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Regenerative Farming
Regenerative Farming
Regenerative agriculture (RegenAg) is a term coined back in the 1980s in the USA. It centred on the concept of soil health, aiming to restore its organic matter content and ecological functionality, thereby boosting its productivity and increase its resilience. There is not an exact definition, as it covers a wide range of techniques and results. “It is a holistic land management practice that leverages the power of photosynthesis in plants to close the carbon cycle, and build soil health, crop resilience and nutrient density” ‘Put simply, it puts more life into soil.
RegenAg practices store carbon permanently in soils and do not saturate in carbon as quickly as early models presumed (Prairie, King & Cotrufo 2023, Wlitshire & Beckage 2022) ) . There has been a huge upturn in interest the last few years with ‘RegenAg’. RegenAg usually consists of a mixture of four practices. While these are claimed to be new, they often represent older techniques, often forgotten, as we saw in America, Australia and Asia several thousand years ago - before the colonisation of the 19th centrury.
In order to protect soils the four main practices to protect soils are by reducing tillage, planting cover crops, ensuring rotations and grazing. Animals are a key part to help soils build their own structures which can hold water and pass on nutrients better. We have seen how animals, albeit a lot smaller, throughout hundreds of millions of years of soil growing, have made a massive contribution by chewin’ and pooin’.
RegenAg It started in America with Rodale Institute and then the main pioneer was Gabe Brown explaining how - in ‘Dirt to Soil’. He describes the methods they developed as they were on the verge of ruin and had run out of money for fertilisers, their land was deteriorating and their crops gave them poor returns. So they set out themselves, and after many years disappointment found that it became more resilient and with less inputs.
Australia
Elsewhere in the world, particularly Australia the practices have been expanded.
Farmers wishing to change "may feel ostracized within their local community, so often rely on information from online and international sources of agricultural information. " Alexanderson, Luke & Lloyd 2024The nearest forerunner to this form of farming - and the one recognised by the FAO, is 'Conservation' Agriculture (CA). CA is the practical application of three principle: no or minimum mechanical soil disturbance, permanent maintenance of soil mulch cover and diversification of cropping system. Both approaches share the same tension between deep, whole-farm management approaches (cover crops, grazing) and a shallow approach that just uses certain technologies (no-till +glyphosate). RegenAg is criticized for not having any broadly accepted standards, opening up doors for corporate greenwashing, while claiming to be something better than ConservAg.
'Regenerative' is not just about stopping harm, but about building life. It looks more to building resources and does not rule out chemicals, although many think it should. There has also been ‘sustainable’ farming which balances the ecological, ecological and social benefits, but this became so complex as to become ‘greenwash’. Two other terms ‘crop up’ - - Agroecology and Permaculture The organiser, Paul Cherry, of the UK’s main event ‘Groundswell’ say that being too prescriptive would spoil RegenAgs potential.
Buzz word
Buzz word
Now 'regenerative' has become a buzz word, the major corporations are promoting ‘regenerative’ too..
The term 'Regenerative' differs from ‘organic’ but employs similar practices. 'Organic’ seeks to eliminate chemicals and to 'commodify' lumps of nature as ‘organic’. In so doing it has been taken over by ways of production virtually the same as intensive capitalist farming where organic crops can even be produced in large estates with almost completely mechanized crops, and with few or no rural workers, whose working conditions are the same as those in other intensive production. (Cross et al 2008).
Private Eye, October 2024
Corporations
Corporations
Talking of corporations, many have publicly committed to regenerative agriculture supply chains. Corporates with over a trillion dollars are promoting various forms of RA. Unilever say that "its brands will collectively invest €1 billion in a new dedicated Climate & Nature Fund, which will fund landscape restoration, reforestation, carbon sequestration, wildlife protection and water preservation projects" Nestle is taking measures to halve its emissions by 2030 and achieve 'net zero' (Net-Zero fiddles) by 2050 – even as the company grows. Actions focus on supporting farmers and suppliers to advance regenerative agriculture."In this you will see they use Landscape Entreprise Networks (LENs) is an independent mechanism through which businesses with a common interest in protecting the environment can work together". Key company partners (Kellogg, Mars, PepsiCo) said that resilience is what their companies need from Cool Soil as much as they need carbon number.
