Water Management on Regenerative Farms - NRCS Staff Educational Event

Johann RInkens Speaks to National Resource Conservation Service Staff About Regenerative Agriculture systems at Ironbound Farm, JULY 2023

In our consulting work with farmers and land stewards beyond our fields and with our partner organization, Restoration Agriculture Development, we understand that water informs the basis of every ecosystem. The hydrological dynamics of every landscape are unique, but patterns can be lifted from the underlying topography and vegetation to elucidate and work with an appropriate water course.

When we are establishing an agro-ecosystem of terraces, contour plantings, and interconnected ponds, we are in synch with agricultural standards set forth by the National Resource Conservation Service (NRCS). But whereas safely shunting water from farm fields is often the primary focus of agricultural drainage systems, in our work, we circulate water and harness its valuable life giving potential by sinking it into the earth, and over time, restoring the aquifers that underlie that land.

This summer, as part of an educational initiative for NRCS staff, Johann led a group through the fields at Ironbound Farm to discuss their orchard layout and water management system. We began working with Ironbound seven years ago to develop their new cider orchards within a regenerative design context. The resulting terraced contour plantings have since reduced the excessive silt and sedimentation that was occurring across their hilly landscape, while also retaining water in the landscape and increasing soil hydration for tree roots to utilize.

The afternoon was filled with the theoretical and technical aspects of installing a system like this, one that works with the underlying geographic formations of natural landforms, and was made all the more lively by a dynamic exchange of ideas and expertise.