healthy SOIL, Healthy PLANTS, healthy ANIMALS, healthy HUMANS, healthy COMMUNITIES

Regenerative Agriculture

is a system of farming principles and practices that focus on

• enriching soils,

• increasing biodiversity,

• rejects pesticides, herbicides, fungicides and synthetic fertilisers

• rebuilds soil organic matter resulting in carbon capturing and

• water cycle improvement

These principles draws from decades of scientific and applied research in the fields of

• organic farming,

• agroecology,

• Holistic Management,

• agroforestry and

• permaculture

Applying these principles to our farms results in

• increased yields,

• resilience to climate instability, and

• higher health and vitality

With regenerative agriculture, we shift our thinking from

• competing with nature to working with nature

• disturbing the soil to protecting the soil

• monoculture to diversity

• reductionist to holistic

Why is it needed?

Modern food production remains predominantly conventional. 

Early in 1900’s, farmers began specializing in select commodity crops and animals to increase profits.

But specialization made farms less resilient: If a key crop failed or prices tumbled, they had no other income source. Most farmers stopped growing their own food, which made them dependent on agribusiness retailers.

Under these conditions small farms consolidated into large ones as families went bankrupt – a trend that continues today. At the same time, agribusiness companies began marketing new machines and agrochemicals. Farmers embraced these tools, seeking to stay in business, specialise further and increase production.

In contrast, regenerative agriculture releases farmers from dependence on agribusiness products. For example, instead of purchasing synthetic fertilisers for soil fertility, producers rely on diverse crop rotations, no-till planting and management of livestock grazing impacts.

Regenerative farming producers do not use agrochemicals – many of which are derived from fossil fuels – and greatly reduce their reliance on oil, thus reducing their impact on the environment. Research shows that these practices restore soil carbon, literally locking carbon up underground, while also reversing desertification, recharging water systems, increasing biodiversity and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. And it produces nutrient-rich food and promises to enliven rural communities and reduce corporate control of the food system.

All great perks I’d say

(An excerpt from an article by Stephanie Anderson)

Start from the ground up!

“There is no life without soil, and there is no soil without life.”

Something that is missing in modern farming practices is the understanding of soil life and health. Life above the ground is mind blowingly intricate, complex and reliant on each other for survival. What about the world beneath our feet? It is just the same. So how do we care for it, stimulating life and nutrition?

Here are the 5 fundamental principles for soil health.