Turning Soils into Sponges: How Farmers Can Fight Floods and Droughts
Floods and droughts are an increasingly costly problem for farmers, ranchers, taxpayers, and downstream communities. But farmers can fight back by adopting practices that build healthier, more sponge-like soils.
From the Executive Summary:
Perennial crop systems are clear winners at managing heavy rains. In 28 percent of all studies, the experimental practices increased infiltration enough to absorb a heavy rain event of one inch per hour. This outcome occurred in more than half of the experiments involving perennial crops.