that , if you ’ re going to keep at it for the long-term , you have to treat soil health , conservation , and the environment as high priorities ,” explains Hickman . Landowners can support the use of conservation practices by starting a conversation with their farmer ; by asking what practices they use and how they may be able to help them implement other practices by providing more security through longer lease agreements . Landowners can also negotiate rental rates that support implementation of practices that might not have an immediate return on investment but are good for the long-term financial and environmental sustainability of the farm .
Back at Harborview Farms , Trey Hill continues to push the industry forward . On both his own land and on the more than 10,000 acres he rents , Hill continues to explore and create new farming techniques that improve both the environment and his bottom line . For example , thanks to Hill ’ s practices of using cover crops and 100 percent no-till , his farm has become one of the first in the nation to become eligible to generate carbon offset credits . In 2020 , Hill received a check for about $ 120,000 for sequestering 8,000 tons of carbon over a three-year period on his farm . Scaling this type of practice
up will require Hill to educate and build confidence with his non-operating landowner partners , which is something that he is prepared to do because his argument is simple : climate resilient farming is good for both the long-term financial sustainability of the farm , and the local environment . It ’ s a win-win . “ At my house , I have a small dock , and this is the first year we ’ ve had subaquatic vegetation ,” observes Hill . “ We ’ re seeing three to four feet deep and it looks like a fish nursery . We saw horseshoe crabs breeding for the first time . We had dolphins in the Chester River for the first time in my life . So , all those things show me that the ecology of the whole system is getting better , which reinforces and reinvigorates me to do a better job as a farmer , because I know that what we ’ re doing is making things better .”
Severn Smith is the Director of Communications for The Nature Conservancy in Maryland , Delaware , Pennsylvania , and Washington , D . C . The Nature Conservancy is a global conservation organization dedicated to conserving the lands and waters on which all life depends . Guided by science , TNC creates innovative , on-the-ground solutions to our world ’ s toughest challenges so that nature and people can thrive together .
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