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与再生农民安吉拉·高德纳一起踏上再生农业之旅.
安吉拉·高德纳在一个小型家庭农场长大. It was a world away from the monocultures and row crops 那 stretch beyond the horizon in many agricultural regions today.
“这是bbin游戏官网版的诺亚方舟——我父母养猪, 羊, 山羊, 鸡, 比如火鸡和奶牛, 还有10个孩子。”安吉拉说.
现在，安吉拉，她的丈夫，第四代农民克里，还有两个儿子 在内布拉斯加州的米德拥有并经营着一个过渡性再生农场.
安吉拉从洗设备开始干农活, 把种子和投入物带到地里, driving tractors and soon introduced the first computer to the business for bookkeeping and record keeping. 引进一项现在看来很简单的技术, turned into the catalyst for the Knuth family using technology as a powerful farm management tool.
“I quickly became fascinated with precision agriculture and started keeping track of field actions, 制定种植处方文件，引进变量灌溉.”
除了技术, it was Angela’s eye for observing nature and finding ways to work with it 那 spurred on the transition to a more profitable way of farming—regenerative farming.
在2013年开始过渡之前, Knuth农场是一种传统的经营方式，年复一年地种植行作物. 用一双全新的眼睛, 安吉拉开始观察这些植物, 土壤, 农场的生活开始质疑"一直以来的做事方式".
“I started scouting the fields and I noticed an emphasis on farm equipment but no real thought to 如何 it was affecting the 土壤. When I checked the seed depth after tilling and spraying the field before planting,
我注意到表土是干的，粉状的，我在想为什么会这样 那 好?”
Angela continued questioning the conventional wisdom of farming and started testing regenerative practices in the field.
农业是大量辛勤劳动和科学的结合. Advancements in technologies have transformed farming into a prescriptive science 那 can help farmers make decisions on what their 土壤 and crops need to flourish.
Angela first put her theories to the test when the tractor lab at the University of Nebraska conducted a study 那 tested the compaction of tractor tires on land.
“They watered our field and then drove a daisy chain of weighted tractors over it and compacted our ground beyond recognition. 太可怕了.”
与大自然一起工作, Angela and her family planted nitro radishes along the track to break up the compaction and used a penetrometer to measure the results inside and outside the tracks over time.
“我觉得很有趣. I could see where the compaction layer was on the radishes because they would grow and then it would curve and then go down again.”
The radishes proved to be a highly successful experiment with the compaction barely noticeable by the next spring and by fall, 他们被挖出来和家人分享, 朋友和邮递员. Angela continued to work with the intelligence of nature by introducing cover crops 那 make nitrogen—a central component of photosynthesis.
“覆盖作物不只是为了好看或掩盖杂草. Cover crops stimulate the diverse biological life 那 keeps the 土壤 fertile and healthy, 促进植物健康, 并在地面上凝结, 这使得种植变得容易. 那是我的啊哈! 时刻. 我意识到我能做到——这并不难.”
像安吉拉这样的农民知道这一点 carbon is key in 土壤 storing water, maintaining its structure and keeping it fertile. 但许多人已经准备好学习更多的基本知识, helpful elephant in the field 那 can increase carbon in their 土壤s: photosynthesis.
Photosynthesis is the process by which plants pull carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and, 有水和阳光, create simple sugars 那 fuel healthy plant growth—it is a simple and effective untapped resource for farmers looking to improve the health of their land.
“bbin游戏官网不了解工厂的流程. bbin游戏官网只是不在这里谈论它，”安吉拉说.
再生实践 能帮助农民驾驭自然过程的顺风吗, 包括光合作用, 改善土壤, 环境, 而且重要的是, 他们的底线.
这是一个学习的问题 如何.
土地、设备和投入的成本使得扭亏为盈成为一项具有挑战性的追求. 对于安吉拉，她问了一个简单的问题:那么，bbin游戏官网如何使它工作? 她所寻找的答案就在她的脚下，在土壤里.
“这是有道理的. 如果你的土壤状况良好, 他们会为你生产更多的产品，利润就在那里——bbin游戏官网已经看到了.”
而不是求助于邻居, Angela turned to her computer to find a community of farmers who were transforming the foundation of their land and succeeding, 在财务上. “我开始研究并把这些点联系起来. I started learning about cover crops, small grains, grazing animals, and 土壤 health pioneers, like 加布布朗. Our farming decisions come down to what’s 好 for the 土壤 which has involved moving away from chemicals, 合成肥料和耕作.”
“Transitioning to regenerative practices has meant stepping back from technology and letting nature do its thing. bbin游戏官网通过观察、学习和实践来做到这一点 6项土壤健康原则-能够用数据来支持这些好处将有助于实现这一目标.“
证据就在比喻中 土壤 说到农场的健康，布丁. 然而, it’s difficult for farmers to make data-driven decisions when faced with the vastness of agricultural land, 缺乏精确的土壤测量工具, 测试结果复杂，传统土壤测试方法成本高.
而安吉拉则优先考虑在传统实验室进行定期土壤测试, 成本是限制Knuth农场进行更广泛测试的主要障碍.
“We need to cover a lot of the acres and we can only test so many spots in the field because it’s expensive.
当bbin游戏官网需要的是简单的建议时，结果可能会很复杂. 否则，它就是一堆纸上的数字.”
农业需要更好的, more accurate and lower cost 土壤 testing to make it accessible to all farmers – regenerative or not.
“I hope 那 technology can help us see and quantify our progress in building our 土壤s and producing healthier food.”
Growing more harvestable crops per acre—known as yield—is a primary metric in agriculture 那 determines not only 如何 many mouths a field can feed, 但是有多少钱又回到了农民的口袋里呢.
由于农民面临着提高产量的巨大且不断上升的投入成本, 像安吉拉这样的再生农民, 他们的决定往往是基于传统农业的隐性成本. Angela tracks everything from input costs to equipment to labor to depreciation values to 油价暴涨-当按传统方式耕作时，数学计算并不合理.
“这不仅仅是产量的问题. 怎样才能达到这个产量呢? 它能帮助你建立健康、多产的土壤吗? 你知道你真正的成本吗?”
加班, Angela’s holistic approach to accounting proved 那 their highest-yielding conventional crops were no profitable match to their lower-yielding regenerative crops.
安吉拉的发现得到了更广泛研究的支持 再生农场的利润比传统农场高出78%.
随着Knuth家族继续在再生社区中扎根, Angela is clear on the legacy she wants to leave her sons: a more profitable farm with healthier 土壤 那 produces more nutritious food.
Angela and Kerry have taught their sons the importance of using technology to make decisions based on the true cost of farming.
“We have a lot of conversations with them about financing and they understand 那 we don't need the new equipment. I'm proud 那 they’ve learned 那 you don’t need the latest and greatest to run a successful farm.
“We just have to make sure 那 the 土壤 is doing all the work and we're not buying more inputs. bbin游戏官网知道bbin游戏官网能做到——bbin游戏官网必须做到.”
快乐 全国农业日! Thanks to the farmers who are producing the food we eat and growing a climate for tomorrow.
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