A producer in Stanly County, North Carolina, rolls down a cover crop just minutes before planting corn. The ”blanketlike” results of rolling or crimping provide season-long weed protection, moisture retention, and food for soil microbes.

Credit: NCRS Photo

Regenerative Agriculture

Call to action:

Since 1850, industrial agriculture has created a legacy of water pollution, animal abuse, degraded land, and wildlife habitat destruction. It has been responsible for over a third of all carbon dioxide emissions generated by humans. We must switch to regenerative agriculture, which is modeled on nature, sequesters carbon, heals land, and honors life.

Regenerative agriculture focuses on restoring and maintaining biologically healthy soil. It takes its cues from nature, which has a long record of successfully growing things. By recarbonizing soils via photosynthesis and biology, regenerative agriculture produces healthy food, protects watersheds, strengthens ecological and cultural diversity, and expands economic resilience. It is a low-cost “shovel-ready”, solution to climate change. It can restore degraded land. It can feed the world. Regenerative agriculture has ancient origins and is the foundation of Indigenous and traditional food systems worldwide.

Action Items

Individuals

Learn why regenerative agricultural is being used by farmers and ranchers to improve soil health, sequester carbon, and make our food healthy again. The rediscovery of regenerative agriculture by industrial societies began with the work of Sir Albert Howard, who studied traditional farms in India and observed that “health of soil, plants, animals, and humans is one and indivisible.” Today, regenerative agriculture is seen as both a sustainable way to produce healthy food and repair environmental damage. Practices include agroforestry, no-till, silvopasture, rotational grazing, cover crops, and crop diversification (see Farmers and Ranchers below).

In industrial agriculture, the vast majority of farmers grow just a few crops each year in monocultures using synthetic chemicals, including herbicides and insecticides that kill biology in the soil. Topsoil becomes unstable with repeated plowing. A major consequence is soil erosion, resulting in a significant loss of stored carbon.
The conversion of intact land to monocrop agriculture is accompanied by deforestation, land clearing, and overgrazing by livestock. The resulting degraded land can damage ecosystem services, which are the essential services that nature provides, such as nutritious food, clean water, pollination of crops, pollution removal, carbon sequestration, and recreational, cultural, and spiritual benefits. See Grasslands Nexus, Tropical Forests Nexus, and Degraded Land Restoration Nexus for more details.
The key to regenerative agriculture is the fast carbon cycle. Atmospheric carbon dioxide is transformed by photosynthesis into sugars that plants use to grow. Some of the carbon makes its way into the soil via plant roots to be consumed by microbes in exchange for nutrients the plants need. Some of this carbon stays in the soil for varying periods of time.
Here is a global map of current and past levels of soil carbon and how much soil could potentially hold in the future.
Regenerative is not the same as organic agriculture. Certified organic is regulatory and process based. Regenerative agriculture focuses on soil health goals and is outcome based. Here is a description of the difference between the two systems. They can also be combined. Here is a paper from the Rodale Institute on its certification standards for regenerative organic agriculture and the role it can play in addressing climate change.
Livestock is a key part of nearly all regenerative agricultural enterprises. Well-managed livestock help build soil carbon with their grazing behavior and waste. Here is a library of science articles supporting regenerative ranching and soil carbon. Animal welfare is a key element of livestock practices. Here is an argument for the regenerative role of livestock in farming and ranching. Common ground with vegans is possible.
Soil carbon can be increased with applications of compost, biochar, and rock dust as part of regenerative farming systems.

Understand that modern regenerative agriculture is based on Indigenous and traditional foodways. Food was produced organically and regeneratively long before the rise of industrial agriculture. These systems fed billions of people. They still exist and form the foundation of regenerative agriculture today (see Agroecology Nexus).

Here is a collection of articles on Indigenous foodways. In the U.S., Native and Black farmers have practiced sustainable agriculture for generations.
Modern regenerative agriculture in the developed world is mostly practiced by white farmers and ranchers and needs to extend its reach into BIPOC communities as well as to confront issues of racial equity, dispossession, access, discrimination, sovereignty, and social justice. It needs to listen to Indigenous peoples, learn about traditional foodways, and bring native farmers, ranchers, chefs, and activists into the movement.
Here is a database of underrepresented groups in agriculture provided by Blue Dasher Farm
Here is a story about why people of color should grow their own food.
Here is an article about the history of Black farming in the U.S.
Here and here are articles about the history of Native food systems.
Here is an article on why traditional knowledge is key to the future of regenerative agriculture.

