October 2nd, 2023

Nourishing Meadow

To carry out regenerative agriculture, 20% of our lands are left fallow (meaning not cultivated) to allow the soil to rest between two crops. But our flowering meadow is not like any other fallow land. Here, the soil doesn’t rest because a cover crop is maintained with living roots. Over the next 5 to 7 years, or even longer, our fallow lands serve as flowering meadows to nourish and preserve the soil and serve as a pantry for pollinators.

Flowering meadows bring several positive impacts:

They play a role in climate regulation by sequestering atmospheric carbon in the soil through plant photosynthesis. Furthermore, the process of enriching soils with carbon and organic matter directly contributes to the farm’s and its territory’s sustainability.
They improve the quality of our soils in several ways. The deep root systems of meadow plants help to break up compacted soil, improve its structure, and increase soil organic matter. This, in turn, enhances water infiltration, reduces erosion, and strengthens the nutrient cycle in the soil.
Meadows significantly improve water management. They reduce the intensity of floods and inundations by acting as sponges during rainy periods and providing water to plants during droughts. They also trap pollutants and supply surface waters and groundwater with high-quality water.
By cultivating meadows, we cultivate the richness of our natural habitats. Species-rich meadows provide shelter, food, and breeding grounds for a wide variety of species. This local biodiversity includes pollinators and other beneficial insects that can help defend our crops against pests, reducing the need for pesticides.

Our goal is to increase the organic matter content by 2% (from 1% to 3%). This represents 165 tons of carbon stored per hectare, equivalent to 1155 tons of CO2 for this 7-hectare plot. This is equivalent to more than 260 round trips between Paris and New York.

DID YOU KNOW?

France recognizes the importance of increasing the organic matter content in soils. With the “4 per 1000” initiative, it has called on all countries to increase soil carbon by 0.4% each year. If every nation were to achieve this goal, we could store up to 75% of the world’s annual greenhouse gas emissions in soils, which would constitute a significant change for the future health of our planet.