Action plan to scale up regenerative farming
Action plan to scale up regenerative farming
In late 2022, the world’s leading food & farming businesses launched an action plan to scale up regenerative farming – “an approach which aims to cut carbon emissions whilst seeking to promote and improve soil health and biodiversity”. Their task force comprised executives of the most influential agribusiness corporations, “united by a common ambition to enable regenerative farming to become mainstream”. They are Bayer, , Mars, McCain Foods, McDonald’s, Mondelez, Olam, PepsiCo, Sustainable Food Trust, HowGood, Indigo Agriculture, Waitrose & Partners and Yara International.
Their report says “there is an urgent need for consistent metrics, better government policy incentives and a transformation of sourcing to spread the cost of transition to more sustainable practices”. It followed an analysis by Systemiq who revealed regenerative farming is growing but the rate must triple to deliver against the planet’s need to limit climate change to 1.5 degrees.
Often, we hear about on of the virtues of RegenAg, is said to reduce GHGs
Normal rates of SOC sequestration on agricultural soils are 300–500 Kg C ha−1 yr−1. High rates are obtained with no-till farming, crop residue retention as mulch, growing cover crops in the rotation cycle and adopting complex farming systems including agroforestry, INM including manuring and through restoration of degraded soils by afforestation". (Lal 2007).
Yet its benefits are much more direct. It improves soil structure and water holding which we’ve seen have direct benefits on keeping soil cool.
The four main RegenAg practices are:
1.No-Till
1.No-Till
For no-till (zero-till), you do not use cultivation machinery when you prepare the land for crops. This reduces soil disturbance. You use a direct drill to plant crops. Ploughing breaks down those vital aggregates that house soil life and create the soil architecture. We have seen time and aging how a stable soil environment enables the fungi and the feeders on that to grow - and function - all the time. Tillage on its own does not necessarily kill mycorrhizal fungi (below). The broken fungal filaments can invade new plants better than spores.
No & Min-Till
No & Min-Till
Min-till is cultivating land using mechanical methods other than ploughing. This will reduce the amount you disturb the soil by:
using shallower cultivations, only to a depth of 15cm
not turning over the soil
limiting the number of cultivation passes (times machinery goes over the same piece of ground)
using lighter cultivation methods such as tines, cultivators or light discs
Benefits of min-till and no-till
Benefits of min-till and no-till
Min-till and no-till will:
improve soil health, which can help crops establish quicker over time
reduce damage to soil structure
help to keep water in the soil, increasing protection from flooding and drought
reduce soil runoff, which causes water pollution and harms aquatic life
help keep nutrients in the soil, reducing the need for fertiliser
keep more organic matter in the soil, improving its quality
reduce harm to earthworms and other organisms which help to improve the fertility and structure of soil
reduce labour and fuel costs, operator time and greenhouse gas emissions from cultivation
Better 'soil health' also helps drainage and aeration The less you disturb the soil, the greater these benefits are. It also reduces he number of 'passes' of the machinery across the land, thereby also reducing compaction.
The ‘no-till’ is the standout technique and has been gradually adopted over the last 20 years in many places so that it now covers 100million acres in USA and nearly doubling worldwide to over 500million acres by 2020
It may be that our notion of ‘weeds’ needs to change. It is only a ‘notion’, as there is no botanical classification called ‘weeds’. We were taught they are any plant growing in the wrong place. We now may think most plants have their rightful place.
Herbicides
Herbicides
A bone of contention among RegenAggers is the use of herbicides, particularly glyphosate. It was raised when I was getting approval for the Masters degree in Regenerative Farming (below), when an organic practioneer claimed using herbicides went against the grain.
They are used to replace tillage methods of weed control. While used as a last resort rather than first practice, they are also used during transition from conventional agriculture and for local infestations. While they avoid tillage they also leave their imprint as dead weeds.