Buy food and other items produced by regenerative agriculture. Farmers and ranchers have implemented campaigns that promote their products and practices. Purchasing these products supports the agricultural enterprise and encourages others to adopt similar practices.

Here is a list of companies and organizations involved with the Regenerative Organic Alliance, a certification organization for food, textile, and personal care ingredients based on soil health, animal welfare, and social fairness metrics. Here is an article about the first regenerative dairy farm in the U.S. Here are more articles featuring certified regenerative agricultural enterprises.
A sample of companies that support regenerative agriculture include Alter Eco Foods, Maple Hill Dairy, Dr. Bronner’s, Original Beans, Annie’s , Lundberg Family Farms, and Nature’s Path.
The Savory Institute has a certification program called Land to Market that measures verifiable ecological outcomes. Partners include Epic Provisions, Applegate Foods, Ugg, Timberland, and Kering.
Patagonia Provisions sells food and other products that are certified regenerative organic from participating farms and ranches. Here is an explanation on how they source their products.
Here is a list from SoilCentric of regenerative farms, ranches, products, resources, and educational opportunities.
Regen1 is a collaboration of farmers, ranchers, scientists, restaurants, and others working together to rapidly scale up regenerative agriculture. One goal is to create a digital storytelling platform to help consumers connect with food providers. Here are some of the stories.
Foodicons are collaborative, open-source icons that visually identify various elements of a regenerative food system so consumers can be better informed about their choices.
A number of major food corporations have pledged to support and use ingredients from regenerative farms and ranches, including General Mills, PepsiCo, Anheuser-Busch, Danone, and Mars. A coalition of companies, including Mars and Nestlé, have formed the One Planet Business for Biodiversity (OP2B) coalition to improve biodiversity with agriculture.
Grass-fed meat and dairy are often produced by regenerative agriculture. A good example is Wholesome Meats, which meets all the criteria. Here is a directory of other farms and ranches in the U.S. and Canada.
Wildlife and bird-friendly beef, such as Audubon’s Conservation Ranching program and Blue Nest Beef, are often produced by regenerative ranchers. Here is a buying guide from the Audubon Society.

Speak up. Write an op-ed to a newspaper or social media site advocating for regenerative agriculture. Consider writing longer pieces for online sites such as Medium, like this one.

Join a social media site run by an advocate for land protection and restoration. A sampling of social media sites (see Key Players below):

Soil4Climate on Facebook.
Kiss the Ground on Facebook.
Regeneration International on Facebook and Twitter.
American Farmland Trust on Facebook and Twitter.

Take a training course to understand soil health and how regenerative agriculture can help. There are a variety of online courses that range from the basics of soil health to detailed how-to for gardeners and others.

Elaine Ingham is a microbiologist who has developed an online school about the soil food web. Here are her educational videos.
Soils for Life in Australia has options for studying regenerative agriculture.
Here is the educational program at California State University, Chico’s Center for Regenerative Agriculture and Resilient Systems.
Here is a list of U.S. colleges with organic farms.

Groups

Farmers, Ranchers, and Other Landowners

Research regenerative agriculture practices to decide which ones would be best to implement on your farm or ranch. Primers on regenerative agriculture include Gabe Brown’s book Dirt to Soil and his workshop Treating the Farm as an Ecosystem; Mark Shepard’s book Restoration Agriculture, about growing perennial food crops, and its companion, Water for Any Farm. The USDA provides a list of resources on soil health. There are also scientific papers (such as this one) and research journals that can help farmers and ranchers decide on appropriate practices, including Indigenous and traditional farming systems (see Agroecology Nexus and Agroforestry Nexus). Practices include:

