A Peek into Regenerative Agriculture
Most people in the produce industry have heard the term “regenerative agriculture,” just as they’ve heard of sustainable and organic agriculture. But the difference between all these is not always clear.
On August 24, the International Fresh Produce Association held a Virtual Town Hall about regenerative agriculture, as explained by Tanner Starbard, director of farm planning for Mad! Agriculture, a four-year-old company, based in Boulder, CO, and dedicated to helping farmers apply regenerative practices to their operations.
As its name suggests, regenerative farming is not merely about sustainability: it is about restoring farmland to a state of health that may have been reduced by conventional practices.
Regenerative agriculture is not the same as organic agriculture, since it does not automatically rule out the judicious use of chemical pesticides. Starbard says that although his company tends to work with organic growers, they “may not want to go all the way to an organic standard.”