Regenerative Agriculture Collection

Healing Ecosystems and Stabilizing the Climate

What is regenerative agriculture?

Regenerative agriculture is a system of farming principles and practices that increase biodiversity, builds and enriches soil, improves watersheds, and enhances ecosystem services. It also increases soil carbon storage, which is both a buffer against climate change and can reduce the dangerous amount of carbon in the atmosphere.

Just as nature is constantly evolving, regenerative agriculture is a system of continued learning and improvement and adapting to local dynamic conditions. It combines the best practices of organic, permaculture, holistic management and agroecology, while honoring a commitment to just and equitable relations with all stakeholders including farmworkers, as well assuring humane treatment of livestock.

Farming practices have been exploiting, extracting and destroying the ecological assets – soil, water, biodiversity, and people – that are the very foundation of its ability to produce food. It is imperative that agricultural systems are redesigned to mimic nature’s regenerative force if the world is to be able to feed a growing population in the face of the uncertainties of climate change.

Regenerative agriculture has demonstrated remarkable results in eliminating toxic inputs, increasing fertility, regenerating soil life and strengthening on-farm resilience against climate extremes. Scientists, and regenerative farmers and ranchers share their knowledge and experience on how to transform agriculture.

In this collection, we’ll guide you through some of the regenerative practices that form the foundation of regenerative agriculture, and share stories of some of the folks harnessing the power of regenerative agriculture to benefit their agricultural pursuits and the planet.

LATEST NEWS

CNN:
How Regenerative Agriculture Could Help Save the Planet

Mother Jones:
What Would It Take to Get More Farmers Fighting Climate Change?

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Regenerative Agriculture: Nourishing the Soil, Healing the Planet

This short video highlights regenerative ranchers and farmers who are bringing life back to working landscapes by mimicking the creative forces of nature. Regenerative agricultural practices draw down atmospheric carbon and sequester it in the soil where it boosts fertility and nurtures biodiversity, making this approach to agriculture a key solution to mitigating climate change.

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Regenerative Farming Practices

Hover over the images below to learn more about each topic.

 
Regenerative agriculture mimics nature by building biodiversity as the foundation for a healthy ecosystem that results in higher productivity.

Biodiversity

Read The Benefits of Biodiversity on the Farm and Ranch. Holistic rancher Doniga Markegard and small-scale intensive farmers Paul and Elizabeth Kaiser promote biodiversity in ways that provide an economic benefit while stewarding ecosystems.

 
Compost improves soil and plant health, suppresses disease, increases beneficial soil organisms and reduces greenhouse gas emissions.

Compost

Read The Most Important Organic Soil Amendment. Compost, used since ancient times, is still the single most important amendment for organic regenerative gardeners and farmers. It increases the health of the soil, which promotes healthy plant growth.

 
Cover crops help prevent soil erosion, maximize carbon sequestration and provide nutrients to beneficial soil microorganisms.

Cover Crops

Read Cover Crops: The Key to Regenerating Soils. Tim La Salle, of the Regenerative Agriculture Initiative at Chico State extols the many benefits of cover crops and Claudio Nunéz explains how Paicines Ranch integrates animals into cover crops.

 
Keeping soil covered with living plants, crop residues or mulches protects the soil against erosion by wind and rain, and reduces evaporation rates.

Covering Bare Soil

Read Keep an Armor on the Soil: Cover Soil to Protect it. The idea that good farming means bare soil is being challenged by the science that shows covering soil with mulch or living roots protects and feeds the soil.

 
Crop rotations increase yields; reduce pest, weed and disease pressure; reduce chemical inputs and increase biodiversity.

Crop Rotation

Read Crop Rotation Improves Soil Health and Yields. Varying the crops planted in the same field season to season, improves the chemical, physical and biological structure of the soil in a variety of ways resulting in less erosion and higher yields.

 
Holistic management of livestock restores ecosystems, increases biodiversity and captures soil carbon.

