Nerd moment:
The word regeneration breaks down into two parts:
re- , a prefix that means “do to again”
and generation, or generate, which means “to make” or “to produce”
The word regenerative brings up the notion of revival.
Regenerative farmers nurture the land by building soil health instead of damaging it to a state of depletion.
We are land stewards who tend to the land, the soil, and the microbiome.
We aim to balance our food needs with giving back to the land, so the soil microbiology and fungal life can eat as well.
On a large scale, regenerative agriculture emphasizes organic no-till techniques. The primary focus is on soil health, biodiversity, and long-term conservation. These practices are environmentally beneficial and sustainable for extensive agricultural operations.
Regenerative farmers avoid tilling their land through no-till or conservation tillage practices. When farmers till, they disrupt the soil microbiome. The blade of the tiller cuts up the beneficial fungal network that plants depend on to thrive.
South Dakota State University studied farms with different tillage practices. The study found that long term no-till farms had more beneficial bacteria and fungi in the soil.
No till farming increases soil water retention and filtration. These soil qualities allow farmland to be more resilient to drought and floods. The soil microbiome needs water to survive. Proper soil hydration is important for soil health and beneficial microbes to thrive.
No-till techniques also helped large farms in the Midwest to heal during the Dust Bowl, reduced erosion.
Other positives of no-till farming include less weed pressure and better yields. There's also less need for diesel fuel for tillage equipment.
All the above benefits have a positive impact on the environment. Yet, there is one more result of no-till farming: carbon sequestration.
Larissa Jacobson is a member of the Northeast Farmers of Color Landtrust. She states, “Our duty as earthkeepers is to call back exiled carbon back into the land and bring the soil life home (source).”
Tillage turns up the soil and releases carbon into the atmosphere. No-till farming keeps carbon in the ground and creates less greenhouse gas emissions.
Regenerative agriculture promotes leaving roots in the soil whenever possible.
To leave roots in the soil, farmers cut plants to the base at the end of the season instead of pulling it all up. The roots of the plants help to feed the microbes and aerate the soil (source).
Organic practices tend to the soil. Organic farmers and gardeners apply no synthetic herbicides or pesticides.
Synthetic fertilizers contribute to climate change in a few ways. First, synthetic fertilizers are usually made from fossil fuels. Second, synthetic nitrogen fertilizers emit nitrous oxide. Nitrous oxide is the most destructive greenhouse gas. In fact, it's 265 times more potent than carbon dioxide!
Synthetic fertilizers and pesticides also contribute to water pollution and can be harmful to fish and aquatic life.
Regenerative farms achieve biodiversity through interplanting various types of plants together. This practice is essentially the opposite of standard monoculture.
The most popular example of intercropping is the Indigenous practice of Three Sisters. This system plants squash, beans, and corn together, offers benefits to each plant and to the land.
An interplanted garden with creates a healthy ecosystem. Variety in the garden offers habitat to beneficial insects. Studies show that an interplanted garden amplifies soil health and controls pests. (Song et al., 2014).
In contrast, monocropping depletes soil nutrients. These soil imbalances lead to pest problems, which decreases yields.
In regenerative agriculture, integrating livestock involves rotational grazing and holistic management to improve soil health. Large-scale farms use methods like pasture rotation and multi-species grazing to enhance soil fertility and sequester carbon.
Pasture rotation allows livestock to actually benefit the land (source).
Certain animals are more adapted to different environments, climates, and temperatures. Regenerative farmers consider animals that are well-suited to their unique situation. Some breeds of animals thrive on foraging, which is a more sustainable option. Animals that are well-suited to foraging are sometimes referred to as being "efficient." Efficient animals have a high output to input ratio. Efficiency should not compromise the health of the animal (source).
Regenerative agriculture mulches, plants cover crops, and maximizes photosynthesis
Both mulch or plants protect soil from erosion. Covered soil allows the microbiome to thrive without drought or heat stress.
Regenerative farms always have something planted or covering their garden beds.
To accomplish soil coverage, regenerative farmers apply mulch around their plants. Mulching also has the benefit of water retention and weed prevention.
During the off-season, regenerative farmers plant cover crops. Cover crops offer different benefits to the land, such as added biomass and nutrition. Certain cover crops, like hairy vetch, are also shown to offer disease protection.
Farmers look to fill the spaces left after harvesting a crop with new seedlings. In this way, the rows are always in production. Planted soil maximizes the amount of photosynthesis happening. Photosynthesis is the process that builds soil organic matter and sequesters carbon. These environmental benefits are why regenerative farmers aim to maximize photosynthesis.
Regenerative farmers plan out crop rotations for their farm. Crop rotation reduces pest and disease pressure, and the need for fertilizers and pesticides.
Crop rotation also avoids soil depletion, since the same crops aren't planted in the same place year after year.
Cover crops offer a plethora of benefits. Cover crops can increase nutrients in the soil, provide organic matter to build soil tilth, and even reduce disease pressure.
Cover crops are planted in the off season, so the soil receives carbon storage through the photosynthesis of the planting. The roots of cover crops also continue to support the soil microbiome during an otherwise fallow time.