My unpublished research
My unpublished research
My unpublished research 50 years ago found that there were few direct toxic effects of 10 various herbicides on soil mesofauna, except Atrazine. It was the disturbance of soil - both by herbicides and in the controls copying their action, that reduced faunal numbers, particularly springtails and predators of these fungal feeders. Then I called them 'saprophagus' (eating dead matter) and the collembola were most depleted, again probably due to the surface breakdown, and this may have led to the decrease in predators like Mesotigmatid mites. The number of debris feeders, like oribatids, usually increased over time, presumably because to the increase dead matter. While I called them saprophagus springtails then, these would have included those feeding on mycorrhizal fungi. Clearly the ‘growing’ soil processes were badly affected while the debris processes increased.
2 Cover Crops
2 Cover Crops
The aim of cover crops is their name. Cover crops ‘cover’ the soil between the harvest and establishment of main (cash) crops Cover crops are 'non-cash' crops that provide potential benefits to a rotation.
Typically, cover crops are grown over a single winter to cover bare soil and stubble, and can vary from a few weeks to several months or years.
Incorporating cover crops into a rotation has many environmental and soil benefits. Carefully selected crops can help manage soil erosion, soil fertility, soil health, water, weeds, pests, diseases and biodiversity. The right choice depends on your objectives.
How cover crops benefit rotations
How cover crops benefit rotations
Cover crops provide benefits to the rotation compared with leaving the ground fallow. This is due to their active growth, rooting, ground cover and habitat provision. Learn how cover crops can benefit the environment, for example, through reduced nutrient losses via run-off and leaching.
Defining your main reason (objective) for growing cover crops is essential. This will dictate the best choice of species, timing of establishment, destruction and other management practices.
Your choice also needs to suit your farm in terms of climate, rotation, soil type and condition, and equipment.
Cover cropping is often a long-term commitment, and it may take several cycles to see the full benefits.
Reduce nutrient loss and leaching
Cover crops can reduce the risk of soil nutrient leaching (especially nitrogen). Deep-rooted cover crops are particularly useful catch crops because they can take up nutrients that have gone beyond the reach of shallow-rooted cash crops.
Learn from AHDB how cover crops can reduce nutrient losses
Reduce soil erosion and run-off
As cover crops bind soil and provide ground cover, they can help protect soil from erosion by wind and water.
Find out how cover crops can reduce soil erosion
Improve soil structure
Cover crops with vigorous root systems help loosen soils, improving access to water and nutrients. Roots create biopores and can break up compacted soil layers, enhancing subsequent crop root growth.
Learn how cover crops can improve soil structure
Improve soil fertility
When cover crops are incorporated and decompose in the soil, valuable nutrients are released. Cover crops can also add nutrients to the soil through biological nitrogen fixation.
Find out from AHDB how cover crops can improve nutrient availability in the soil
Build soil organic matter and influence soil moisture
Organic matter is essential for the health of agricultural soils. When incorporated, cover crops help to increase the soil organic matter, improving the soil’s biological activity, moisture infiltration and retention, and nutrient-holding capacity.
Discover from AHDB how cover crops influence soil organic matter and moisture content
Integrated weed, pest and disease management
Cover crops can suppress weeds and volunteers. They also provide habitats for beneficial insects.
Some species have soil-fumigating properties that reduce pressure from soil pests and nematodes.
Selecting non-host cover crop species can reduce soil-borne pathogen carryover.
Find out from AHDB how to use cover crops to manage weeds, pests and diseases
Generate additional forage
Where a gap in forage supply has been identified, the strategic use of cover crops for livestock feed can be planned.
Learn from AHDB about the suitability of cover crops for livestock
Support measures (stewardship)
Cover crops can be used in agri-environmental schemes, provided they comply with the rules. The financial benefits of cover crops need to be considered across the rotation.
In the UK about 2/3 of farmers surveyed said they used cover crops in 2017, compared with 88% in USA. In UK those using ‘no-till’ are more likely to use cover crops. Farms on heavier soils had a high use of radish and oats in their cover crop, while those on light soils tended to include a clover, that fixes nitrogen, and phacelia - a plant effective at preventing nitrogen leaching and suppressing weeds, due to its fast establishment..
