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.