Regenerative Agriculture 101
Picture this: Rows of perennial crops planted in rich, dark soil, with lush trees dotted throughout. Livestock wander in adjacent pastures and fertilize the soil with their manure as they graze. A biodiverse mix of native pollinators buzz amongst the flower buds, collecting nectar and enriching the flora as they travel.
Example of a monocrop farm that only grows one crop over many acres
While this may seem like some far-off idealized fantasy in comparison to our predominant monocrop and factory farm agricultural practices, it is a reality today and is ready to revolutionize the farming industry. This fantasy describes a farm following regenerative agriculture practices. This is a new system of farming, centred around improving the soil and ecosystem that it is located within.
The Regenerative Agriculture Foundation defines the concept as
“any practice, process or management technique which serves to enhance the functioning of the core ecosystem cycles of energy, water or mineral by enhancing biological function. In other words, anything that makes the land healthier year after year.”
Apricot Lane Farms, the focus of the documentary Biggest Little Farm
Unfortunately, one third of the world’s soils have been degraded as a result of common farming practices and climatic changes. Degraded soils fail to absorb water, grow plants and store carbon; resulting in additional CO2 being released into the atmosphere and accelerating climate change. With our current system, 12 million hectares of productive land become barren every year. This leads to desertification, reduced resilience to droughts and floods, mass migration and unrest, food insecurity, water pollution, and loss of productivity and biodiversity.
Regenerative agriculture works to reverse these negative impacts by repairing soil and ecosystems. This is in pursuit of:
Le Bec Hellouin Farm in Normandy, France uses regenerative methods
Drawing down carbon & mitigating climate change
Supporting a more productive and just food system
Restoring biodiversity
Enhancing nutritional quality
Improving the water cycle
Increasing resilience to droughts and floods
Revitalizing local economies
The practices that achieve these results are based around building resilient ecosystems and communities as well as justice for farmers, ranchers and workers. Here is a brief overview of some of the many synergistic methods employed on regenerative farms:
Soil cover
Covering soil with a non-commercial crop or mulch anchors topsoil, fixes nitrogen, and builds organic matter and the microorganisms that are crucial for healthy soil.
Healthy soil close up
Organic practices
No use of artificial or synthetic fertilizers, pesticides or herbicides that leech into the groundwater and pollute the entire ecosystem.
Agroforestry
This is the integration of trees within crops and pasture land to increase the water holding capacity of the soil as well as provide habitat for beneficial fauna.
Perennial crops
Perennials are plants that are alive all year and can be harvested multiple times before dying (think fruit trees, berry shrubs, etc.). The longevity of these crops benefits the soil through their deep roots that provide structure and help sequester 1 – 26 metric tons of carbon per hectare per year! (This is equivalent to taking 1 to 17 drivers off the road per hectare*)
Social & economic justice
The Northern Farm Training Institute is a non-profit society providing immersive farm training to people committed to improving local food systems.
As any truly sustainable practice will, regenerative agriculture considers the human element of farming just as much as the crops and livestock being grown on the land. This manifests as fair labour conditions and the restoration of indigenous culture, knowledge and practices in land management.
For more examples and in-depth explanations, take a look at Regeneration Canada.
This method of farming is only growing in recognition as one of the best opportunities for carbon sequestration and climate change mitigation. It is almost ironic that agriculture provides such a promising chance to reduce CO2 emissions, as it is estimated to produce about 30% of the world’s total greenhouse gas emissions (this number is contested to range from 15 to 50%). The Rodale Institute has actually discovered that if we converted all global croplands and pastures to regenerative organic agriculture we could sequester more than 100% of current annual CO2 emissions . If even half of croplands and pastures were converted, we could reduce emissions to the point that we meet the Paris Agreement’s goal of limiting global average temperature rise to 1.5°C. When I read the report, this BLEW my mind. The solutions needed to solve our climate crisis are out there, we just need to act on them.
The New Farm in Ontario follows organic, regenerative practices
This amazing movement has even taken root in our own province. The BC Association for Regenerative Agriculture certifies farms to be following environmentally sustainable and regenerative practices. Their website lists over 40 farms producing a variety of products as members of the association. Locally in Vancouver, City Beet Farm follows these methods on their small-scale lawn farms to support their increasingly popular community supported agriculture business.
To learn more, dive into the books The Carbon Farming Solution and Kiss the Ground. Or give The Biggest Little Farm (available on Netflix) and Unbroken Ground (available on Youtube) a watch.
This climate change solution fills me with so much hope and optimism for a sustainable and harmonious future with our natural world. I hope it does for you too.
*Estimations of drivers taken off the road is based on an average annual mileage of 13,100km (link) per British Columbian in 2008 (this number is likely higher now but I was unable to find that data). New cars as of 2017 emit about 120.1g of CO2 per km driven (link). This was calculated out to be about 1.5 metric tons of CO2 emitted per British Columbian driver per year.