3 Rotations
3 Rotations
The value of rotating crops appears again, as it has from medieval times. Rotations are getting more sophisticated to take account for the new conditions - particularly resilience over the years.
We could learn from what people throughout history have done. When I was taught to be an agricultural zoologist we were often reminded that the best control of pests and diseases was 'rotation, rotation, rotation'. The use of legumes in rotations has long been recognised. We saw legumes appear about 100mya,and recognise their unique ability to trap nitrogen inside plants. This property provided a nutrient boost in any rotation. The technique was first used in China in the Eastern Zhou period hundreds of years round 500BC and was adopted in Europe in the medieval period
Rotations & Brexit
Rotations & Brexit
The EU see the value of rotations by having a 3-crop rule, where farmers with more than 30h of land have to grow three crops - based on those old tried and tested rotations. This intended to promote bio-diversity and end the reliance of large-scale farmers on single, ‘monoculture’, crops. Yet the UK Conservative government, pushed by the National Farmers Union wanted to scrap the rule. So much so that Andrea Leadsom, a leading ‘Brexiteer’ and Agriculture Secretary, promised that it would be scrapped post-Brexit. At the Oxford Farming Conference in 2017 she said: "it’s simply ridiculous, bureaucrati
The three-field system let farmers plant more crops and therefore increase production. The arable land of an estate or village was divided into three large fields: one was planted in the autumn with winter wheat or rye; the second field was planted with legumes like peas, lentils, or beans; and the third was left fallow (unplanted). Cereal crops deplete the ground of nitrogen, left for legumes ‘fix nitrogen’ and so fertilize the soil. The fallow fields were soon overgrown with weeds and used for grazing farm animals, whose poo fertilized that field's soil to regain its nutrients. The fields were rotated each year. Legumes bring many benefits to the soil and have been tested under many sorts of conditions. One trial found, reduced use of nitrogen (N) and herbicide, higher yields. Disease in crops reduced and soil health improved as well as contaminant runoff reduced.
The hardest thing to do is get a brown manure in the rotation, because it means taking a cash crop out of the rotation, unless they are putting in pasture and able to graze it for 3-5 years, before going back into cropping. Brown manure cropping involves growing a pulse crop to spray out using a knockdown herbicide to prevent weed seed set and maximise nitrogen fixation. This is different to green manuring, where the crop and weeds are killed by cultivation.
It is now worth considering root crops in rotations to reduce compaction issues - which the bigger machines create. These crops help reduce anaerobic environments which otherwise affect the beneficial effects of AM fungi (below). The use of permanent or longer term perennial rotation systems reduces the disruption of root/ hyphae networks maintaining the aggregate structures
4 Grazing
4 Grazing
Allan Savory promotes ‘rotational grazing’
While there is a lot of debate about the contribution of animals to global warming, there is virtually none on their relation with soil. Yet their relationship with soil is very different depending on the form of rearing. The intensive system first developed in US, and called Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations, has migrated to UK - see 'where have all the cows gone'
On those farms with cows grazing outside for most of they year (other than the four rough winter months), newer breeds of cows are taking over. They are smaller and more agile at eating the grass and leaving their cow pats around, than the larger sort found standing in the barns all day.
In the UK, round here in the North of England, it is hard to see a field of cows anymore. Even in the summer in this particular valley, all you see are fields shaved of their grass, so appearing as white, yellow bright green patchwork. You may see a few heifers and bullocks but no cows or cattle. It means that the grass - predominantly ryegrass - never forms deep roots. The grass cuttings, made 4-5 times a year go into big black balers where they are stored, as silage, in big black bales to feed the cattle in barns. A further £1.5billion worth of feed is imported, half as soy from Amazon and the rest as maize from elsewhere. In the barns, the cattle poo is washed out to make slurry which is stored in great tanks or pits. Slurry is anaerobic and then spread on the soil filling up many of the pores, which help the soil to breath. Anaerobic bacteria will continue to work, but need another energy source, so will turn to nitrates - which may have just been applied as fertiliser. This soil. I believe is working predominantly anaerobically, but can find little research to confirm. It would mean that the AM fungi which should be present will not be as they are aerobic.
