Source Feed: We Are Carbon
Published: 2025-06-27T13:35:45+00:00
Content Type ID: 1
Could compost significantly reduce the need for toxic chemicals to be sprayed across our farmlands?
Of course it can!
But… is it a practical option that farmers can get up and get on without huge investment in equipment or learning?
Daniel Tyrkiel and his work with Soil Ecology Laboratory are determined to make the answer, ‘yes’!
One of the fundamentals of regenerative agriculture is to support and work with living soil biology. The miracle that is life on Earth has evolved this way!
Plants pumping carbon from the atmosphere through photosynthesis, plants feeding some of that carbon to the soil food web, and the soil food web supporting the plants in a myriad of ways so they can grow strong and healthy.
Flowing, cycling, symbiotic. Continual, sustainable & abundant.
Watching vast monocultures being sprayed with chemicals that kill that soil life can feel pretty dismal once you tune into that.
Our food resilience and so much besides requires a big, big shift in how we treat our soils.
There’s not one answer to this.
Many opportunities exist.
For Daniel the focus became ‘how can we meet the farmers where they’re at?’.
It’s busy and challenging work to farm our lands and every step slots into a wider system of commerce and policy and climate… There’s no quick pivot when the system is so complicated!
Soil Ecology Laboratory have focused on capturing ‘living soil food web’ into products with an impressive shelf life, and then taken it a step further to explore how the product can be applied using equipment already on hand for the farmer.
I have a feeling their innovations will keep on evolving. Daniel has learnt from the best; Dr. Elaine Ingham, and his enthusiasm for healthy soil life mixes perfectly with his ability to consider the whole complicated system that is our society.
I was delighted to get the chance to sit down and learn more about the journey and outcomes of this work.
Find the full conversation here: https://youtu.be/VOPQ91ZM4ao
#regenerativeagriculture #healthysoil #sustainablesolutions
