United States agriculture has become increasingly segmented, whereby producers have become specialized and less diverse. Lack of crop diversity and intensification of livestock operations have increased the financial risk of operations. Fewer producers are raising both crops and livestock, which has impacted soil quality and continues to favor certain management practices that could be less resilient to climate variability. However, the recent soil health renaissance has provided a new platform, based on sustainable agricultural practices, focused on recoupling cropping and livestock production systems. I argue that an increased emphasis on grazing livestock used as a soil health tool will shift the use of marginal lands toward pastoralism and save the remaining native rangeland from conversion to cropland. A new paradigm that incorporates climate variability, incentivizes diversity, improves soil health, and strengthens agricultural businesses needs to be put in place in order to maintain resilient agroecosystems.
Results/Conclusions
Row cropping of corn and soybeans has increased nearly fourfold (5.1 million acres to 20 million acres) in the Dakotas from 1980 to 2016. During this same period crops such as oats, barley, wheat, hay, sunflowers, and flaxseed decreased by 54% (33.9 million acres to 18.4 million acres) in these states. In addition, it is estimated that a net loss of 1.8 million acres of grassland occurred from 2006-2012 in this region. Conservation Reserve Program lands showed a net decrease of 13 million acres in the U.S. from 2007-2016, with greatest decreases occurring in the Northern Plains. On the positive side, cover crop use has increased almost 10-fold from 2008-2017. In addition, pasture land value has almost tripled ($466/acre in 1997 to $1350/acre in 2017). Number of farms and cropland acres grazed are at historic lows in addition to low commodity prices for crops. These factors combined with soil health education, sponsored by university, federal, state, and non-governmental conservation organizations are helping to recouple plant and animal agriculture. Thus producers can diversify their income streams by grazing their cover crops, increase nutrient cycling, and add value to existing grazing lands which should slow marginal land conversion.