Prairie strips are a farm conservation practice that requires minimal intervention and delivers huge benefits
By converting 10% of cropland to native prairie, farmers can reduce soil loss by 95%, total phosphorous loss by 90%, and total nitrogen loss by 85%
A quick summary: pic.twitter.com/rfD7PHmuxy
— Sam Knowlton (@samdknowlton) March 14, 2023
Farmers are on the front line of climate change and to some extent they are accelerating it (deforestation and extensive pesticide use), but smart farmers are fighting climate change and improving their crop yield at the same time. A very successful natural intervention farmers can use are known as praire strips. These are long thin strips of land on a farmer’s field that hosts native species and provide lots of benefits to the surrounding land. They attract insects that help crops, help retain water, and keep the soil healthy in a way that chemical interventions can’t.
Insect and bird populations are more than 2x in prairie strips compared to mono-crop fields – providing vital defense against pests and other ecosystem services
Pollinators increase at around the same rate
Prairie strips turn a veritable green desert into a thriving ecosystem