plants, so plough-free farming methods and using cover crops can help reduce the chances for new invasives to move in.

Soil Care

Tools

Erosion Control

According to Only 60 Years of Farming Left If Soil Degradation Continues, "Generating three centimeters of top soil takes 1,000 years, and if current rates of degradation continue all of the world's top soil could be gone within 60 years, a senior UN official said..." With this in mind it seems prudent to focus on ways to minimalize loss, instead of purely focusing on adding nutrients, which can become run off and harm water quality.

Causes of Erosion 

Deforestation

The majority of deforestation is done for the purpose of cattle grazing, followed by soy, palm, and wood products. Since most soy is fed to livestock such as chickens, hogs, and farmed fish, plus an increasing amount of palm products are also being fed to livestock, simply switching to a plant-based diet/farming system can would make a huge impact in deforestation rates.

Bamboo, hemp, recycled paper, and other alternatives would help reduce the impact of the pulp industry. Avoiding new products by caring for and refurbishing old furniture, materials can be recycled, and new products should be made with better, more sturdy techniques. Antique furniture is often stronger than modern furniture, but creating laws requiring better building techniques would help reduce deforestation while also reducing the amount of low quality furniture constantly flowing into our landfills.

Livestock 


Poor Soil Management Practices

Solutions

Streamside Forest Buffers

Limiting Livestock Access to Waterways should be a priority not only to protect waterways from contamination that can make many people sick, but to protect the banks from damage and erosion. A quick way to do this is with Streamside Fencing.

"Installing fences along streams in pasture areas is a simple but essential way to reduce pollution on farms. Fences keep livestock and their waste out of waterways, reducing pollution and erosion and helping prevent the spread of waterborne disease. Water pumps and lines, and even solar-powered mobile watering stations, can provide viable alternative water sources for the animals. In addition, the purchase of necessary supplies and labor benefits local businesses. While streamside fences do not affect greenhouse gas emissions, they are often used together with other practices that do—such as streamside forest buffers and grazing systems." - https://www.cbf.org/issues/agriculture/eight-key-conservation-practices-used-in-regenerative-agriculture.html 

"Forested buffers, also called riparian buffers, are areas bordering stream banks that are taken out of crop production or pasture use and planted with native trees, shrubs, or grasses. Buffers are at least 35 feet wide on either side of a stream. They act as natural filters that slow water flowing off the surrounding fields and allow nutrients from fertilizer and manure to soak into the ground. They benefit both the farm and the streams by reducing erosion of soil, and farmers can select trees that provide additional benefits—such as shade for livestock or fruit and nuts that can be harvested as additional crops.

Trees remove carbon dioxide directly from the air through photosynthesis. They move carbon into the soil, as well as store it in their leaves and branches, keeping it out of the atmosphere where it contributes to climate change. Each acre of forest buffer removes approximately 0.91 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year.

Buffers also cool the surrounding land and waters, a valuable function as temperatures rise and extreme heat events become more common, and provide refuge for wildlife and pollinators." - https://www.cbf.org/issues/agriculture/eight-key-conservation-practices-used-in-regenerative-agriculture.html 


BMPs (Best Management Practices) 

"In this profoundly hopeful talk, Diné musician, scholar, and cultural historian Lyla June outlines a series of timeless human success stories focusing on Native American food and land management techniques and strategies.  Lyla June is an Indigenous musician, scholar and community organizer of Diné (Navajo), Tsétsêhéstâhese (Cheyenne) and European lineages. Her dynamic, multi-genre presentation style has engaged audiences across the globe towards personal, collective and ecological healing. She blends studies in Human Ecology at Stanford, graduate work in Indigenous Pedagogy, and the traditional worldview she grew up with to inform her music, perspectives and solutions. Her current doctoral research focuses on Indigenous food systems revitalization."

Tools 

Resources & Guides

Oceana

Australia

Organizations & Resources

Europe

UK

North America

Stroud Water Research Center "works hand in hand with landowners, helping them use their land more effectively through whole-farm planning and watershed stewardship. In return for our program services, landowners are asked to install forested buffers on streams on their properties and to allow us ongoing access to their sites to gather the scientific data from these efforts.

Our expert team sets up the collaborations and partnerships necessary to achieve the highest level of freshwater conservation. The Stroud Center and many partner groups and agencies have secured over $20 million dollars through USDA’s Resource Conservation Partnership Program to support agriculture conservation and restoration projects on farms in the Delaware and Chesapeake Bay watersheds."

