'This place wanted to be a wetland': how a farmer turned his fields into a wildlife sanctuary

Eradicating invasive species requires enrolling a community effort. Although quarantines and chemical treatments have not proven effective in preventing the spread of Popilia japonica, or the Japanese beetle, to farms on the US’s Front Range, the Colorado community of Palisade succeeded in eradicating the species through collective action. By combining pest control methods with a community program of reducing water use, Palisade farmers were able to push the beetles out of their farmland over the course of several years in the early 2000s.

An Arizona farmer became the first organic regenerative certified farm in the southwest using practices that conserve water and improve soil health along the drought-stuck Gila River. His practices include growing arid-adapted crops, integrating livestock grazing, and planting cover crops.

Cotton farmers in Australia are converting their fields to be bankless so the work requires less water and labor. That means they’re removing the mounds of soil that kept water contained in ditches and redesigning the fields so it flows from one side to the other in gated stages instead of siphoning water by hand.

A Nigerian agricultural entrepreneur is embracing hydroponics — a method that grows crops with water and no soil — as an alternative to farming methods that have led to land degradation. Because of Adebowale Onafowora’s knowledge, he has trained more than 20,000 people; and helped set up over 200 hydroponic centers. His inspiration led to the establishment of the Landmark University Greenhouse and Hydroponic Technology Centre, a place for research and training in the technique.

After realizing that his soil was becoming more saline after repeated uses of chemical fertilizer, a farmer in India made the switch to organic farming with the hopes of saving his crops. By switching to organic farming he has a lower crop yield than he would by using chemicals, but he is hopeful others will see the benefits of this method.

The Alexandre Family Farm in California made the switch to regenerative agriculture as a way to improve their soil health and improve the quality of their dairy operations. They are part of a growing number of individual dairies across the country that are embracing organic farming and are becoming “certified regenerative” as a way to build relationships with consumers and retailers on their own.

On his organic farm in Illinois, Will Glazik is experimenting with different types of agricultural methods to increase his crop yield while also avoiding the harmful impacts of industrial farming. He’s part of a growing movement called “sustainable intensification,” which combines both conventional and organic farming techniques. While there are challenges with this approach and what works in one place might not work in another, combining these types of farming could help feed a growing global population.

Toxic green algae has become a prominent threat in Lake Erie, but local farmers are trying to reduce their footprint by limiting agricultural nutrient runoff from manure and fertilizer that is spread on their farm fields. From increasing transparency around agriculture practices to altering how fertilizer is distributed, early signs are showing success with these measures despite there still being a long ways to go.

As climate change continues to impact agriculture production and land viability, a new concept known as “sustainable intensification” has entered the conversation as a way to cultivate a relationship between traditional and organic farming. Taking the best from both practices, this new practice emphasizes environmentally friendly farming with higher yields of food production.

Motivated by crop devastation from a severe drought, farmers in parts of Kenya took action to prevent a similar event from impacting them in the future. Working together, these small-scale farmers implemented conservation agriculture practices to ensure crop viability during even the harshest climate conditions.