Organic no-till is a combination of chemical-free and no-tillage agriculture, often achieved with the use of cover crops.
Conservation tillage falls between no-till and full-till and usually involves cover crops.
Cover crops keep the ground covered using a wide variety of plants in order to protect the soil and build organic matter.
Polycultures and food forests traditionally employ two or more food types grown together, often utilizing trees in a multistory system.
Agroforestry is the integration of trees and shrubs into crop and animal farming systems. It has been practiced around the world for centuries.
Composting is the aerobic decomposition of carbon-rich material, such as wood, manure, and food waste, into a soil-enriching amendment (see Compost Nexus).
Silvopasture is the integration of trees and grazing livestock on the same land, managed intensively for both forest products and forage (see Silvopasture Nexus).
Pasture cropping is the intercropping of an annual crop within a perennial pasture and usually includes livestock grazing.
Perennial crops are trees and vegetables that grow every year without seeding, including olives, asparagus, rhubarb, and globe artichokes (see Perennial Crops Nexus).
Integration of livestock into cropping is the deliberate use of grazing animals as part of annual crop production (see Animal Integration Nexus).
Biochar is a supercharged charcoal traditionally used as a method to boost the fertility of soils and capture water (see Biochar Nexus).
Biological fertilizers are created by earthworms and microbes that break down carbon and minerals naturally in the soils for plants to use.
Multispecies grazing, such as combining cattle and sheep into a single herd, can deliver multiple ecological and economic benefits (see Grazing Ecology Nexus).
Keyline and permaculture use landforms and natural processes, such as water flow, as part of a design process for farming and regeneration.

Implement regenerative agriculture practices. The goal is to increase soil organic matter in tandem with enhanced cycling of carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and water. A key step in the transition from conventional to regenerative is to stop using synthetic chemicals and fertilizers, which kill beneficial insects, soil microbes, and fungi. Farmer Gabe Brown explains the next steps: “I follow five principles that were developed by nature over eons of time. They are the same anyplace in the world where the sun shines and plants grow.” Here are Brown’s Five Principles:

Limit physical disturbance of the soil. Tillage destroys soil structure. It tears apart the “house” that nature builds to protect the living organisms in the soil that create natural soil fertility.
Keep the soil covered at all times. Nature abhors bare soil. By providing a natural “coat of armor” of plants, farmers protect the soil from wind and water erosion while providing habitat for macro- and microorganisms.
Strive for diversity of both plant and animal species. Grasses, forbs, legumes, and shrubs all live in harmony with each other. Some have shallow roots, some deep. Some are high-carbon, some are low-carbon, some are legumes. Each of them plays a role in maintaining soil health.
Maintain a living root in the soil as long as possible. When you see green growing plants any time of year it is a sign of living roots. Those living roots are feeding soil biology by providing its basic food source: carbon. This biology, in turn, fuels the nutrient cycle that feeds plants.
Integrate animals. Nature does not function without animals. The grazing of plants stimulates the plants to pump more carbon into the soil. This drives nutrient cycling by feeding biology (see Animal Integration Nexus).

Improve livestock grazing practices. For ranchers, the regenerative goal is to mimic the “graze-and-go” behavior of native herbivores with domesticated livestock. This supports the biological health of the soil, improves water cycling, reduces erosion, and can increase the amount of carbon that can be stored in rangeland soils. Elements include:

Controlling the timing, intensity, and frequency of livestock impact through short-duration rotational grazing. Methods include holistic planned grazing, mob grazing, adaptive high-stock-density grazing, and adaptive multipaddock grazing. For a good review of the positive role livestock can play in reducing their carbon footprint see this article.

Consult with regenerative agriculture experts. The Rodale Institute, a leader in organic and regenerative farming in the U.S., has a consulting guide for landowners. The Savory Network links progressive ranchers around the world. There are many individual consultants who work with landowners to improve their land and/or teach workshops and seminars, such as the Soil Health Academy, the Land Stewardship Project, and Rhizoterra. Here is a list of consultants associated with Elaine Ingham’s Soil Food Web training.

