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The Carbon Farming Solution: A Global Toolkit of Perennial Crops and Regenerative Agriculture Practices for Climate Change Mitigation and Food Security

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The Carbon Farming Solution: A Global Toolkit of Perennial Crops and Regenerative Agriculture Practices for Climate Change Mitigation and Food Security

Eric Toensmeier

4.56 · Rating details · 36 ratings · 7 reviews

With carbon farming, agriculture ceases to be part of the climate problem and becomes a critical part of the solution

Agriculture is rightly blamed as a major culprit of our climate crisis. But in this groundbreaking new book, Eric Toensmeier argues that agriculture--specifically, the subset of practices known as "carbon farming"--can, and should be, a linchpin of a global With carbon farming, agriculture ceases to be part of the climate problem and becomes a critical part of the solution

Agriculture is rightly blamed as a major culprit of our climate crisis. But in this groundbreaking new book, Eric Toensmeier argues that agriculture--specifically, the subset of practices known as "carbon farming"--can, and should be, a linchpin of a global climate solutions platform.

Carbon farming is a suite of agricultural practices and crops that sequester carbon in the soil and in above-ground biomass. Combined with a massive reduction in fossil fuel emissions--and in concert with adaptation strategies to our changing environment-- carbon farming has the potential to bring us back from the brink of disaster and return our atmosphere to the "magic number" of 350 parts per million of carbon dioxide. Toensmeier's book is the first to bring together these powerful strategies in one place, including in-depth analysis of the available research and, where research is lacking, a discussion of what it will take to get us there.

Carbon farming can take many forms. The simplest practices involve modifications to annual crop production. Although many of these modifications have relatively low sequestration potential, they are widely applicable and easily adopted, and thus have excellent potential to mitigate climate change if practiced on a global scale. Likewise, grazing systems such as silvopasture are easily replicable, don't require significant changes to human diet, and--given the amount of agricultural land worldwide that is devoted to pasture--can be important strategies in the carbon farming arsenal. But by far, agroforestry practices and perennial crops present the best opportunities for sequestration. While many of these systems are challenging to establish and manage, and would require us to change our diets to new and largely unfamiliar perennial crops, they also offer huge potential that has been almost entirely ignored by climate crusaders.

Many of these carbon farming practices are already implemented globally on a scale of millions of hectares. These are not minor or marginal efforts, but win-win solutions that provide food, fodder, and feedstocks while fostering community self-reliance, creating jobs, protecting biodiversity, and repairing degraded land--all while sequestering carbon, reducing emissions, and ultimately contributing to a climate that will remain amenable to human civilization. Just as importantly to a livable future, these crops and practices can contribute to broader social goals such as women's empowerment, food sovereignty, and climate justice.

The Carbon Farming Solution does not present a prescription for how cropland should be used and is not, first and foremost, a how-to manual, although following up on references in a given section will frequently provide such information. Instead, The Carbon Farming Solution is--at its root--a toolkit. It is the most complete collection of climate-friendly crops and practices currently available. With this toolkit, farmers, communities, and governments large and small, can successfully launch carbon farming projects with the most appropriate crops and practices to their climate, locale, and socioeconomic needs.

Toensmeier's ultimate goal is to place carbon farming firmly in the center of the climate solutions platform, alongside clean solar and wind energy. With The Carbon Farming Solution, Toensmeier wants to change the discussion, impact policy decisions, and steer mitigation funds to the research, projects, and people around the world who envision a future where agriculture becomes the protagonist in this fraught, urgent, and unprecedented drama of our time. Citizens, farmers, and funders will be inspired to use the tools presented in this important new book to transform degraded lands around the world into productive carbon-storing landscapes. ...more

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Hardcover, 512 pages

Published February 22nd 2016 by Chelsea Green Publishing Company

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Mar 21, 2016 Kate rated it liked it

Shelves: sustainability

This book isn't one you sit down to read in a few chronological sittings, which makes it hard to summarize or "rate" on the traditional Goodreads scale. As the author himself emphasizes throughout the book, it's written with the intent of being a tool guide: introducing the concept of carbon farming, detailing why and where it could be useful, its pitfalls, and offering (generic) methods for implementation. It stops short of being a how-to guide (but with the first steps outlined, it's easy for ...more

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Jan 26, 2017 Dave rated it really liked it

