Climate-smart farming practices sound pretty good about now

If it seems like there has been more talk recently about major drought and 1,000-year rain events, well, it’s because they’ve been more frequent lately.

With most of the western half of the continental U.S. in a drought (and much of that in a multi-year drought), water shortages have become very real. For farmers and ranchers, this means parched fields, lower yields, diminished grain quality, and increasingly culled cattle herds. 

Oddly enough, in the Midwest, there have been multiple 1,000-year rain events in which 10 inches of rain or more fell within a 24 hour period. In 2022, over 6.5 million acres of row crops were ultimately declared prevent plant. 2 million acres were declared Prevent Plant in 2021, over 9 million acres in 2020, and a mind-numbing 20 million acres of Prevent Plant in 2019. Some of the states that experienced incredible droughts one year are met by an onslaught of rain the next. Farming isn’t getting easier as time goes on, it is getting harder. 

While we cannot control the weather, what we can do is improve the ability of our crops and land to thrive despite extreme weather. Increasing soil organic matter and improving soil structure can provide the most benefit to helping farmers gain field accessibility in wet conditions while also helping crops survive drought conditions. Here’s how that works:

When we talk about soil structure, we’re referring to the physical composition and strength of soil particles. Good soil structure creates space to store water, can effectively drain excess water, and can better carry farm equipment in wet conditions. In addition, improved soil structure helps a crop’s ability to survive drought conditions. Improving soil structure by just 34% can increase water infiltration by 10 (as measured through aggregate stability).

Soil organic matter is comprised of recently decomposed plant, microorganism, and animal manure that hold and deliver nutrients to plants, helps build soil structure, and increases the water holding capacity of soil. Improving soil organic matter by 1% (in this example, from 2% to 3%) increases the water holding capacity of a field by 16,500 gallons per acre, or an additional ¾ of an inch of water.

While soil structure and soil organic matter are firstmost informed by soil type, how land is managed can dramatically shift those numbers. For example, an Ohio Extension research trial showed that shifting from a conventional tillage corn/soybean rotation to a no-till corn/soybean/clover cover crop rotation reduced the time required for one inch of water to infiltrate the soil from 60 minutes to 15 seconds! A huge improvement. Soil organic matter responds in a similar way—tillage degrades soil organic matter while reduced/no till, adding cover crops, and increasing crop diversity all improve soil organic matter numbers. 

Reducing tillage and adding cover crops have multiple benefits. Not only do they improve soil structure and soil organic matter, but they can solve a number of pressing agronomic challenges, such as herbicide resistant weeds and disease pressure. Want a few starter ideas for how to improve the soils on your farm? Take a few minutes to try the free Soil Health Optimizer tool (log in or create your account to access the tool). 

When you soil health practices to your operation, not only do your soils and crops improve, you can also be generating revenue from carbon credits simultaneously. Curious to know how much you may be able to make from adopting carbon farming practices?

By: Ryan Stockwell, Indigo Grower Engagement Senior Manager and Wisconsin farmer