The dubious climate gains of turning soil into a carbon sink
- Media Manager
- Jan 22, 2024
- 1 min read
Financial Times
Written By: Susannah Savage
Published: January 22nd, 2024
“There’s more known about space travel than there is about soil health,” says Tom Gregory, gulping down a cup of tea and glancing out from his farmhouse kitchen at a valley of green fields.
Ten years ago, he and his wife Sophie set up their organic dairy farm in Chard, Somerset. Five years ago, they realised it was not working. The proof was in the earth; by most indicators the farm’s soil had got worse since they began their organic endeavours.
Like many others around the world, Gregory has responded by turning to so-called regenerative agriculture: improving soil quality by better stewardship such as reduced tilling and planting more diverse temporary pasture.
Big food companies are taking an interest in such practices, and not just for ecological reasons. As well as boosting crop yields and potentially cutting fertiliser usage, regenerative agriculture can help increase carbon sequestration — storing carbon in the soil and keeping it out of the atmosphere.