It's great to see the permaculture crowd starting to put more emphasis on staple crops, as well as on scaling up. Permaculture, or agroecology or whatever you want to call it, definitely needs to become the mainstream in land management. Although this book only gives brief summaries of different carbon sequestering farming practices, it covers options for virtually the entire planet, from the tropics to boreal regions, humid to arid, lowlands to highlands, rich to poor countries, etc. It's great to see the permaculture crowd starting to put more emphasis on staple crops, as well as on scaling up. Permaculture, or agroecology or whatever you want to call it, definitely needs to become the mainstream in land management. Although this book only gives brief summaries of different carbon sequestering farming practices, it covers options for virtually the entire planet, from the tropics to boreal regions, humid to arid, lowlands to highlands, rich to poor countries, etc. Considering that just about every region is likely to experience significant changes in the coming decades, and that conflicts are likely to force a lot of people to relocate, it's good to have some understanding of what works best in different conditions and not just focus entirely on your current conditions. Toensmeier's emphasis on "non-destructively harvested" crops is another plus. Being able to produce what we need with only minimal soil disturbance can make an enormous difference, both to carbon sequestration rates and soil fertility.

There are some things that he's kind of open minded to, even if not actually supporting, that I'm not really a fan of. They all basically come from the belief that global industrial civilization can be made sustainable, and obviously the idea that that would be the best thing to do. Those are both popular ideas but I strongly disagree with them. Not only is the infrastructure needed for solar panels and other "green" or "clean" energy technologies inherently unsustainable, I would argue that when all things are considered (not just life expectancies, possessions and amounts of data) modern lifestyles just aren't the best way to live. I'm not sure if Toensmeier really disagrees or if he's just trying to be more "realistic" with his transition plan. At the end of the book he does explicitly label capitalism and infinite growth economics as problems, which is great, but much of the book is about growing plants that can be used to replace plastics, fuels, and other industrial products. In my opinion, when obvious substitutes already exist they should be used but to continue high-tech research for developing new techniques only makes sense if you're trying to maintain modern technology rather than transition away from it. According to him we don't need to "return to stone age living", just the consumption levels of America in the 1970's. Following that assumption, what he's saying makes perfect sense. However, if you don't think that's good enough, as I don't, then it's a bit irritating.

Most of what he advocates could match pretty well with a transition stage towards much simpler lifestyles. Even though he uses low diversity orchards and large-scale farms as examples at times, he does make it clear that he's more in favor of diverse polycultures and small farms that can support local economies. At one point he unequivocally states "... each region should produce most of its own everything..." Since his vision for a sustainable civilization is close to what I would consider a transition stage away from civilization it gives us all something that we should be able to agree on as a common goal for now. I just think that you need to keep asking yourself "would this locality produce everything humans need for a balanced diet, clothing, building materials, heating and cooking fuel?" This book calls for more research into mechanizing harvesting and processing, as well as breeding perennial crops for mechanized farms. When the time comes to rely entirely on manual human labor then things might be more challenging if they're growing crops that wouldn't be considered feasible without machines doing the work. Some livestock and crop integration strategies that rely on things like electric net fencing also might run into complications when switching to simpler technologies. These things are worth keeping in mind.

I don't really have any other major complaints. The first hundred pages are a bit tedious and repetitive (something that drives me crazy with eco-themed books). In my opinion the concern over albedo effect is a little silly considering that boreal regions are the only areas that really cause more warming from tree cover, and I'm pretty sure that's just with dense coverings of evergreens. Almost everywhere else that trees can grow are better off with trees. When all things are considered, boreal regions should probably have a lot of trees too, even if it isn't the ideal scenario for climate change. I just don't see much point in creating unnecessary confusion over something so minor (some people try to use albedo to justify desertification!). I was also kind of surprised not to see much mention of mangroves in here. I know the focus is on crops but mangroves sequester so much carbon compared to other trees that you'd think they would at least get some attention. His focus on "non-destructively harvested" crops means that cattails are left out of the discussion on starch production and his focus on perennials means little interest in hemp in the fiber section, which I consider a bit insane. He gives cotton plenty of attention, calling it a "superior" fiber, maybe just because it has potential to become more "perennialized." However, hemp can potentially produce fiber, food, medicinal leaf juice, resin and useful biomass simultaneously, and with less fertilizers and pesticides than cotton. That multifunctionality easily makes up for it being an annual species. Had he factored in durability of fibers rather than just tons of yield he might have come to a different conclusion just based on that. Focusing on other things, like calories per hectare instead of just yield per hectare, could change the way a lot of these crops are looked at too. Chestnuts and walnuts for example yield similarly but walnuts provide 5 times more calories and 7 times more protein per pound. Statistics like these I feel really should be emphasized when comparing yields. It's a little ridiculous for a book this size to leave such things out. Overall though, there is a lot of useful information for anyone interested in sustainable food production. I do still highly recommend this one. ...more

