GLOSSARY

Both agriculturally and economically, a system that can indefinitely sustain itself without degrading the land, the environment or the people.

Regenerative agriculture at it’s core is the process of restoring degraded soils using various management practices based on ecological principles. “There’s no strict rule book, but the holistic principles behind the dynamic system of regenerative agriculture are meant to restore soil and ecosystem health, address inequity, and leave our land, waters, and climate in better shape for future generations.”

Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) is an approach for transforming and reorienting agricultural systems to support food security under the new realities of climate change.

No-Till is an agricultural technique for growing crops or pasture without disturbing the soil through tillage. The practice allow the soil structure to stay intact and also protect the soil by leaving crop residue on the soil surface.

Tillage is turning the soil to control for weeds and pests and to prepare for seeding, which has long been part of crop farming. However, intensive soil tillage can increase the likelihood of soil erosion, nutrient runoff into nearby waterways, and the release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

Cover crops’ primary job is to improve the soil. They get planted in fields that would otherwise be bare—in between growing seasons, for example—to protect the soil from erosion and nutrient loss.

Soil health is defined as the continued capacity of soil to function as a vital living ecosystem that sustains plants, animals, and humans. 

Soil disturbance is the alteration of the physical, chemical, or biological properties of soil through human or natural activities. This can include physical actions like tillage or construction, chemical changes from fertilizer and pesticide use, or biological impacts such as overgrazing. Such disturbances can reduce soil health by increasing erosion, decreasing water infiltration, and harming soil organisms.

The National List of synthetic substances includes materials that are specifically allowed in organic crop production. The list includes algaecides, disinfectants, sanitizers, irrigation system cleaners, herbicides, animal repellents, insecticides, miticides, pheromones, rodenticides, slug baits, plant disease controls, soil amendments, and plant growth regulators; in short, many of the materials needed for crop production.

Industrial agriculture refers to the large-scale production of livestock, poultry, fish, and crops using advanced technological, scientific, economic, and political methods. This approach includes the use of innovative agricultural machinery, new farming techniques, and the establishment of markets for agricultural products.

Specialty crops are defined in law as “fruits and vegetables, tree nuts, dried fruits and horticulture and nursery crops, including floriculture.”

Commodity crops can be seen as indistinguishable from each other and are usually grown for processing. The big four commodity crops wheat, corn, soybeans, and rice are grown in mass quantities and often become refined before a consumer would eat it.

Polycultures are two or more useful plants grown on the same plot, usually at the same time. From an ecological perspective, they try to mimic natural cycles. Growing several crops together offers a diverse nutritional range, greater security of production and income, and efficient use of space. Monoculture is the agricultural practice of growing a single crop species in a given area for a consecutive number of seasons.