Regenerative agriculture has the potential to benefit large farms and home gardens alike.
Large farms can adopt practices like crop rotation, cover cropping, and organic management. When large farms swap synthetic inputs for organic, they increase soil health. I believe that regenerative agriculture can feed the world.
Regenerative practices can also work for smaller operations, like community gardens. Smaller-scale initiatives like this allow individuals to be a part of the solution. Communities can learn how to garden with sustainable methods and grow their own food. This helps communities to be more resilient and self-sustaining.
Sustainable agriculture can also be practiced in your own backyard as regenerative gardening. No matter the size of the backyard, it can contribute to local biodiversity and build healthy soil.
Regenerative agriculture is rooted in indigenous land stewardship practices. The principles, techniques, and methodologies are not new by any means (source).
The foundational idea can be expressed through the indigenous-based Kinship Worldview. Botanist and environmental activist Robin Wall Kimmerer outlines this worldview here.
At its best and most potent, regenerative agriculture is a holistic method.
Regenerative agriculture integrates the following causes:
Leah Penniman is the author of Farming While Black and co-owner of Soul Fire Farm in NY. She has a mission of promoting regenerative farming, especially within the BIPOC community. In a Washington Post interview, she shares that “…we are demonstrating how to capture carbon in the soil using our ancestral methods of no till and composting, all these fabulous ways of growing food and medicine (source).”
Additionally, the work of two Black men helped regenerative agriculture to become popular. These two men are Dr. Booker T. Whatley and Washington Carver.
Dr. Whatley began to study agriculture when he saw that the Black farmers in his area could not keep up with industrialization. He emphasized regenerative practices, and pioneered the CSA principle. He also popularized the Pick Your Own busines model. Dr. Whatley strived to support workers’ rights and health.
Dr. Washington Carver was a soil chemist. He noticed how decades of monocropping cotton stripped the soil of nutrients. He offered the effective solution of cover cropping as a way to restore the fields (source).
Learn more about race and regenerative agriculture in Leah Penniman’s interview here:
...we need to look at giving back to the land, at repairing the harm done. We need to ask how we can work in collaboration with the earth instead of against it.
The short film "Into the Soil" follows regenerative and biodynamic farmer Brigid LeFarve. In this film, she defines regenerative agriculture as “coming to a place and making it more alive than it was before.”
The “before” that Brigid refers to here is the time of a more destructive agriculture. Industrial agriculture looked only at capital gains and production. There was no thought of replenishing the ecosystem.
She goes on to share that the goal is that “Every year there is more biodiversity. Every year there is more life. Making it better not only for getting more food, but imagine an environment which is well. It’s living, it’s very loud. There are lots of insects and birds. And then there’s also healthy food being produced there.”
Regenerative agriculture practices hold the potential to be a carbon sequestering industry.
In the chart below, you can see the main principles of each agricultural practice. The chart also notes what methods each practice shares.
Regenerative agriculture, permaculture, and syntropic farming share a lot of similarities.
Above all, these three methods focus on the environment. These systems work to reduce the ecological harm of conventional agriculture.
Another practice that all three growing techniques share is mulching. Mulching benefits the garden by adding nutrients, boosting water retention, and suppressing weeds.
Regenerative gardening, permaculture, and syntropic growing also share the practice of interplanting. Interplanting is when gardeners and farmers have many crops growing in a row or garden bed. This is in contrast to monoculture, where there is just one crop planted in one area.
Interplanting supports the ecosystem as a whole. Plants are grown to attract pollinators, which also reduces overall pest damage. Interplanting works in tandem with companion planting, or with succession sowing.
Growers can follow different practices from all three of these sustainable farming systems.
For example, you might work with all of the permaculture principles, but add in a couple of regenerative growing techniques.
Likewise, you can be a certified regenerative farmer but also work with permaculture principles.
Regenerative agriculture focuses on building healthy soilsand capturing carbon within the garden.
On the other hand, permaculture is more of a system of garden design. While permaculture values building soil health, there are no specific rules to keep the soil planted.
Syntropic agriculture and permaculture have similarities that aren't included in regenerative gardening practices.
For example, both syntropic farming and permaculture value catching resources. These resources can be rainwater, downed trees, leaves, wood chips, all for use on the land.
Permaculture and syntropic agriculture also are often integrated with food forests.
What is important to remember is that these systems of growing food aren't in conflict. All three can work together without "going against" one of the systems.
This sustainable farming technique grows food while restoring the environment at the same time.
Regenerative agriculture yields positive results for the environment, atmosphere, and surrounding ecology. And of course, it does this all while producing healthy food.
It is more important than ever to put sustainable solutions to climate change in place. Regenerative practices produce food while mitigating climate change.
Regenerative agriculture holds transformative potential for large-scale farming. Farmers can improve soil health and biodiversity, while significantly sequestering carbon. As more large farms adopt these practices, the cumulative environmental benefits could drive substantial progress towards sustainable agriculture on a global scale.