Learn how to become certified in regenerative agriculture. The Regenerative Organic Alliance has a certification program for farmers and ranchers who produce food, textiles, and personal care ingredients. The Rodale Institute has an immersive training program in regenerative organic practices focused on aspiring farmers, who get to experience the entire production cycle of a diversified crop and livestock farm. Other programs:

The Soil Health Academy has a Regenerative Agriculture 101 online program designed for farmers and ranchers (the academy was founded by Gabe Brown and others).
California State University, Chico’s Center for Regenerative Agriculture and Resilient Systems has a mentoring program for ranchers, as well as numerous educational materials.
RegenAg works with producers in Australia.

Sell your regenerative products to consumers either directly or through a wholesaler or retailer. Direct marketing to consumers through online sales, farmers markets, a food cooperative, or other venues is a viable option. Here is an article about branding and different market options. The Sweetgrass Cooperative in Colorado and New Mexico is an example of a rancher-owned regenerative food marketing and distribution co-op. For examples of businesses that use and make regenerative products see Individuals above.

Here is a story about a pioneering regenerative dairy farm in California (including links to other regenerative dairy farms).

Explore ways to get paid for sequestering carbon in the soil of your farm or ranch. Efforts are under way to develop markets for carbon credits generated by regenerative farmers and ranchers for sequestering carbon in their soils, sometimes called carbon farming. (see Companies below)

Here is an overview of the carbon farming marketplace today and the challenges and opportunities it presents for regenerative farmers and ranchers.
Here is an overview called Carbon Markets 101 from the University of Kentucky that spells out the basics.
IndigoAg is a company developing a carbon marketplace for farmers who follow regenerative practices.
Here is a story about a farmer who was paid by a privately run farmer-focused marketplace for sequestering just over 8,000 tons of carbon. Here is a video about that farmer.
Zero Foodprint is a nonprofit organization that helps to crowdfund grants for farmers to enable them to switch to regenerative agricultural practices to address the climate crisis.

Companies

Integrate regenerative food and other products into supply chains. Investing in regenerative agriculture is good for business.

Here is a story about climate-friendly supply chains.
Dr. Bronner’s, a company that makes a variety of personal care products, is a leader in supply-chain development for regenerative agriculture.
Here is a story about the McDonald’s Corporation sourcing some of its beef from regenerative ranches that use rotational grazing methods.

Assist in the development of carbon markets that support regenerative agricultural practices. Trading carbon credits to reduce greenhouse emissions was embedded in the 2015 Paris Agreement. Companies are either becoming directly involved in fostering markets or considering how to get involved.

Here is an article about the challenges and opportunities in monetizing soil carbon.

Use onsets to achieve carbon emission reduction goals focused on credible land protection and restoration projects that improve soil carbon in grasslands and savannas. Onsets are carbon credits that create a net reduction in greenhouse gases. Organizations such as Gold Standard and the Carbon Fund provide verified onsets via their financial support of projects that improve carbon levels in the soil through regenerative agriculture.

Governance

Pass healthy soil initiatives and other legislation that supports regenerative agriculture. Incentivizing soil health and carbon sequestration through regenerative agricultural practices can be accomplished by legislation and policy.

State legislatures that have passed initiatives to improve soil health include California, Vermont, Illinois, Nebraska, and New Mexico. These bills can be the foundation for restoring degraded land.
Following the Paris climate summit in 2015, the French government implemented a carbon sequestration policy called the 4 per 1000 Initiative, which encourages policies that support regenerative agriculture.
The Growing Climate Solutions Act directs the USDA to create a certification program to help farmers, ranchers, and foresters navigate an array of private-sector programs in order to sell carbon credits.

Adopt policies and objectives that support regenerative agriculture and expand technical and financial assistance. Government agencies usually require policies to be enacted before they undertake projects. The USDA’s organic certification standards, for example, provide clear guidelines for producers and consumers. Promoting soil health practices through the agency’s department, such as the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), will help farmers and ranchers make the transition to regenerative agriculture.

Enforce antitrust legislation to reduce or eliminate the monopoly power that a handful of large agribusinesses have over the industry. Breaking up Big Ag would be difficult, but it could lead to numerous benefits for regenerative farmers and ranchers.

End subsidies for corporate agriculture. As a result of Brexit, the U.K. government is planning to phase out subsidies for British agriculture and replace them with financial incentives for environmentally beneficial farm practices.

New Zealand phased out all farm subsidies in 1984, forcing a transition to market-based incentives.

