There’s a plethora of different ways that you can get involved in regenerative agriculture.
The most obvious way is perhaps to start a regenerative garden in your backyard, or to transition your current farming operation to regenerative practices.
But there are other ways that you can take part in the fight against climate change with regenerative agriculture.
Here are 10 ideas for how you can get involved with regenerative agriculture through other avenues aside from directly farming.
Most of these jobs require either agricultural experience or a degree in the agricultural field, including soil science and environmentalism.
One of the most amazing things happening right now in education is the rise of roles that incorporate gardening into the curriculum of students across all age levels.
Many gardening programs look to incorporate sustainability and land stewardship into lessons, so you can work on sharing regenerative gardening practices as a part of your day-to-day activities.
Garden educators may have training in education paired with either experience or a dual degree in agriculture, horiculture, or ecology.
If you’re someone who is great a communication and passionate about activism, you may be interested in campaigning.
Here’s an example of a job position from Friends of the Earth that pays around $80,000 a year with 100% employer paid health benefits:
“Are you passionate about collaboratively designing and implementing strategic, science-based market and policy campaigns to protect the health of people, pollinators, and the planet from toxic pesticides and shift toward equitable, healthy and ecologically regenerative food systems in the U.S. and beyond?”
Folks in these roles may have studied environmental studies, public policy, or have experience in activism.
A Research Technician gets to carry out experiments and data collection on research projects that help regenerative farmers to make scientific decisions on their land.
You’ll get to be the steward of experiments and samples, and come to conclusions about the information that you see in your research.
One such position is open through the Rodale Institute, which focuses on regenerative agriculture, soil research and agroecology.
Research technicians may hold a degree in agriculture, environmental science, soil science, or a related scientific field.
An agronomist in the regenerative agriculture field works with scientific research and application in the areas of soil health and crop management. Sometimes, agronomists are referred to as “crop scientists.” They bridge the gap between scientists and farmers, and help farmers to apply research-backed methodology on their farms (Indeed).
One example of an agronomist job in regenerative agriculture is from agriprove. They have a position as a Farm Systems Agronomist with a focus on Soil Carbon.
In this role, you’ll get to research the latest soil science and develop ways for farmers to utilize this information for improved crop and carbon storage on their land.
Agronomists usually have a degree in agroecology, ecology, or soil science.
As an onboarding manager in sustainable farming, you’ll get to help farms get established in certain regenerative agricultural programs. Some examples of this include carbon sequestration programs, cover crop studies, pasture rotation initiatives, or water conservation organizations.
Usually an onboarding manager helps farmers to understand and adhere to the guidelines set out by the organization.
One such job is from the organization Loam Bio out of New South Wales. They are a new company that utilizes microbes to sequester carbon while improving soil health and crop yields at the same time. They partner with farmers to carry out carbon sequestration projects with their microbial inoculant.
Software engineers and programers develop the end products for various software platforms. They may make apps, or design operating systems and functionality for different tools and devices.
In the realm of sustainable agriculture, there are a lot of different software companies that help large scale farms to be more regenerative and eco-friendly. Soil monitoring software can ensure water conservation levels are met, for example. There’s also design software that helps farmers optimally plan out sustainable projects like agroforestry.
Sustainable agriculture software brands include:
Usually people in this field have a degree in Software Engineering or Computer Science. Experience with programming without a specific degree can also land you jobs in this area, if you have a strong project portfolio.
Marketing support is important for farms and organizations to communicate effectively and spread the word about the work that they do. In this way, their local community or potential clients can know about the services that they offer.
Marketing support can include:
Vayda is a technology company that helps landowners to start regenerative agriculture projects to help mitigate climate change. They have a role for branding and marketing growth support that will help spread the word about what they are doing and bring land owners on board for their project.
People who fill these roles may have experience in web design and graphic design, and may have prior experience with marketing support.
A big part of what keeps regenerative farmers afloat is having adequate consumer demand for their product. While some farmers go to farmer’s markets or have staff to support them with a farm stand, it’s even better if a store can stock their products and sell them.
If you’re someone who likes to support farmers across the globe who are working towards a more sustainable future with regenerative practices, this position can help you to do that on a greater scale.
A sustainable sourcing position allows you to look for sustainable products relevant to the market and bring those products to the storefront for customers to purchase.
A similar role is held at Aldi, the large supermarket chain in Europe and the United States. The Sustainable Sourcing Manager supports Aldi in offering sustainable coffee, chocolate, seafood, and other products that support the environment in their production.
Artificial Intelligence software can help farmers to make decisions on their farmland based on best practices in regenerative agriculture. Many remote sensors that monitor temperature, nutrients, soil health, and water levels utilize AI to synthesize data.
Someone who works with AI in this way could train the AI to the platform’s standards and best practices.
Terradot has a AI Remote Sensing Engineer Role that blends computer science with environmental geology and chemistry to model soil health and carbon sequestration.
Past experience with computer science, machine learning, and programming is usually helpful for landing roles similar to this.
Regenerative agriculture practices and principles can be applied to ecosystem restoration projects. A field technician in the realm of ecosystem restoration may provide surveys and analyses of habitat and provide input to restoration design.
For example, this role is performed at Ecosystem Restoration Artistry Systems, which focuses on land stewardship. They help landowners, including farmers and gardeners, to make a plan that optimizes the environmental benefit to properties.
Consultants in similar roles may be a degree in agriculture, ecology, or have completed a permaculture design training.
Since regenerative gardening is my passion, I am dedicated to land stewardship through growing plants on my homestead. But that's not the only way to be a part of the regenerative agriculture solution! I hope that this list has given you some ideas for how you can apply other skills and interests into the field of regenerative agriculture. There are so many ways for you to be a part of this nature-based solution to climate change.