Holistic Livestock Management

Read Holistic Management: Healing Ecosystems. Doniga Markegard and her husband Erik holistically manage livestock on 10,000 acres of California coastal prairie by mimicking how nature builds diversity and healthy ecosystems.

 
Livestock have the right to live in a healthy natural environment, eat their natural diet and be free from stress, pain and injury.

Humane Treatment of Animals

Read Humane Treatment of Animals. Most of the animals raised for food experience appallingly inhumane conditions. Regenerative animal husbandry follows the guidelines of the Five Freedomsthat provide respect and rights to animals as sentient living beings.

 
Biological controls are a safe effective way to manage pests without using toxic chemicals.

Integrated Pest Management

Read Pest Control Designed by Nature: An Interview with Ron Whitehurst. Ron Whitehurst, a globally recognized expert in biological controls of pests, deconstructs the fallacies of chemical pest control and explains ways to create a natural balance of insects on farms.

 
Fair working conditions, wages and market access for farmers and farmworkers.

Justice for Farmers and Farmworkers

Read Justice for Farmers and Farmworkers. Farmers and farmworkers are exploited by an economic system that places corporate profits over financially equitable and respectful relationships. Regenerative agriculture places importance on the dignity and working conditions of those who work the land.

 
Microorganisms engineer soil health, release nutrients to the plants and are key to the carbon cycle and carbon sequestration.

Living Soil

Read Microorganisms Build Fertility and Mitigate Climate Change: An Interview with Dr. Kris Nichols. Dr. Nichols works with farmers to improve soil biology to produce healthy food while sequestering carbon in the soil and reducing agriculture’s greenhouse gas emissions.

 
Tilling (plowing) damages soil structure, releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and destroys beneficial microorganisms.

No Till

Read No-Till: Parking the Plow for Soil Health. Plowing destroys beneficial microorganisms, releases carbon and contributes to climate change. Organic no till technologies are a game changer enabling farmers to become part of the climate change solution.

 
Re-carbonizing soils by maximizing photosynthesis reduces atmospheric carbon dioxide and boosts soil fertility.

Soil Carbon

Read Soil Carbon: A Climate Change Solution. By viewing carbon as the solution rather than the problem, farmers can re-carbonize depleted soils using regenerative agricultural practices that drawn carbon out of the atmosphere and help stabilize the climate.

Related Material

 
Jeff Moyer designed and built out the roller crimper, an instrument that makes it possible for organic farmers to minimize or eliminate tillage, a practice that damages the soil.

Organic Regenerative Agriculture: An Interview with Jeff Moyer of The Rodale Institute

 
In this interview with Bioneers’ Arty Mangan, A-dae Romero-Briones (Cochiti/Kiowa) is a compelling voice against the injustices of colonization inflicted on native people and for the acknowledgment of indigenous people’s land stewardship as a basis for regenerative agriculture.

Decolonizing Regenerative Agriculture: An Indigenous Perspective

 
Keeping half the planet in wilderness, controlling population and developing self-renewing farm-fertility are the keys to creating a crisis-resilient food system. An interview with Fred Kirschenmann, a Distinguished Fellow at the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture.

Transitioning to a Crisis-Resilient Agriculture

 
Topsoil loss has led to the fall of civilizations. A global agricultural revolution can take place by adopting the soil healthy practices of no-till, cover crops and increasing biodiversity on the farm.

Soil Erosion, Civilizations and a New Way to Farm

 
Dr. Daphne Miller, an author and a practicing physician, explores the intricate connections between soil, food, nutrition and personal health.

How Soil Health Affects Human Health: An Interview with Dr. Daphne Miller

 
Filmmaker John Chester and his wife Molly took a leap of faith to become farmers with the ambitious goal of bringing life back to a lifeless 200-acre piece of land.

Farming, Filming and Biodiversity: An Interview with John Chester

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