Why I Became a Leader and Founder of the International Regenerative Movement
This is an edited version of an article commissioned by the editor of The Organic Standard (TOS), who was curious about why, as a long-time leader in the organic sector and a former President of IFOAM-Organics International, I became one of the leaders and founders of the international regenerative movement.
Vapor Pressure Deficits – Regenerating the Local Climate
Avoiding bare ground by maximizing vegetation cover is crucial for reducing VPDs and increasing SOM. SOM enhances the soil’s ability to capture and retain rainfall, improve fertility, and prevent the erosion of fertile topsoil during heavy rain events. Adopting these regenerative organic practices is essential for reversing the trend of increasing adverse weather events and ensuring a productive future for our farming and ranching systems, as well as providing our civilization with healthy, nutritious, poison-free food. We can avoid repeating the past’s failures.
The Benefits of the Regeneration International Standard and Certification – Growing and Selling with Integrity
Our goal is to clearly position Regenerative Agriculture within the organic agriculture paradigm of nature-based systems. IFOAM – Organic International’s four principles of organic agriculture serve as criteria to evaluate whether practices are regenerative or degenerative. Degenerative practices, which are, by definition, the opposite of regenerative, cannot be deemed regenerative.
Plant Sentience Changes Everything
I have always had a love and fascination for plants. I began growing them as a young boy at the start of grade school. I spent my childhood in the forest, learning the names of the plants and animals and understanding how they functioned as an ecosystem. I was destined to be a farmer because growing plants is fundamental to our work. Now, in my 70s, I continue to farm because my passion for growing plants and raising animals remains strong, and I will never quit. Two events profoundly influenced my approach to agriculture. In 1973, Peter Tompkins and Christopher Bird published ” The Secret Life of Plants,” which confirmed what I had known as a child: plants are sentient beings that communicate.
Reversing the Loss of Soil Organic Matter – The Elephant in the Room and Solution to Closing the Emissions Gap
The climate change debate’s ‘ Elephant in the Room ‘ ignores 100 Gt of yearly CO2 emissions from soil carbon loss. Soils contain over 2,700 Gt (billion tons) of carbon, the largest terrestrial source. Implementing regenerative agriculture can reverse climate change by eliminating CO2 emissions from SOM loss caused by industrial agriculture. Regenerative agriculture captures CO2 in the soil and enhances SOM. This can be accomplished by stopping ecosystem destruction, restoring forests and pastures, and discontinuing synthetic nitrogen fertilizers by replacing them with cover crops. These are easy-to-achieve, shovel-ready solutions.
Why We must Reclaim Our Movement’s Language from Corporate Takeover
Watch this presentation by Regeneration International’s Steering Committee Dr. Vandana Shiva, and international director Dr. André Leu to hear their message on the importance of reclaiming our movement’s language from corporate takeover.
Ground Covers and Weed Management for Regenerative Farming and Ranching
Acres USA has made André Leu’s book Growing Life: Regenerating Farming and Ranching the book the week, in his powerful and well written book, André Leu introduces us all to the concepts of regenerative organic agriculture, asks provocative questions, then shares answers only decades of experience could possibly hope to inspire, and then finally invites us on a journey to, as André says, “become your own researcher”.
The Science-based Evidence to Ban Glyphosate and GMOs
Mexico announced that it was phasing out the use of glyphosate herbicides, the cultivation of GMO corn, and the import of GMO corn for human consumption and livestock feed by the end of 2024. The reasons for the decree given by Mexican president Andrés Manuel López Obrador are to protect the health of Mexico’s consumers and small-scale farmers, the environment, and the purity of Mexico’s native corn varieties.
Maximizing Photosynthesis and Root Exudates through Regenerative Agriculture to Increase Soil Organic Carbon to Mitigate Climate Change
To shift from a significant emitter to a major mitigator of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, agriculture needs to change from the current dominant paradigm of chemically intensive, industrial/conventional systems to regenerative systems by focusing on plant biology and living soil sciences. Going to renewables is not enough now and this is why carbon dioxide removal through increasing soil carbon by scaling up best practice regenerative agriculture is critical to keeping the temperature rise below 1.5ºC.
Our Global Regeneration Revolution: Organic 3.0 to Regenerative and Organic Agriculture
We have a lot of work to do. We are currently living well beyond our planetary boundaries and extracting far more than our planet can provide. We need to build the new regenerative system that will replace the current degenerate system.