Chesapeake Bay states have until 2025 to implement watershed pollution-reduction practices, and a new report shows "climate-smart" farming in Maryland can help prevent farm runoff.

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation report found that using regenerative farming practices, from rotational grazing to planting forest buffers along streams, can reduce pollution from animal waste and soil erosion.

Rob Schnabel, the foundation's Maryland restoration biologist, said Maryland is a leader in farmers' use of cover crops to improve soil health - but more ranchers could be on board, with strategies such as rotational grazing.

"Animals grazing, rotating through these pastures, is like a probiotic to the soil microbes, greatly accelerating carbon sequestration in the form of soil organic matter," he said. "This restores the soil sponge, which will reduce flooding during storm events, as well as make these farms more resilient during times of drought."

A multi-year study found that converting Bay watershed farmland to rotationally grazed pastures led to an average reduction of 42% in net greenhouse-gas emissions.

Fair Hill Farms, an organic dairy farm in Kent County, converted 200 acres to rotationally grazed pasture in 2016, and a model estimate found that nitrogen pollution from the farm in nearby waterways decreased by 96%.

Beth McGee, the foundation's director of science and agricultural policy, said it's time for state and federal investment to help farmers make these transitions.

"The Chesapeake Bay region's farmers have shown a willingness to adopt these conservation practices, but they often lack the technical and financial resources to do so," she said. "We estimate that these buffers would remove roughly 173,000 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere annually."

Maryland has achieved 86% of its commitment to the Chesapeake Bay Clean Water Blueprint to planting trees next to waterways. The foundation is advocating for the U.S. Department of Agriculture to create the Chesapeake Resilient Farms Initiative, to direct more federal conservation funds to Bay states.

By Dawn Attride for Sentient.
Broadcast version by Mike Moen for Greater Dakota News Service reporting for the Sentient-Public News Service Collaboration

At the supermarket, you're often met with a choice: organic or not? Organic foods - largely free of synthetic pesticides, hormones and antibiotics - are synonymous with sustainability in the minds of many shoppers. But sustainability is a fraught and complex measure - does it mean better for you or for the planet? And how do farm animals, farmers and workers fare? About the only measure that's simple here is the nutrition, which remains the same whether you buy organic or conventional foods. After that, however, the tradeoffs quickly become complicated.

When it comes to the environment, organic food isn't necessarily better and can even be worse, in part because it requires more land to raise animals and grow their feed. In other words, that additional land means farm animals get a little more living space under U.S. organic rules. But unfortunately, unless we cut back on how much meat we eat, farming with even more land comes at a steep climate cost (and we're already way over budget).

After reviewing publicly available data and the scientific literature on the impacts of organic versus conventionally farmed meat, Sentient breaks down the tradeoffs.

Organic: Not As Environmentally Friendly As It Sounds

A 2017 review of hundreds of studies compared the environmental impacts of organic foods with their conventionally produced counterparts. The researchers looked at life cycle assessments to account for all the inputs, outputs and environmental effects of a food system. According to the findings, organic meat requires slightly lower energy on average than conventional meat - things like machinery and fertilizer production - but is less environmentally friendly in terms of nutrient runoff and higher land use.

Organic livestock standards require that farm animals be allotted more land than intensive agriculture operations, such as factory farming. Across all animal products (including milk and eggs), organic requires around 75 percent more land based on our analysis of the 2017 paper.

What we do with land has serious opportunities or consequences for climate change. For example, peatlands can suck in huge amounts of carbon by sequestration, and trees can also capture and store carbon. But if we were to expand how much of our food was sourced from organic farms, we would have to clear more land. When we clear land for farming, it loses its capacity to store carbon for as long as it stays a farm (essentially until it is rewilded), which is very bad for the planet.

As it stands, over a third of land globally is used for agriculture, resulting in deforestation in places like the Amazon rainforest. If we keep eating meat at the rate we do now, and the population keeps on growing, which is what the United Nations expects to happen, we will drive up greenhouse gas emissions even further, making the planet a more challenging place to live.

More Land Is Better for Animals, Not So Good for Climate

When we dig into the details, "better" depends on what you measure and how. A different review focusing on Western European farming found that organic animal foods have lower carbon emissions per hectare than producing those foods conventionally. But here's where things get tricky: this was mainly due to land management practices used in organic farming, which the authors argued would increase the carbon sequestration of the system.

The argument for this kind of farming - sometimes called regenerative or climate-smart - doesn't track with the many studies showing these carbon farming practices tend to only add carbon to soils for a short period of time and then release it back into the atmosphere, which is not what you need for climate mitigation. In any event, when the researchers measured emissions by weight of meat produced, organic animal foods emitted more greenhouse gases per pound.

