Can Humus Rescue the Future? Regenerative Agriculture Offers Openings for the Organic Sector
First of all, the term regenerative agriculture – also known as agroecology – is self-explanatory. It means restoring something that was there originally. A regenerative approach focuses on renaturing the soil and the entire ecosystem that’s so important to climate change. More precisely, this kind of agriculture aims to build up humus – which by now has shrunk to one or two percent of its original level in Europe1, yet is essential for binding CO2.
Organic farmer Benedikt Bösel, with his Gut und Bösel farm in Brandenburg, offers a model business when it comes to regenerative farming. He was one of the first farmers in Germany to convert his farm – which now covers 3,000 hectares – to regenerative agriculture and forestry. In the spring of 2018, two years after he took over the farm from his parents, he encountered a straightforward trigger for changing his approach. “The spring drought was so extreme.