There's a podcast called "How To Save A Planet" that did an episode on this that I found rather enlightening: https://gimletmedia.com/shows/howtosaveaplanet/76

There's a podcast called "How To Save A Planet" that did an episode on this that I found rather enlightening: https://gimletmedia.com/shows/howtosaveaplanet/76hmbge/soil-the-dirty-climate-solution https://gimletmedia.com/shows/howtosaveaplanet/76hmbge/soil-... They focus on two farmers, one a small-scale farmer in NY who started with the vision of a sustainable farm, and a commodity farmer in Minnesota who was looking for ways to improve yield. The Minnesota couple are, like your example, not at all "tree-huggers;" they're just people who want to survive. And what they found is that they can get more crops, for less money, while also limiting their exposure to potentially harmful fertilizers and pesticides. They see a lot of resistance from their neighbors, because conventional farm knowledge is so ingrained in their culture. Running a farm is tricky, and experimenting can be the difference between profit and losing your shirt. There's just not much will to risk losing the land that's been in a family for generations on a quest to find a better way.