Cover crops and other regenerative agriculture practices have been getting a massive amount of attention lately. There have been stories about them in major news outlets like Forbes and the New York Times and politicians have been working these concepts into their speeches and climate platforms, spreading the word about the benefits of keeping the soil covered with diverse living plants.

Scientists have traditionally believed soil aggregates — clusters of soil particles — were the principal locations for stable carbon storage. Recent research from Michigan State University, however, shows that most stable carbon appears to be the result of microbes producing organic compounds that are then adsorbed onto soil mineral particles.

Featuring a quartet of incentives to implement regenerative farming practices, Indigo Agriculture has launched the Terraton Initiative to accelerate carbon sequestration on agricultural lands.

No-Till Farmer's Mike Lessiter met in Washington, D.C. on March 12th with the new NRCS Chief, Matthew Lohr. In part 4 of this video, Lohr highlights some of the benefits the NRCS district offices can offer farmers as well as the effects no-till farming has on managing carbon sequestration.

While much has been written on the economic aspects of the 2018 Farm Bill, the legislation included a number of items of special interest to no-tillers. Probably the most important one is new language specifically defining the rules for cover crop termination.

While there’s increasing emphasis on “sustainable agriculture” and “soil health,” these four buzzwords tend to ruffle the feathers of veteran no-tillers and others like myself who have followed the no-till movement for nearly a half century. It’s because we recognize that earlier generations of no-tillers were the original true innovators behind these “not-so-new” concepts that go back to the 1960s.