“One day this Land will turn into desert.” The old Shepherd told me, as we talked about the water shortage for his sheep in the mountains.
The springs dry out and the natural pont, witch supported the needs for 2000 sheep, is completely empty. His sheep are grazing this mountains for 25 years now and since 4 years he has water problems. Each year is dryer then the next.
But he is not the only farmer suffering from water shortage. Droughts and extreme weather become more and more frequent, even in Europe. We are starting to notice the effetcts of global warming.
The emissions of greenhouse gases (like co2), bare ground and the loss of vegetation, are all playing their part to stimulate the problem.
Bare ground emmits co2 into the atmosphere and by losing vegetation we accelerat surface water runoff and decreas water infiltration rate so the surface heats up. This surface heat is gradualy chaning the microclimatic conditions of the territory involved, witch leads to the loss of the small water cycle and more severe weather events.
But for every problem, there are solutions. For agriculture it’s called: “Carbon Farming”.
Carbon farming is a way for farmers to mittigate against climate change, by sequestrering Co2 from the atmosphere and putting it back where it belongs: into the soil.
Living green plants naturally absorb Co2, bind it together with H2O and with the help of the sun, turn them into simple sugars (carbon).
This process is called photosynthesis. Some of these sugars (also called exudates) are used by the plant, but depending on the plant between 10 to 40% of get pumped into the soil .
These exudates attrack beneficial microbs arround the rhizosphere. They feed on the sugars the plant produces, and in return they provide the plant with nutrients, water and protection against pathogens.With organic matter left on the soil surface and the plants exudates, micrbobs build soil organic matter (SOM). SOM holds carbon in a stable form, retains water, is full of nutrients and gives the soil a porous structure.
Plants also cool their surroundings, with photosynthesis witch is an endothermic process, what means it absorbs heat. And they transpire water-vapour, witch cools the air around them, moderating the differences in tempretaure (day versus night or different thermal regimes). This water condenses again and together with the evaporation of water hold in the soil, creating local rainfall.
So the key to Carbon Farming is keeping a 100% of the ground a 100% of the time coverd , prefrable with green living pants.This means, that we need to stop deforastation of large areas, tilling, overgrazing or overresting of plants and limit chemical applications.With farming practices like holistic planned grazing, cover cropping, intercropping of perennial plants, intigration of livestock and many more it can be achieved. These practices build soil, store carbon, repair the water cycle and make the farm more resiliant against climate stress. But as good as practices are, they need to be in a holistic context.
So will this land turn into a desert like the old shepherd predicts? It might all depend on how we chose to manage our farms.
Friendly Flock 
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