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Definition
Definition
Cranfield definition of “regenerative agriculture” is:
“a system of principles and practices that generates agricultural products, sequesters carbon, and enhances biodiversity at the farm scale”.
Important practices associated with regenerative agriculture are:
1) minimising or avoiding tillage,
2) eliminating bare soil,
3) encouraging plant diversity and
4) water percolation, and
5) integrating on-farm livestock and cropping operations.
Some systems also prioritise the minimisation of pesticides and synthetic fertilizers i.e. regenerative organic agriculture.
Practices
Practices
4 Key Regenerative Practices. (+2)
4) Eliminate bare soil - cover crops
Module 2: Food and farm systems for climate resilience 30 credits
Module 2: Food and farm systems for climate resilience 30 credits
This module investigates a wide range of regenerative practices, that include cover crops, no-till, animal grazing and promoting biodiversity, from around the world in order to determine which is most appropriate. This will generate debate about related concerns such as seed sharing, community growing, local food processing, bio-tech, and labour rewards. Students will put some chosen techniques into practice on a given piece of land and monitor their performance, using soil health indicators. .
Module aims:
Module aims:
· To investigate various examples of regenerative practices from around the world
· To determine those regenerative practices most relevant to any given land management.
· To work out how to choose the most appropriate techniques.
· To discuss introduction of any possible practices within wider social and technical context.
· To identify practices to improve soil health in a given piece of land and measure improvements
Assessment: 3 x mini-project (10 credits) 1 x practical project (12 credits), 1 x 1000 word project rationale and reflection (8 credits)
The soil on the left is the result of regenerative agriculture. Sheep and cattle were carefully managed and rotated on the land. They ate the grass, deposited their urine and dung and were then moved away to let the grass grow back quickly. The cycle is then repeated at a later date. This allows the pulling of carbon into the soil. It is darker because carbon from the atmosphere (and more organic matter) is now in the soil.
The soil on the right is from the neighbour's farm (where the corners of the paddocks meet) but only regular grazing methods were used there (animals were kept in one area).
The soil with more carbon holds a lot more water (roughly 150,000 liters of water per hectare for every 1% of carbon that’s added) and is full of microbes.
Whether we eat them or not, carefully managed animals play a crucial role in regenerating the land and getting carbon into the soil.
We can also grow grains, vegetables and many other crops using Regenerative practices that improve the quality of the soil. #regenerativeagriculture #theregeneration @savoryinstitute
News
News
Our findings indicate a potential overall increase in global soil erosion driven by cropland expansion. The greatest increases are predicted to occur in Sub-Saharan Africa, South America and Southeast Asia.
How multi-species pasture over 20 yrs benefits land footprint and soil health.
Soil is everything George Young
Viticulture "Some grape growers are committed to regenerating the land and protecting native species—and they hope wine drinkers will be willing to support their efforts. "
Conservation Agriculture boosts birds in Kent
SOUND Agriculture stimulates microbes to make healthier plants
Multi-species pasture rotation a whole-farm life cycle assessment (LCA) of an MSPR
Root architecture can be associated with better plant growth through diversity of niches for microbial associations
Don't TELL farmers - ASK them.
AMTEC Save your fields
Companion Cropping Trial @ Groundswell
No-Till & Cover Crops Handbook
NZ Trial of 2 Dairy farms - Conventional v Regenerative
UK/UN
UK/UN
UK loosing 3 mil tonnes of best soil each year - losses due to erosion and compaction
Natural Capital Committee Final response to 25 yr Environment Plan
"The overall assessment of the soils asset, based on the datasets available, is ‘Red’: deteriorating. There are no firm, legally binding commitments in the 25 YEP or elsewhere for the improvement of the condition and extent of soils."Putting Carbon back where it belongs UN report
Governmnet target 4 in 1000
Why British farmers care about soil
Comments
Comments
"Uneven Ground: Land Inequality at the Heart of Unequal Societies" how inequalities affect soil quality.
SSA 'Week in Soil'Collaboration is key to re-scaling
Plant Nanobionics could send messages from plant roots about climate
Net Zero - one lawn @ a time
Stop desert with ancient farming
CASES
CASES
30 Years farming on the Clifton Park System
Gigantic organic farm faces criticism
Project Drawdown 'Farmin our way out of the climate crisis'
Soil Science Revolution upends plans to fight climate change.
Dung beetles reduce wormer use
Olive & Vine - old ways paying off
Fighting forestry fires with sheep & agroforestry
Research on different grazing models
Deeper worms improve yields
8 steps to get regen grassland going
A new tool for linking soil health and plant-available water
Getting Started Soil Health institute
Regenerative Practices and Nutrient inputs
Should we return crop residues to soil?
Livestock eating more than just grass, and given a choice of what to eat, produce better meat and milk.
FERTILISER USE COULD BE REDUCED WITH NATURE-BASED FARMING, SHOWS MAJOR STUDY Thirty long-running farm trials show crop choice and manure addition can sustain high yields at low fertiliser rates
Generally
Generally
Regenerative Farm Map#Regenerative Farming of Cannabis
Rodger Savory Rain rest v graze
Allan Savory Droughts do not cause bare - bare ground causes droughts
Regenerative Agriculture - focus on outcomes not ideologies.
