Regenerative Agriculture

“Regenerative Agriculture” is defined as a form of agriculture that regenerates the land, improving the soil as a byproduct of the agricultural practices.  Generally speaking, it is understood that this term means a form of agriculture that improves the soil, adding carbon to the soil by adding organic matter (carbon) to the soil, which results in carbon dioxide being removed from the atmosphere, “sequestering” the carbon in the soil, which reduces atmospheric carbon, which in turn reduces climate change created by increasing carbon in the atmosphere.

Regenerative Agriculture generally consists of three major forms, no-till farming, regenerative livestock grazing and various forms of regenerative forestry.  This short animated film provides a quick (less than 4 minutes) overview: What Is Regenerative Agriculture? 

One form of regenerative agriculture uses ruminant animals (like cattle) to graze down well matured pasture in a very short period of time, thus eliminating “old growth” from the landscape, thereby allowing new growth to occur, and then providing long periods of time before the next grazing to allow the plants to grow substantially before the next grazing.  This allows for meaningful root growth deep within the soil.  This combined with not using pesticides and chemical fertilizers allows soil microorganisms to grow and flourish, which in turn helps the plants, including their root systems, to grow.  All of this in turn helps the land absorb more water during rainfall events, and prevents “runoff” and resultant soil erosion and waterway pollution.  The organic matter added to the soil, including the plant roots and microorganisms, add carbon to the soil, effectively “sequestering” carbon within the soil.  

Below are links to videos, podcasts and articles that are of interest in learning about regenerative agriculture, organized by the person or organization that is promoting Regenerative Agriculture.  This way of organizing the list allows for viewing of the opinions and teachings of each prominent person or organization in the Regenerative Agriculture space, or for more general publications, by the name of the publisher.

WHAT IS REGENERATIVE AGRICULTURE?:

NETFLIX:

THE AUTUBON SOCIETY:

NATURAL RESOURCE CONSERVATION SERVICE (“NRCS”):

SOIL HEALTH INSTITUTE:

PUBLIC BROADCASTING SERVICE (“PBS”):

SOIL CARBON COWBOYS – A documentary film consisting of a series of short films about regenerative agriculture and sequestering carbon in the soil – by Peter Byck:

ALLAN SAVORY – Founder and President of the Savory Institute, and a highly regarded and well-known original thought leader in the Regenerative Agriculture space:

JOEL SALATIN – author of several books on organic farming and sustainable and regenerative agricultural practices:

DR. CHARLES MASSY, PhD – Author of the book Call Of The Reed Warbler and thought leader on the subject of Regenerative Agriculture:

GABE BROWN – owner of Brown’s Ranch near Bismark, North Dakota, USA, and lecturer on Regenerative Agriculture and building healthy soils:

NEAL DENNIS – An early adopter and real-life practitioner of regenerative agriculture who practices high density “mob” grazing on his farm/ranch in Saskatchewan, Canada:

  • [insert the 10-part talk by Powerflex Fence]

GREG JUDY – An early adopter and real-life practitioner of regenerative agriculture through high density “mob” grazing in Missouri, USA:

  • [insert his numerous videos on mob grazing]

TONY LOVELL – Australian regenerative agriculture farmer and lecturer:

Bionutrient Food Association  and Bionutrient Institute – Dan Kittridge:

  • [Add links]

TED.com – The organization famous for the “TED Talks”:

OTHERS:

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