Regenerative agriculture is the vital ingredient for making food production sustainable in the future. But ask ten people for a definition and they will all say something slightly different.
Put simply, regenerative agriculture is a transformative, practical approach to farming that aligns agriculture with nature, aiming to sustain and enrich the soil for future generations.
Soil health is the foundation. It is about increasing soil health and keeping it to a high standard so that it needs less artificial fertilisers and reduces soil loss.
As every farm is different, regenerative agriculture practices need to be specific to the landscapes but can include:
- Cover cropping (which involves planting specific crops but to protect and enhance the soil rather than harvesting)
- No-till agricultural methods (a cultivation technique in which the soil is only disturbed where the seeds are planted)
- Reducing and optimising fertiliser application
Through the multiple regenerative practices we have at our fingertips, we can nurture our soils and harness the potential to firmly lock and sequester carbon into them. Moreover, avoiding further disturbance and compaction of soils will boost the resilience of our crops, increase biodiversity and enhance water retention.
Naturally, this will come at a cost. Farming is a typically a low-margin business, with not much capital to ride out the risks of changing agricultural practices. Therefore, economic incentives throughout the whole supply chain are key to implement regenerative agriculture. Companies should be proactive to ensure their supply chains support regenerative agricultural practices and aim to train all stakeholders, including farmers, land managers, and supply chain partners, about regenerative practices. By scaling up regenerative practices, food systems will be transformed with an inbuilt resilience to adverse weather and increased demand for food and land.
Numerous organisations across the UK are already investigating the impact of regenerative agriculture, including Arla Foods Group and Yeo Valley’s separate projects exploring regenerative dairy farming and Carlsberg Group’s ZERO Farming Footprint project researching regenerative barley.
Governments, policymakers and regulators are also starting to take note, with many considering new requirements around regenerative agricultural practices to promoting reporting and more transparency. This includes the Environmental Land Management Scheme (ELMS) published by Department for environment, food and rural affairs (Defra) in the UK.
Regenerative agriculture is a journey, and cross-sectoral collaboration is vital for its implementation. By involving diverse stakeholders including farmers, researchers, NGOs and policymakers, lesson learned can be shared and trust built across the supply chain.
Indeed, it is only with continued collaboration, data sharing and research will drive standardised regenerative agriculture practices that work.
By adopting regenerative agricultural practices in a holistic way on a global scale, we can aid and reverse forest loss, optimise fertiliser use and create more sustainable supply chains, reducing the overall environmental impacts and secure our food supplies.
Bethany Cockshutt, associate at Carbon Trust will be speaking on ‘The Future of Environment & Sustainability: 2024’ at the Net Zero Summit on 12th September 2024 (10:15) at Environmental Services and Solutions Expo, held at the NEC in Birmingham. For more information about this year’s event and to register to attend, visit: https://www.ess-expo.co.uk/
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