The pasture is different too. A common grass mix for land put down to grass (a ley), is called 'Lamb Finisher' It consists of chicory, red and white clover, some ryegrass and plantain. It will last for three-four years. It is not only ideal for fast weight gain, but proves resistant to various conditions of wet/drought. The reason can be seen here, in that the roots, especially with the chicory and plantain, are of various shapes and sizes to allow best uptake of water and nutrients, and keeping the soil breathing. AM fungi (below) help chicory in drought conditions (Langeroodi et al 2020). These deeper rooting plants help store carbon deeper than 30cm down to a metre; in one case 50tons CO2 using the Soilkee, it is very stable
Grazing fertilises soil, keeps it working aerobically, supports twice the soil life and provides a cooler surface than bare earth....and it can overcome desertification These must be taken into account - not just the GHGs - when considering global warming and grazing.
Cattle
Cattle
In Arica, Allan Savory noticed that cows that are managed in the right way can replicate the beneficial effect on soil of the native herds that once covered the planet's grasslands. Wild herds lived in fear of predators, and for protection travelled in tight bunches, moving quickly. If we keep cattle moving across the landscape to mimic this behaviour, and if we preserve the ancestral grazer-soil relationship—the animals churning the soil with their hooves, fertilizing it with dung and urine, stomping grass, creating mulch, stimulating plant growth— can re-green arid lands This not only ‘captures carbon’ but also gets the soil structure back to provide living spaces for the crucial creatures making the structures that regulate water movement better. There are some criticisms, that are usually based around methane generation, limits of carbon sequestration and common grazing problems. But these ignore the main improvements to soil structure and water holding. As Savory makes clear, we need an holistic management approach More on Holism This practice has been translated in temperate areas to be ‘mob grazing’.
In Australia, Christine Jones tells us that soil is not just a substrate but a living entity, which - because it is living - should be in good health. She notes that plant roots are crucial as the plants have captured the sun energy and made it into biochemical energy rich carbon compounds - like sugar. Soil should stick to the roots - as a rhizosheath - consisting of an area between soil and root, kept apart by the fungal hyphae. In here, are archaea and bacteria which are nitrogen fixers. In order to fix nitrogen the rhizosheath has a low oxygen pressure as N-fixers don’t like oxygen. The grazing animals rely on grasses which do not need artificial nitrogen if N is being fixed in the rhizosheath. Additions of artificial phosphates and nitrogen reduce the amount of fungal hyphae as they are now not needed. This means that all those sugars - and glomalin - are not now going into the soil. So there is a breakdown of that 400my old tri-symbiotic relation and less aggregates that make soil what it is.
Gabe Brown talks of never taking more than 50%, so as not to disrupt the roots, but sometimes grazing managmenet may want to take down further.
It is in the growing phase when the roots produce most exudates. Later, after about 3 months, the grass relocates feed to the seeds. Annuals build soils faster, but perennials more prolonged. You cannot build soils with grasses alone or even legumes. You need at least four plant varieties in grassland. In last 10 years we have learned that biodiversity is the key, not just in grassland but many other biological systems - like our guts. Deep rooted plants like chicory, yarrow and lucerne can help regenerate soil around the roots of grass, the great survivors.
A 15 years biodiversity trial in Germany (Jena) looked at mixtures of four functional families, grasses, legumes, short and tall herbs. Looking at all sorts of indicators, like biomass insects microbes and water holding all increased with increased biodiversity. This led to overyielding
Fungi
Fungi
Saprophytic fungi - those eating dead stuff, are vital part of recylcing nutrients. Yet the fungi we are recognising as being even more vital are AM fungi. We saw this group of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) appear nearly 400mya . AM fungi - rather than ectomycorrhiza which evolved 200m years later - are the dominant mycorrhizal association in grasses. We know the AM-root symbiosis evolved around 400 mya, but the association with grasses must have occurred much later - around 50mya, as grasses which also include important crops like wheat, corn, and rice, evolved this much later. They all heavily rely on AM fungi for nutrient uptake, especially phosphorus.
