Implementing regenerative agriculture to protect the Great Lakes

It’s no secret that the Great Lakes can be negatively impacted by pollution. One of the culprits for pollution is agriculture. Industrial agriculture affects all the Great Lakes, especially in areas with confined animal feedlot operations. Michigan, Wisconsin and Ohio all make heavy use of confined animal feedlots and there are also quite a few dairy farms in this general region as well.

Great Lakes Boating had a chance to sit down with Alaina Lawrence, the Climate, Food and Water Organizer at Clean Water Action Minnesota, to learn about the ways these agricultural practices are affecting the Great Lakes and what we can do to advocate for the implementation of more eco-friendly methods of farming.

She explained that most of the practices supported by the United States Department of Agriculture generally prioritize the application of manure fertilizer. In fact, they use something called manure lagoons where the manure is held within pools, causing the ground water to become polluted with nitrogen and phosphorous.

Cause For Concern

“There’s a deep concern for all of the Great Lakes having algae blooms,” described Lawrence. “Nitrogen and phosphorous are really high causing agents of these algae blooms.”

In addition to manure lagoons, dairy farms, pig farms and just generally confined animal feedlots contribute to this pollution and there’s quite a large variety of these within the Midwest. However, in regard to northern Minnesota, it’s too cold to have those types of facilities without excess heating costs, making it not as much a concern for Lake Superior.

There’s more concern for nitrogen and phosphorous pollution in the green spaces. For example, in the city of Duluth, Minn., there are applications of fertilizer in their green areas along Lake Superior that are cause for concern.

Confined animal feedlots also cause excess greenhouse gas emissions which spike climate change. With the current popular methods of farming, it’s a strong cycle in favor of nitrogen and phosphorous. This, in turn, is not in favor of clean water.

Of course there are opportunities for improvement from a political standpoint and a market standpoint. That’s the work that keeps Lawrence and the rest of the team at Clean Water Action Minnesota busy.

Regenerative Solutions

“We focus on something called regenerative agriculture which encompasses a lot of different practices,” shared Lawrence. “There are tons of opportunities for these confined animal feedlots to transition to more climate-friendly practices which is what we’re working on. That isn’t to say it isn’t happening in these areas (I think there are a lot of systems at play that make that difficult) but there is definitely a lot that a consumer can do to try and advocate for better options and purchase for better options.”

Regenerative agriculture is a somewhat broad umbrella term for climate-smart agriculture. It really focuses on indigenous wisdom that didn’t include pesticides and fertilizers. It instead included something called cover crops.

This method makes it so you always have something growing in the soil and always abstain from killing the soil. Cover crops focus on what soil health and water health have in common. It also focuses on how that can regenerate the soil and regenerate the food we’re growing, making it so that we rely on more natural alternatives.

Opting For Eco-Friendly

In the market sense, regenerative agriculture usually includes organic foods. Organic foods are typically more climate smart, but regenerative agriculture takes that a step further in trying to look at the environment as a whole.

“It’s a growing movement and growing practice that I think has become a precedent in the last five years and will continue to expand as more consumers, people and enjoyers of clean water advocate for or purchase options that are regenerative,” added Lawrence. “These options don’t use excess manure, pesticides and fertilizers.”

As of right now, there’s a lot of work being done on the advocacy level to change the policy systems that dictate how farming practices are allowed to be. It’s an ongoing debate and it can be a hard fight to advocate for regenerative agriculture. This is especially true since the current system for agriculture has now been in place for the past 50 years.

“There’s definitely the option, strength and opportunity to switch to these regenerative practices and it’s just a matter of convincing those in control to see the merit of these practices,” added Lawrence.

As Great Lakes boaters, we value the Great Lakes and the health of their waters. We can help advocate for more eco-friendly farming practices by spreading the word and purchasing regenerative options. Let’s try to keep the Great Lakes healthy.