4 Tactics To Help You Create A More Sustainable Farm
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A sustainable farm is one that produces food and crops in a way that preserves the local ecosystem. This is so important because without taking a sustainable approach, we run the very real risk of stripping the Earth of its resources and making it almost impossible for the next generation to be able to provide for their needs.
However, making your farm completely sustainable can be a challenge, especially if you were not originally set up that way. However, there are always actions you can take to improve sustainability. Keep reading to find out what they are.
Save water
Agriculture cannot survive without ample access to clean water. Unfortunately, many farms only consider this in terms of the water they need to grow each season’s crops. With the next years' water needs, the local community and environmental needs, and future agricultural needs going unconsidered.
Instead, one of the foundations of a successful sustainable farm is to find ways of using and wasting less water. Strategies for this include choosing crops that require less, collecting rainwater for use on the farm, and even setting up systems that allow for the reuse of greywater.
Although it is worth noting that greywater use is not legal in all states and it's important that you check its status in your location, especially for a commercial enterprise.
Choose the right crops
Next, if you want to make your farm more sustainable it is important to select the correct types of crops to grow. Indeed, if you choose crops that aren't suited to the environment in which you are based you can end up using many more resources, and causing yourself a great deal of hassle in the process of trying to ensure success.
For instance, before selecting from the many available barley varieties it's important to consider whether it will work best in acidic or alkaline soil, or whether it will thrive in a heavy or light rainfall area. Then once you know this information you can match it to the characteristics of your farm, and so use fewer resources and increase your chances of a healthy crop.
Educate and train
In addition to growing produce in a sustainable way, there is other vital work that your farm can do to help promote sustainability. In particular, educating the wider community on the importance of sustainable farming is a vital task. Indeed, with so few people being directly involved with farming, but with the impact of unsustainable being so wide such knowledge must be spread.
Protect the soil
Contrary to popular belief good soil rich in nutrients is not an inexhaustible resource. Indeed, simply by using soil to grow crops a large percentage of the nutrients it contains are used up, something that means without taking action to rectify this its long-term viability can be compromised.
This is where tactics like crop rotation, cover crops, and complimentary planting come in. All of which are strategies that will help maintain the soil quality and ensure its viability not only for your next year's planting but also for future generations.