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Mar 20, 2017 Ryan rated it liked it

Definitely a comprehensive book. I used it to research an article and presentation I'm working on about sustainable eating.

One of my favorite quotes: "Our addiction to constant economic growth is in conflict with the very real limits of nature. Nor is it compatible with the requirement to drastically reduce consumption in wealthy countries."

Another: "Placing profit above all else has driven us to the brink of catastrophic climate change. Care for people and care for the environment have to be ...more

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Sep 03, 2018 Malte rated it it was amazing

Shelves: ecology, agroforestry, agriculture, handbook

This is not a book you're supposed to read chronologically and even in its entirety - most of the book is more of a reference and handbook - but I almost did read everything from start to finish. This might just be one of the most important books out there on how to put the land to other uses and reverse global warming.

It's also a rare case of evidence-based literature coming out of an author with a so-called permaculture background. Toensmeier has been one of the few that has consistently ...more

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May 12, 2018 Stephen rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: people working against global warming

Recommended to Stephen by: Don Wilkin

Shelves: agriculture

Ok, ok, I will never read this cover to cover. I usually don't rate books unless read that way, but this is too densely-packed. It is an encyclopedia, a resource like no other on "carbon farming." The term means an important facet of "regenerative agriculture." Carbon farming /ranching offers a way to draw down CO2 from the atmosphere and replace carbon in the soil from which it has been disappearing at an accelerating rate. It will not by itself save the world but is a sine qua non to that ...more

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Oct 11, 2019 Justine Burt rated it it was amazing

A textbook with, fortunately, a lot of photos and tables so you can breeze through and absorb the grand takeaways. Carbon sequestration is not complicated. To address climate change we need to pay farmers to sequester carbon in the soil through proven agricultural practices. Anyone who cares about addressing climate change must read this book.

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Mar 29, 2017 John rated it really liked it

Of course, this is a timely and important book: a vital reference and invigorating survey of a key component in humanity's response to climate change. At its best, it gives one excitement about all the techniques that are possible. At worst, it is never as bad as economic botany could be, given the fatal combination of the sheer tedium of botanic description with the grim outlook of the dismal science.

I think of this book as being in three sections: an overview of the idea carbon farming and the Of course, this is a timely and important book: a vital reference and invigorating survey of a key component in humanity's response to climate change. At its best, it gives one excitement about all the techniques that are possible. At worst, it is never as bad as economic botany could be, given the fatal combination of the sheer tedium of botanic description with the grim outlook of the dismal science.

I think of this book as being in three sections: an overview of the idea carbon farming and the systems that implement it, descriptions of the key plants involved, and a plan for dealing with the social, economic, and political factors involved.

The overview section is great and really expands one's mind to the possibilities of carbon farming. It's so great that I read pretty far into the second section before I noticed I wasn't getting the same amount out of it. I think part of the problem is that this second section organized by use of the crop, not by cropping system or its role in a particular part of the world. It has a kind of disconnection from that integrated picture of worldwide systems. This arrangement dissuades any coherent picture, and as I read it I went from "Oh cool, I never thought about the applications of tropical air yams." to "Why am I reading about the applications of tropical air yams?"

The third section is really not so much of a plan as a cold shower, saying most of what is appropriate for supporting carbon farming is grindingy boring work in finance and community organizing. In other words, it's super real, and you have to respect that, even if reading it fits in the "Why am I doing this to myself?" category.

I'm beginning to think that Eric Toensmeier is best when he's writing with a partner: a Dave Jacke or Jonathan Bates or Rafter Sass Ferguson or Paul Hawken. The work is better when there is someone to temper his encyclopedic tables and grassroots social pragmatism.

Still, check it out. Read the first 115 pages straight and skim the rest for reference. But don't skip the many uses of tropical air yams: it's good to be a well-rounded person. ...more

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