_Profit and biodiversity: a guide to regenerative agriculture
In the face of mounting environmental challenges and the pressing need for sustainable food production, regenerative agriculture has emerged as a beacon of hope. This holistic approach to farming revitalises the soil, enhances biodiversity, and paves the way for improved profitability and resilience. By embracing regenerative practices, farmers can cultivate thriving ecosystems while meeting biodiversity targets and fostering a harmonious relationship with the natural world.
In this guide, we'll learn about regenerative agriculture, which is not a specific system but rather a set of principles that focuses on soil health, biodiversity, crop rotation, and integrating livestock. We'll also provide some techniques that will help to adopt a 'regen ag' approach.
1. Building soil health
Regenerative agriculture begins with healthy soil, the foundation for successful farming. Healthy soil teems with beneficial microorganisms, retains moisture, and provides essential nutrients to plants.
Here's how you can improve soil health:
Check soil health: test soil regularly to know its nutrient levels and help decide on the most appropriate cropping.
Minimising tillage: excessive soil inversion disrupts its structure, destroys beneficial microorganisms, and accelerates soil erosion—regenerative agriculture advocates for minimal or no-till (no ploughing) practices to preserve soil integrity.
Plant cover crops: planting a quick-growing species such as clovers, ryegrass, buckwheat and vetches between main crops being harvested and sown protects soil from erosion, maintains or grows earthworm populations, suppresses weeds, adds organic matter, and improves nutrient cycling.
Increasing organic matter: this humus-rich component of soil helps nutrient retention, water infiltration, and soil structure. Management practices, such as using livestock manures on crops, cover cropping, and reduced tillage, help increase organic matter content.
A broader crop rotation: the more diverse and greater number of crop types used in a crop rotation helps to prevent pests and diseases. But it can also keep soil nutrients balanced and require less artificial fertiliser for crops.
2. Embracing biodiversity
Biodiversity, the variety of life on Earth, is inextricably linked to soil health and agricultural productivity. Regenerative agriculture actively promotes biodiversity by encouraging the presence of beneficial insects, pollinators, and other organisms that play crucial roles in maintaining healthy ecosystems. Promoting biodiversity can also reduce reliance on chemical sprays to control pests.
Here's how to foster biodiversity:
Habitat restoration: create habitats for beneficial insects, birds, and other wildlife on your farm. Set up bird shelters, plants that attract bees, and perennials that benefit insects.
Species diversity: monocropping (continuously grown single species crop or grassland), can be vulnerable to pests and diseases and requires a high level of artificial inputs. Planting a diverse and broad crop rotation, using companion crops or herbal leys (mixed species grassland) – see crop rotation section.
Water features: manage water resources to create wetlands and ponds for wildlife and to support aquatic biodiversity.
Apply Integrated Pest Management: focus on biological pest control methods, such as introducing beneficial insects, rather than relying solely on chemical pesticides. Plant insect-attracting plants and maintain hedgerows.
3. Crop rotation
Crop rotation is a time-honoured practice that mimics natural ecosystems. As any farmer knows, rotating different crops across the growing seasons helps break disease and pest cycles, replenishes nutrients, and enhances soil structure. However, fewer crops have been used in a rotation in recent decades, increasing disease and weed burdens. Good crop rotation is vital in regenerative farming and helps reduce the use of fertilisers and pesticides. Regenerative principles aim to mimic natural ecosystems, reducing pest pressure and increasing crop and grassland resilience.
What does a good crop rotation look like?
Diverse rotation: increasing the diversity of the rotation and rotating between different crop types, legumes (such as clovers that naturaly fix nitrogen in the soil), cereals, and oilseeds to ensure a wide range of benefits for your soil. Pest and disease challenges can also be reduced by having as broad a rotation as possible with suitably long enough breaks between the same crops.
Cover crops: maintaining living roots within a cropping system is a key principle of regenerative agriculture. Cover crops in rotations help to keep the soil covered and roots in the ground between the main crops to enrich the soil further, suppress weeds, and break pest cycles.
Companion cropping: growing at least two plants or crops alongside each other, such as field beans and oats, can provide a helpful symbiotic relationship that reduces pest and disease impacts.
Multi-species leys: having a ley (land put down to grass, clover, herbal species, etc., for typically under five years) within a crop rotation is another helpful way to break pest and weed burdens.
4. Compost and organic matter
For farmers embracing regenerative agriculture, judicious use of organic manures is key. Adopting a holistic mindset, recognising organic manures not just as nutrients but as contributors to a resilient and thriving agroecosystem. In this way, organic manures become integral to fostering sustainability and long-term soil vitality.
Making the most of manures and compost
Prioritise diverse sources: where possible, combine plant and animal-derived compost options for a balanced nutrient profile.
Tailor application rates: being aware of specific crop requirements and soil nutrient level and condition.
Rotate manure applications: rotating can prevent nutrient imbalances and enhance microbial diversity.
Soil monitoring: regularly monitor soil fertility levels and adapt your approach accordingly.
5. Sustainable livestock integration
When managed responsibly, livestock can play a crucial role in regenerative agriculture. Livestock help with soil aeration, nutrient cycling, and the development of holistic farm ecosystems.
What can this involve?
Rotational grazing: implement rotational grazing systems such as mob grazing (grazing pasture for a short period then allowing a long rest) to prevent overgrazing and enable pastures to recover naturally.
Livestock integration: consider mixing livestock with crops, such as using cattle or sheep to graze cover crops or including livestock in a rotation to graze a two-to-three-year grass or herbal ley.
Manure management: better utilise livestock manure by improving its storage to reduce nutrient leaching and improve its evenness of application to land.
It's a long-term journey
Regenerative agriculture is not just a buzzword; it's a holistic approach that can lead to increased profitability while contributing to biodiversity targets and environmental sustainability. By focusing on soil health, biodiversity, crop rotation, and other regenerative practices, you can create a farm that thrives in harmony with the ecosystem. A journey towards regenerative agriculture may require time and experimentation, but the rewards are worth it. Embracing these principles can cultivate healthy soils and vibrant ecosystems and bolster the bottom line.