Strips of native plants on as little as 10% of farmland can reduce soil erosion by up to 95%

Between two corn fields in central Iowa, Lee Tesdell walks through a corridor of native prairie grasses and wildflowers. Crickets trill as dickcissels, small brown birds with yellow chests, pop out of the dewy ground cover.

“There’s a lot of life out here, and it’s one of the reasons I like it, especially in these late summer days,” Tesdell said.

This is a prairie strip. Ranging from 10-40 metres (30-120ft) in width, these bands of native perennials are placed strategically in a row-crop field, often in areas with low yields and high runoff. Tesdell has three on his farm.

He points out several native plants – big bluestem, wild quinine, milkweed, common evening primrose – that came from a 70-species seed mix he planted here six years ago. These prairie plants help improve the soil while also protecting his more fertile fields from bursts of heavy rain and severe storms, which are becoming more frequent.

  • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
    21·
    2 days ago

    Farmers are going to have to get smarter like this because the old ways of doing things just aren’t going to work anymore.

    Also, please plant as much milkweed as possible for the sake of the monarch butterflies.

    • whoisearth@lemmy.ca
      15·
      2 days ago

      Laughing at “old ways”. The old ways are what they’re going back to. What didn’t work is the new ways of mono-crop nonsense that wasn’t done for millenia before recent memory.

      Mega farms need to die.

      • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
        16·
        2 days ago

        I meant the old ways for them… but old ways are not enough to feed over 8 billion people either. You need to find a combination of things that used to work that were stopped and new technology. For example, there would just be no way to avoid wide-scale famine without modern fertilization methods.

        So what is necessary is to find some sort of happy medium.

        • Obi@sopuli.xyz
          5·
          2 days ago

          And they definitely exist there’s loads of ways they can combine smart eco-friendly strategies like this one or mixed crops and economies of scale as well. Solar energy in combination with sheep etc is also good. It requires both good scientific research but also and critically a good implementation and incentives with the farmers in real world conditions.

    • rayyy@lemmy.world
      12·
      2 days ago

      Been doing no plow, no till gardening for over 20 years. Cheaper, quieter, no exhaust fumes, way less work and way better yields/quality. A round point shovel, a hoe and a 5-tine fork are all the equipment used in my garden. Weeding is rare. Occasional bugs are controlled organically. My inspirations were Masanobu Fukuoka and Ruth Stout.