Dave Bishop has been farming in Atlanta, Illinois since 1978. His organic farm 鈥� PrairiErth 鈥� grows wheat and all kinds of vegetables, like kale, beets and tomatoes. Bishop has crops growing every month of the year, but the farms surrounding him, in every direction, don鈥檛.
Bishop gestures toward some of those other farms. 鈥淔rom spring to October, you see something green and growing,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he other six months of the year, the factory鈥檚 doors are shut.鈥�
Meaning, nothing鈥檚 growing. The fields are simply dirt, with no plants on them sucking carbon from the air.
鈥淲e operate the land for six months and then we just let it sit there, bare naked, and wash away,鈥� said Bishop. 鈥淣ow tell me how that makes any sense. What other business operates like that?鈥�
The agriculture industry accounts for 10% of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, a big driver of climate change. Some farmers, like Bishop, are turning to an inexpensive solution to capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere: cover crops.
Bishop's mix includes medium red clover, tillage radishes, Dutch white clover, Sudan grass, cereal rye, hairy vetch, buckwheat and field peas.
Like all plants, Bishop鈥檚 cover crops take the one thing we really don鈥檛 need in our atmosphere, the biggest contributor to the warming of our planet 鈥� carbon dioxide 鈥� out of our air and hold it in their cells and the soil.
鈥淵our cover crops are an example of how you're taking green matter 鈥� carbons, essentially, which is what it's all made up of 鈥� and you're keeping it here. You're not letting go of it,鈥� Bishop said.
Another farmer, Ben Brownlow of Rutledge, Missouri, takes a different approach. On his farm, Fox Holler Farmstead, Brownlow raises pigs, turkeys, ducks, chickens, goats, cows and trees.
鈥淥ne poorly-timed flood or drought can sink somebody who's raising a field of corn or a field of beans,鈥� Brownlow said. 鈥淭rees, once they're established, can weather that a lot better.鈥�
Unlike cover crops, which need to be planted each year, trees capture and sequester carbon continuously.
鈥淚f I fall down and get eaten by the pigs tomorrow, the trees are still going to continue the work that I started,鈥� Brownlow joked. 鈥淭hey are more dedicated to sequestering carbon than I am.鈥� He paused to survey his tree orchard. 鈥淎nd there's something poetic about planting trees, right?鈥�
Brownlow is trying to figure out how to capture as much climate-warming carbon dioxide as possible while raising food. He grows all kinds of trees 鈥� hazelnuts, Asian pears, apples and chestnuts.
鈥淚f you鈥檙e trying to sequester as much carbon with a piece of land as possible in our climate, this sort of temperate, North American climate, a 20% canopy to 80% grass has the most photosynthetic surface,鈥� he said.
In other words, Brownlow is planting for optimum carbon reduction: 20% tree canopy and 80% grasses, shrubs, and other crops growing underneath in order to capture and sink the maximum amount of carbon.
According to Brownlow, sinking carbon is the best way to offset agriculture鈥檚 greenhouse gas emissions. So he鈥檚 experimenting: planting different varieties and regularly testing his soil for carbon content.
Brownlow said his on-pasture trials seek to solve how we can save ourselves from what he calls an "inevitable climate catastrophe."
Because even as he ponders the dark, overarching climate situation, Brownlow鈥檚 individual actions are optimistic. He said he鈥檚 constantly asking: 鈥淲hat are the positive things we can do to sink carbon into the soil?鈥�
The vast majority of U.S. farmers aren鈥檛 like Brownlow and Bishop. They鈥檙e not actively trying to sequester carbon. Nationally, only 4% of U.S. cropland has cover crops.
When it comes to trees, it鈥檚 not yet clear how many farmers are planting them. Last month, the U.S. Department of Agriculture concluded a from 11,000 farmers and ranchers to find out more.
Regardless of what that data shows, Brownlow says he鈥檒l keep experimenting with trees.
鈥淭hat stuff is exciting for me,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 overwhelming to think how many people would have to do that at what scale to make a dent, but that keeps from being too depressed to think about those possibilities.鈥�
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This story comes from the new podcast from the Food & Environment Reporting Network.
This story was produced in partnership with Harvest Public Media, a collaboration of public media newsrooms in the Midwest. It reports on food systems, agriculture and rural issues. Follow Harvest on Twitter:
