Regenerative agriculture is a holistic farming system. It provides several benefits, such as improved water and air quality, enhanced ecosystem biodiversity, nutrient-dense food, and storing carbon to reduce the effects of climate change! Additionally, regenerative agriculture improves soil health and produces nutrient-dense foods loaded with much-needed nutrients for human consumption and health.
Regenerative Agriculture Principles
- Minimizing the biological, chemical, and physical disturbance of the soil. This can be accomplished by doing infrequent tilling or forgoing tilling altogether. In addition, regenerative farmers avoid the use of chemicals such as pesticides and chemical fertilizers.
- Cover the soil with vegetation or natural material. In place of tilling the land, regenerative farmers mulch, and plant cover crops (crops not sold but improving the soil, water retention, weed suppression, and erosion prevention). In other words, keep the land as permanent pastures.
- Provide plant diversification. Plant diversification is helpful in building healthy soils to better trap water and nutrients. Furthermore, it can provide alternate means of income for the farm and also benefit pollinators and wildlife. Regenerative farming practices include varying crop rotations, planting multiple species of cover crops together, growing diverse forage in pastures, and maintaining permanent vegetation (conservation cover) in some areas of the farm.
- Keeping living roots in the soil. Roots are a key factor in stabilizing the soil. Plus, they continually cycle water and nutrients into the soil. As a result, this prevents vital nutrients from being washed away. Regenerative farming plants cover crop seeds in the same fields as their primary crops before the harvest to prevent the fields from becoming bare (known as overseeding). Another technique is planting the primary crops into fields where cover crops are already established. Or better yet, convert the cropland to pastures.
- Incorporate animals into the farm as much as possible. Farm animals provide valuable nutrients to the soil. More importantly, this reduces the need for fertilizers and allows permanent pastures to trap large amounts of carbon and water. As a result, this reduces farm emissions and polluted runoff. By moving livestock frequently between grass pastures (rotation grazing), aids in the regeneration of the grasses or cover crops.
Ecological and Societal Benefits Regenerative Agriculture
The resurgence of regenerative agriculture provides several benefits to farmers, the environment, and society. Such as:
- Enhance soil health and fertility, which equates to increased farm productivity.
- Product-nutrient-dense foods free of chemical contaminants
- Increase the soil’s water absorption and filtering. As a result, farms and communities are more resilient to drought and floods. Plus, it reduces erosion and polluted runoff
- Increase the nutrients available to plants and naturally protect them against pests, therefore reducing the need for costly fertilizers and pesticides.
- More importantly, it captures substantial amounts of carbon from the air and stores it in the soil, helping to mitigate the effects of climate change.
Can Regenerative Aid in Climate Change
Regenerative agriculture focuses on building healthy soils and maintaining permanent vegetation and also reduces agricultural greenhouse gas emissions. Mainly, regenerative farming reduces the use of farm equipment and actively removes carbon from the atmosphere by pulling more carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere than the plants emit.
For instance, CBF’s multi-year study of farms in the Bay watershed concluded traditional farmland that is converted to rotational grazing pastures on average reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 42 percent. Furthermore, it also produced a reduction of 63 percent, 67 percent, and 47 percent for nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment pollution, respectively.
Should the Bay States achieve its commitment of implementing 190,500 acres of forest buffers by 2025, a reduction of more than 173,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide would occur annually. This would equate to eliminating the annual emissions of more than 37,600 passenger vehicles.
Besides eliminating carbon dioxide, farms can reduce nitrous oxide emissions (greenhouse gases). The soil produces Nitrous oxide through microbial processes. The amount of this gas produced in the soil is by the use of chemical fertilizers and manure farmers apply to the land.
Additional Benefits of Regenerated Farming
Healthy soils can make the land more resilient to the impacts of extreme weather linked to climate change. For example, during flooding and droughts, healthy soils retain moisture longer during periods of drought. They also have a greater capacity to soak up water into the ground during heavy rainstorms, thus reducing flooding.
Another advantage healthy soil provides is a reduction in vulnerability to pests, disease, and other climate-related risks. Furthermore, forested streamside buffers on farms not only filter pollutants but also remove carbon from the atmosphere. It also provides a cooling effect on nearby streams. This is an increasingly vital role as temperatures rise and threaten aquatic species that need cool water to exist.
One cattle company is focused on raising nutrient-dense meats using regenerative techniques. Its 40,000-acre pastureland incorporates the routine when 40 to 50 million bison grazed on America’s vast grassland plains. Check out this amazing, nutrient-packed meat for a healthier diet here!