My Letter to Outdoor News of Minnesota (we'll see if they print it)

My Letter to Outdoor News of Minnesota (we'll see if they print it)

Published by Mark Schultz on Apr 16th 2021

I am baffled why the Outdoor News staff has not been praising Regenerative Farmers. Instead, CRP and buffer strips are touted as the answers to habitat issues. Do you really believe that bribing farmers with tax dollars for CRP land, while they continue their soil-destroying practices on their remaining land, is the path to improved habitat?

On the flip-side are the farmers who are doing the right thing by going no-till with cover crops, keeping the soil armored, and mob grazing livestock. By partnering with nature, they are sequestering carbon, restoring soil life, retaining water, reducing soil erosion, reducing use of herbicides and chemical fertilizers, restoring wetlands, and increasing plant diversity. Why spend tax dollars to bribe unwilling farmers to create narrow buffer strips when there are farmers turning their entire fields into buffer strips—for free?
Supporting wildlife all comes down to clean water, and healthy forage and cover. In his book, Dirt to Soil, Gabe Brown describes the wildlife now on his land. Maybe an Outdoor News field trip to his farm in Bismarck is in order?
All we need to do, to start healing our land and restoring vital habitat, is support farmers who are trying to do it right, by buying their products. A few extra bucks added to the monthly food bill goes a long way toward restoring our health, our waters, our land, our families, and our communities. I say we forget about the government, and work together to heal our land.

That was the letter. I had to strip it down, to meet their 250 word requirement. Despite deleting over 150 words, the point is that I believe that Regenerative Farming just may be the only thing that will save us from ourselves.

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