(File Photo of Lancaster County Farm in Pennsylvania)

(Reported by Danielle Smith of Keystone News Service)

(Harrisburg, PA) A new study says getting “back to nature” in farming could help ward off the biggest impacts of climate change. As Pennsylvania faces increasingly extreme weather and biodiversity loss because of climate change, farmers and scientists are adopting resilient practices inspired by nature. Liz Carlisle is co-author of a new study in the science journal Frontiers, and says what is known as “agroecological” farming can create tightly connected cycles of energy, water and nutrients, if farmers can get the resources they need. She says most farms today still rely on fossil fuel-based inputs such as chemical fertilizers and pesticides. This new approach prioritizes a living, healthy soil and aims to replace non-renewable chemicals with practices that tap into natural ecosystems.