No-till on the Plains "is a 501c3 non-profit educational organization whose mission is to provide education and networking on agricultural production systems that model nature."

Water Management

Agriculture is the thirstiest industry sector, and the amount of ground water, and above ground sources from glaciers to rivers are overwhelmingly in the process of decline. Some major lakes (vital sources of irrigation water) are already gone, forcing to farmers to migrate elsewhere.

The most sensible way to reduce the water stress humanity has put on our planet, is to pinpoint the major causes of water stress and address each accordingly. 

Drought/Flood Resistance 

Livestock rearing has been singled out as the leading cause of water insecurity, though irrigation and water withdrawals for crops such as sugar and cotton have also caused significant ecological catastrophes.

By moving away from livestock agriculture (eliminating the need for so much drinking and feed-growing water), we can then focus on low impact methods to ensure enough water for crops. For centuries farmers have used land-shaping, and water slowing techniques that in many cases actually help to recharge their soil with moisture, instead of contributing to the desiccation of soils that currently threatens farming world wide. 

Please see our Drought/Flooding Prevention Page here.   [need to finish]

What Practices Use the Most Water?

Unsustainably intense water withdrawal while disrupting the water cycle at various stages, and in the face of extreme weather changes has left many aquifers around the world to rapidly deplete. This resource shows how most major aquifers in the USA are losing water faster than they can recharge. This pattern is happening on continents around the world, with aquifers shared by multiple countries creating rising tensions.

Reducing Water Use for Crops

Saving Water 

Saving water in the landscape can boost biodiversity, reduce flooding for you and your neighbors, and can help protect your land against future droughts or even other types of severe weather. Click the Harvesting Water button, the Water Options for Wildlife button, or the SUDS button to learn more about saving and providing water on your property.

Australia

Opportunities

Europe

UK

Creating & Restoring Riparian Boarders 

It's no secret that riparian borders around water ways have been greatly reduced due to intensive land use, and destruction from livestock with unrestricted access to these delicate ecosystems. Riparian borders are vital to our planet's health not only because they support diverse ecosystems, but because the trees and other organisms in them help protect our water supply from pollution, heat stress, and evaporation. Programs exist to provide training and even money to farmers who protect/regrow/expand these areas.

Riparian Management :: Increasing Biodiversity on Farms

1:48 minute video talks about the many benefits of maintaining or even expanding riparean zones for for farmers, water security, soil stabilization, and local wildlife.

Creating & Restoring Wetlands

Wetlands are biological sponges that soak up nitrogen and storm water. They are also crucial for many wild species. Rain as well as farm runoff can then be purified before the wetland plants help soak the water safely back into aquifers and waterways.

Farming practices such as tree removal, wetland drainage, and seasonal burnings have stripped much of our planets wetlands away. Many historical wetlands have been built up and turned into roads, buildings, and grazing land, causing massive consequences that are becoming more clear each year.

Some countries even offer tax or money incentives for farmers to protect or rebuild wetlands, so check with your local agriculture hotline or extension office.

Wetlands

Click the wetland button to learn more about wetlands, including guidlines and how-to guides for restoring wetlands, protecting shorelines from coastal and other types of erosion, etc..

Waste Reduction & Recycling

Political: Laws that Effect Farmers & Allocation of Subsidies

Subsidies

Current subsidies focus heavily on helping corporations produce unhealthy, and environmentally damaging amounts of animal feed and livestock.

By shifting to a subsidy system that helps new and existing farmers start up new, more eco-friendly business models, we could drastically help speed up an industry-wide transition to sustainable practices, while helping family farmers avoid bankruptcy. 

Click the Financial button to learn more about subsidies, and how they effect our world.

Certifications

North America

Canada

Oceana

Australia

Educational Resources

Europe

Ireland

Mental Health Support

Mental health challenges are affecting people in all walks of society, but farmers who are over-worked, under paid, and bearing the brunt of climate change are at particular risk. This in turn puts everyone at risk as farmers struggle to maintain basic tasks, or even give up on farming, which can in turn put our food security at even greater peril.

This section is intended to help farmers and farm workers access important resources in these difficult times.

North America

USA

Oceana

Australia

Click the Mental Health button to learn more about general mental health care.