Tour Clagett Farm, a regenerative farm in Maryland, with Mary Pfaffko. Learn how regenerative agriculture is strengthening the health of the soil and helping restore ecosystems for both, wildlife and people.
Video Transcript:
Mary: Hey, everybody. Today we’re headed to a farm in Maryland, where we are going to learn about how regenerative farming helps them improve their soil and water quality and sequester carbon in the ground.
We’re going to tour Clagett Farm, which has organic fruits and vegetables, sheep and grass fed beef cattle. And then we’re going to participate in a service activity.
Regenerative agriculture is an approach to food and farm systems focused on strengthening the health of the soil.
Jared: If I could do one thing well in my life, it’s to make sure that the next generation can produce
healthy, good food for themselves. That would be a really good movement forward. And the awesome part about that is through that journey, I’m helping to clean up the waterways, helping the fishermen still be allowed to fish in those ways.
I’m helping the trees out in that system. I’m helping the birds out, helping all of our different livestock. You know, just kind of everything is benefiting from that kind of journey.
Mary: Wildlife depends on privately owned agricultural land like Clagett Farm. 70% of the land in the lower 48 states is privately owned. So what we do on these lands matters for wildlife.
The Farm Bill is critical to helping farms continue to do great work to support wildlife. Farm Bill conservation programs provide technical and financial support to farms like Clagett Farm to conserve natural resources and keep their soil healthy and productive.
Jared: A lot of people know that the birds and the bees and you know, the sky and the water are connected, but we sometimes forget that we are also connected in that same system of life.
We’re part of this just as much as every single thing is. We’re relying on the soil, the way
the roots are digging their way in. And so the food that we eat and where we choose to shop, where we choose to do matters. And those have rippling impacts on things like water quality, ecosystems for wildlife. All of these things are tied together because it’s a living system.
Mary: Wow. What a day this has been to see how regenerative farming works, how the soil and water and wildlife are all connected. And to see it happening firsthand. It’s been an incredible experience. And on such a beautiful day. And those lambs are just precious.
This is our service activity today. We’re pulling up weeds from the strawberry rows so that when the you pick crowd comes, they’ll be able to walk through and get their strawberries with ease, along with some native bees flying around pollinating the plants.
You can learn more about how Defenders supports wildlife conservation on private lands at defenders.org.
Defenders Of Wildlife works on the ground, in the courts, and on Capitol Hill to protect and restore imperiled wildlife and habitats across North America.
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