Regenerative Arable Farming with Panel Ray Archuleta, Dr Ademir Calegari & Ben Taylor-Davies (Devon Farmer)
Cant talk about Regenerative farming without talking about pesticides
Promises and Pitfalls of Regenerative Agriculture
What DOES regenerative farming mean?
Groundswell The Regenerative Agriculture Show and Conference June 2021
Regenerative Agriculture - how scaleable is it?
Principles of Regenerative Agriculture
'Nofence' helps regenerartive agriculture Virtual Fence research
Cover crops
Cover crops
Cover crops increase weedkiller use
Selected winter cover crops under no-till
Cover crops help nutrient management
Direct drilling wheat into clover ley saves farmers £100/ha
4 ways of cover crop destruction
Cover Crops & Soil Health USDA
Off season cover crops explained
More thought needed on Cover Crops
The following farming, ranching and land use practices are used to create regenerative food systems and healthy natural ecosystems from Regeneration International
BBC Soil Health ""We have to make sure that technology supports soil and plant health," he says. That might mean new tools. Farm equipment suppliers such as John Deere are now introducing "no-till machinery" - farm equipment that is designed to cause minimum disturbance to the soil".
"Soil condition and performance markedly by moving from Italian ryegrass leys to mixtures of mainly tetraploid ryegrasses and festulolium. These produce much denser swards that protect the soil surface better and give the ground more structural strength. The fact that they go into heading less rapidly has been valuable in giving extra leeway in the harvesting too.
Another essential in both respects has been a grass cutting height of 4” rather than a more traditional 2”. This sacrifices a little first cut yield – although mainly of stem. However, it reduces stress on the crop to massively improve recovery and subsequent yields as well as its contribution to the soil.
Animal grazing
Animal grazing
Peer-reviewed cases; how well-anaged grazing improves soils
Could grass-fed beef be good for people & the planet?
Diversifying Livestock improves biodiverse pasture
8 steps to regen grassland FWI
RUUMI - making better grassland decisions.
Regenerative Grazing in Midwest
Multi-Paddock Grazing v Conventional
Well Managed Grazing - Peer reviewed work
Getting off Dairy Treadmill podcast
Mob Grazing Podcast
Agroforestry
Agroforestry
Adopting Agroforesry in Britain..leads to Dartington Agroforestry
Silvoarable - planting trees on arable
Silvopasture - Fool on the Hill
Don't loose sight of the forest for the trees with Regen Ag
The Committee on Climate Change estimates that agroforestry could result in carbon emissions savings of 5.9 MtCO2e per year by 2050, approximately 13% of the total current emissions from the agriculture sector.
Agroforestry can now qualify for BPS.
Tree Hay - forgotten fodder
No-till
No-till
No-till' is where the field is not ploughed during planting and growth.
Effect of direct drilling & earthworms
"There are two types of no-till farming: conventional and organic. In conventional no-till farming, farmers use herbicides to manage the weeds before and after sowing the seeds. The amount of herbicides used in this approach is even higher than the amount used in tillage-based farming. Organic no-till farming uses a variety of methods to manage weeds and reduce or eliminate tillage without resorting to the use of chemical herbicides. These methods include cover crops, crop rotation, free-range livestock and tractor implements such as the roller crimper, which farmers use to lay down a weed-suppressing mat that can be planted through in one pass."
No-till not a panacea for Carbon
Direct drilling and earthworms Edwards & Lofty..old drinking freinds.
Perennialisation
Perennialisation
📌 The advantages of introducing perennial crops for restoring soil fertility:
-> earlier growth establishment from organs of perennation than annual plants,
-> providing permanent soil cover and influence on soil structure via deeper root systems,
-> improved carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) cycling,
-> inhibition of nutrient loss and soil erosion,
-> improved water retention (5x larger water retention potential from precipitation),
-> increased benefits resulting from microbial symbioses.
✅ Long-term benefits of crop perennialization:
-> climate mitigation (cellulosic bioenergy),
-> sustainable animal production (rotational grazing),
-> biodiversity conservation (natural ecological succession).
'This is not a third party audit but a collaboration". When you pick an item up now you can choose: 'This product makes the land better'
"Three projects have been awarded funding to help develop new carbon markets for regenerative agriculture, saltmarsh restoration and lowland peatlands. Undertaken by Scotland's Rural College (SRUC), the research aims to lock up substantial amounts of carbon from the atmosphere to tackle climate change. With growing interest from companies seeking to offset their emissions, carbon markets are also set to provide farmers and landowners with substantial new income streams. The first project will gather evidence for interventions to be integrated into a pilot UK Farm Soil Carbon Code, working with pilot farms in Gloucestershire. Farmers in the county will collaborate with the Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group South-West (FWAG) and the Sustainable Soils Alliance. It is estimated this could unlock up to £500m in annual revenues by 2030 for farmers and landowners adopting regenerative practices that lock up carbon from the atmosphere in soils."
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