Do you remember what we learned about all those millions of years ago about the relation roots and fungi, commonly called symbiosis, but actually a 3-way process called tri-symbiosis, where the third part are the springtails? They spread the fungal spores to the roots and chew the fungal excretion - glomalin - and poo it out as GRSPs (glomalin related soil proteins) that help glue the aggregates together to make the unique soil structure. You can see why the presence of AM fungi indicates good soil structure, with all those springtails nibbling it. And it is this soil structure which provides the pores for life and the spaces to hold water.
Heritage crops have been grown for a long time, often in more traditional agricultural systems, which tend to have more diverse soil microbiomes. These diverse soil environments provide a rich source of mycorrhizal fungi, allowing heritage crops to establish stronger and more diverse mycorrhizal associations. Modern crops are often bred for specific traits such as high yield, disease resistance, or uniformity, which may lead to a reduced reliance on mycorrhizal associations.
So the more roots under pasture the better to use phosphates more efficiently The mechanisms to cope with Pi limitation as well as direct uptake of Pi from the substrate via the root epidermis are regulated by a conserved Pi starvation response (PSR) system. “It was recently discovered that the PSR pathway is involved in the regulation of genes that promote formation and maintenance of AM symbiosis. Furthermore, the PSR system influences plant immunity and can also be a target of microbial manipulation. It is known for decades that the nutritional status of plants influences the outcome of plant-microbe interactions. The first molecular explanations for these observations are now emerging" (Paries & Gutjahr 2023)
Various practices with AM in pasture systems
A study among forage grasses in Brazil found that there was little difference of colonisation of AM fungi between grass species, probably being colonized by the same fungal species, since they present low specificity. The AMF genera Glomus (remember glomalin!) and Acaulospora were most commonly found and also occur in bamboo sugar cane sorghum and corn (Santos Lucas et al 2022)
In prairie plots, total plant community richness, diversity, and Floristic Quality Index were all significantly improved with AM fungal inoculation, whereas non-desirable plant abundance was significantly greater in the non-inoculated plots. (Koziol & Bever 2016) The impact was particularly noticeable in late succession species - those that dominate late stages of ecological succession.
Various practices help AM in pasture systems. The level of grass species diversity present can help with AM diversity which has been shown to increase above-ground biomass production by more than 50%, due mainly to better efficiency of phosphorus use. The same may well apply with crop diversity. (Guzman et al 2021) It is worth exploring whether re-introducing more heritage crop varieties’ may form AM interactions more easily
Regenerative Living
Regenerative Living
In terms of systemic transition/regeneration in a region, a state in south India has helped hundreds of thousands of farmers improving soil health, farm viability, ecosystem health, and human health, which is leading to cultural revitalization. This all stems from serious people working in their communities over time to implement, share and learn. If we are serious, globally, about the systemic solutions needed, this model has an immense amount to offer in relation to a way ahead for others.
Lets add more life to our lives! We need to no longer harm the Earth, but also actively repair the damage done, and revitalise the health of the earth and ourselves.
A vision of the future could be that this planet becomes the most wonderful garden. We hear about the Garden of Eden - like a perfect vision. Could we change this planet so that we grew enough fruit, vegetable, meat and grain to feed us all with healthy and interesting food? That is the vision, and this is some pointers to how that could be.
If the classic economics model above doesn’t work, what can we do?
● Assess the strengths and needs of you and your local area, including your community and the local ecosystem.
● Act-based on your assessment, by working with nature.
● Adapt to what you’ve learned from the feedback of nature, your community and yourself.
Hopefully regenerative farming can build regenerative economics. In other words, improving soil can improve our lives too.
Link to my Learning materials for the Masters Degree in Regenerative Food, Farming & Enterprise which I wrote for Schumacher College and approved by Plymouth Univeristy, UK. Since then the College has closed down. So if anybody would like to talk to me about what we can do with these learning materials I would like that.
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