We welcome Woody Deryckx, soil health pioneer

Prominent US organic farmer and alternative agriculture advocate Woody Deryckx has joined the Carbon Coalition! Woody been devoted to advocating and developing organic agriculture since Earth Day 1971. Farmer, educator, consultant and advocate, he co-founded the Tilth Movement in 1974, planning and hosting the Northwest Conference on Alternative Agriculture in Ellensburg that year. He has been president of the Organic Farming Research Foundation . In the 1970s, he developed the curricula and taught Ecological Agriculture at Evergreen State College for many years. He has been active in playing a catalytic role in the organic food industry in the US, serving on the boards of many organizations to promote organic practices.

He is a soil man. As head of the Field Department of Willow Wind Organic Farms, he wrote this in response to an enquirer's question about composting: "Organic farming is a management intensive, complex biological undertaking. We need high levels of soil fertility to produce processing vegetables and all the nutrient that supports our crops comes to the plants by complex biological pathways in the incredibly complex community of soil organisms in the organic matter of the soil. Since every pound of nitrogen that goes to support our abundant and healthy crops passes through perhaps thousands of microbial hands in the soil food web, the soil is maintained as a vibrantly healthy and robust ecosystem. This is one of the benefits of organic farming - we feed the soil first - then the soil feeds the crop which in turn feeds us.__As I hope you can see, our organic farmers don't treat the soil like dirt."

Upon registering with the Carbon Coalition, Woody had this to say: "Certainly soil carbon is a huge component in the system and soil carbon has declined from intensive cultivation and soluble salt fertilizer use. Organic farming - grass farming - agroforestry - no till and limited till farming - and other bioinnovation alternatives can help restore balance in the carbon cycle and offer hope for sustainability."

We welcome Woody from Washington State.