While organic foods' inefficiency can contribute to higher emissions, it can be better in terms of welfare for farm animals. More land means more room for animals to graze than what they experience in factory farms. Raising more animals in the most confined spaces translates to lower emissions, while the higher-emissions organic livestock farms can offer animals better living conditions. This is the crux of the tradeoff between organic and conventional meat.

Demand for Organic Food Is Growing - But It's Not Scalable

In the United States, demand for organic food is surging, despite only a tiny fraction of farmland being used for organic food production. Between 2023 and 2024, organic meat sales increased 14.3 percent in dollar terms to hit $3.1 billion. Although typically more expensive, the label is in high demand, particularly among younger generations. A recent survey by the Organic Trade Association found that two-thirds of young consumers look for the label in nearly every food purchase.

Keeping up with this demand means using more land. What would happen if animal farming went entirely organic - and humans ate the same amount of meat, eggs and dairy, but using roughly 75 percent more land? The land area needed for farm animals would increase from 36 percent to 63 percent of the world's habitable area. Under current global warming estimates, this expansion likely wouldn't be sustainable given the dire need for carbon-cutting solutions which involves avoiding deforestation and preserving land.

The Bottom Line

Based on the way we eat now, organic livestock farming is not scalable to feed the projected 9.7 billion people who will be living on the planet by 2050. While organic production gives animals more space, that higher land usage isn't so good for climate change. But there are alternatives. Proteins like beans - whether organic or conventional - could substitute the growing protein demand while remaining low on emissions and avoiding typical animal welfare concerns.


Dawn Attride wrote this article for Sentient.


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A new mapping tool shows South Dakota is a big player on the farm conservation scene.

The online feature coincides with a new poll, revealing most farmers want stronger funding for climate-smart practices. In a survey of nearly 500 farms around the U.S., the National Wildlife Federation said three of four respondents support an increase in long-term funding for the U.S. Department of Agriculture's voluntary conservation programs. The initiatives incentivize farmers and ranchers to work their land in ways that make it more resilient to extreme weather, from prolonged droughts to widespread flooding.

Aviva Glaser, senior director of agriculture policy for the federation, said survey support was consistent across geographic areas.

"The poll also found that farmers not only supported this funding, but they got a lot of value out of this funding," Glaser reported. "They cited things like soil health and improved yields."

Congress is debating future funding levels for programs under the Farm Bill, which needs to be reauthorized for five more years. Conservation dollars usually enjoy bipartisan support but this year could be trickier with talks of spending cuts needed to offset tax cut extensions. Meanwhile, the map shows South Dakota farmers have enrolled more than 7 million acres in the Conservation Stewardship Program, above all other states.

Conservation in farming might seem like "inside information" to producers and policymakers. But Glaser and other advocates emphasized it benefits the public to learn about practices farmers adopt, to make their fields healthy and strong.

"That could be a range of different practices -- practices like cover crops or grazing management -- or it could be a conservation easement," Glaser outlined. "It could be putting in a buffer strip."

Buffer strips can slow and prevent harmful runoff, like nitrates, from leaving farm fields and finding their way into lakes and streams. Agricultural researchers said making landscapes less prone to flooding protects taxpayers, too, by not having to spend money on property cleanup for surrounding communities.

Wisconsin's investment in preserving its agricultural land is offering some solace to farmers and landowners while helping them save money amid a climate of economic uncertainty.

The Farmland Preservation Program provides landowners a $10 per acre credit on their income taxes if they meet agriculture conservation requirements.

Katie Abbott, county conservationist for the Iowa County Land Conservation Department, said county conservation staff work with landowners to make sure they are meeting the standards and help those who are not to get back into compliance so they can keep their tax credit.

"It's just a really great way for landowners to get one-on-one conservation help and get a little financial incentive to help protect the soil and water that we all depend on," Abbott explained.

The program promotes practices like nutrient management planning, which helps landowners save money by optimizing fertilizer use and protecting soil resources. Most of Iowa county is zoned for agriculture use with local farmers and landowners benefiting from more than $1.4 million in tax credits.

Agriculture contributes nearly $105 billion to the state's economy and more than 11% of the state's employment. In Iowa county alone, about a third of agricultural lands have compliance certificates under the program which has helped landowners significantly save on operating costs.

Abbott noted the recent tax credit increase from $7.15 to $10 per acre has sustained participation and ensured landowners still see financial benefits.

"As we all know, costs keep going up. The cost of doing conservation, of having these nutrient management plans, just the general cost of farming keep increasing," Abbott observed. "We just really needed that increase just to keep up with the rising expenses of the farmers in these programs. "

Gov. Tony Evers has proposed allocating $80 million to farms and agriculture in the most recent state budget, some of which would support programs like the Farmland Preservation Program. Abbott emphasized the importance of such initiatives as a community staple.

"We're just here to support farmers, in all kinds of atmospheres whether it's economically challenging or not," Abbott stressed. "We're here to help protect soil and water and help farmers stay productive."


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