Bad Actors

Some of the same large agribusinesses that have been deeply involved in the expansion of industrial agriculture are trying to co-opt regenerative agriculture to suit their bottom line, including the dairy industry. Here is an article about greenwashing. These companies include:

Bayer/Monsanto, a large agribusiness that produces a variety of chemicals, including the herbicide glyphosate (e.g., Roundup), that are sprayed on croplands. Bayer Ag CEO is Werner Baumann. His email is werner.baumann@bayer.com. His phone is 49 214 30 47720.

Cargill, a family-owned agribusiness behemoth at the center of the global industrial production of soy, corn, and other commodities and implicated in a wide variety land-degrading, health-damaging, and climate-altering activities. The CEO of Cargill is David MacLennan. His email is david_maclennan@cargill.com. His phone is (952) 742-4507.

ADM, a major food commodities trader and supplier. The ADM CEO is Juan Luciano. His email is juan.luciano@adm.com His phone is (312) 634-8100 (headquarters).

Corteva, a major chemical and seed company. It was split off from the DowDuPont corporation, itself the product of a merger between DuPont and Dow chemical companies whose products have been used in industrial agriculture for decades and linked to a variety of harmful effects. The CEO of Corteva is James C. Collins, Jr. His phone is 800-922-2368.

Key Players

Organizations that support regenerative agriculture

Rodale Institute, a founder of the modern organic movement and a leader in regenerative agriculture for over seventy years.

Soil Association (UK), an advocacy organization for regenerative agriculture, agroforestry, soil health, and climate action.

Savory Institute links progressive ranchers around the world.

Holistic Management International teaches the principles of regenerative ranching to producers and the general public.

Fibershed helps develop regional fiber systems that improve soil health and create local jobs.

The Carbon Underground is focused on the links between soil health, regenerative agriculture, and climate change.

The Carbon Cycle Institute sees carbon cycling as fundamental to regenerative agriculture and helps farmers and ranchers achieve goals.

The Land Institute conducts research and runs educational programs on perennial agriculture and nature-based food systems.

ReNature designs and implements regenerative systems at all scales, making a business case for regenerative agriculture.

Sustainable Harvest International works with farmers in central America to end deforestation and promote regenerative practices.

The Berry Center for Sustainable Agriculture works to transform the agricultural system into one that uses nature as its standard.

Soul Fire Farm is an African Indigenous community farm centered on uprooting racism and promoting sovereignty in the food system.

Wolfe’s Neck Center for Agriculture and the Environment is a working farm and research center dedicated to regenerative agriculture and education.

National Center for Appropriate Technology helps reduce poverty in rural communities and assists producers in gaining access to innovation.

Kiss the Ground is an educational nonprofit focused on carbon sequestration in soils, regenerative agriculture, and healthy food.

SoilCentric is an organization that highlights opportunities and resources in soil health and regeneration.

National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition is an alliance of grassroots organizations advocating for policy reform for regenerative food systems.

Regeneration International is dedicated to accelerating implementation of regenerative agriculture around the world.

American Farmland Trust is an organization focused on conservation agriculture, protecting farmland, and keeping farmers on the land.

Food Tank is a “think tank” for food, spotlighting sustainable ways of alleviating hunger, obesity, and poverty through food-system change.

Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture is an educational and culinary center that promotes regenerative approaches to food.

The Quivira Coalition works with ranchers and farmers in the American Southwest to encourage the adoption of regenerative agriculture.

Slow Food International works to prevent the disappearance of local food cultures and traditions and raise awareness about the food we eat.

Bioneers is an educational organization that highlights ecological and social justice solutions to pressing challenges.

National Farmers Union represents family farmers, ranchers, and fishers across the United States.

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) leads the UN’s effort to defeat hunger, achieve food security, and ensure people have access to enough high-quality food to lead active, healthy lives.

USDA/Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) is an agency that provides technical and financial assistance to farmers and ranchers in the U.S. to put conservation in practice.

i GiveTrees's mission is to support organic agroforestry, reforestation and assisted natural regeneration projects with the aim of restoring the biodiversity of our rainforests and savanna, while genuinely benefitting local communities, primarily in Brazil.