Tag Archive for: Regenerative Agriculture

Regenerative Agriculture: Merging Farming and Natural Resource Conservation Profitably

/by

Authors: Claire E. LaCanne, Jonathan G. Lundgren​ | Published: February 26, 2018

Most cropland in the United States is characterized by large monocultures, whose productivity is maintained through a strong reliance on costly tillage, external fertilizers, and pesticides (Schipanski et al., 2016). Despite this, farmers have developed a regenerative model of farm production that promotes soil health and biodiversity, while producing nutrient-dense farm products profitably. Little work has focused on the relative costs and benefits of novel regenerative farming operations, which necessitates studying in situ, farmer-defined best management practices. Here, we evaluate the relative effects of regenerative and conventional corn production systems on pest management services, soil conservation, and farmer profitability and productivity throughout the Northern Plains of the United States.

KEEP READING ON PEERJ

Regenerative Farming Trailblazers: How Reintegrating Livestock and Restoring Soils Can Lead to More Resilient Farms

/by

Author: Marcia DeLonge | Published: March 29, 2018

Across the United States, more farmers are finding that practices that have worked in the past are no longer cutting it. Persistent low prices for common crops (especially corn) paired with high production costs (for example, expensive equipment and fertilizers) have made it hard to stay afloat. At the same time agriculture has also moved increasingly toward systems dominated by a few annual crops—typically corn and soybeans—often with fields left bare between growing seasons. This trend has degraded core resources like soil and water, endangering the long-term viability of many farms.

Faced with growing pressures, some farmers are exploring their options, including testing regenerative farming practices that can rebuild soil health, conserve water, improve water quality, and more. For example, farmers are diversifying their crops and animals, implementing more complex crop rotations, and protecting soil year-round by using cover crops. Such changes come with both challenges and opportunities.

KEEP READING ON UNION OF CONCERNED SCIENTISTS

RegeNErate Conference Promotes Sustainable Ag

/by

Author: Colin Larson | Published: March 26,2018

The demand for organically grown food continues to rise throughout the United States.

According to the USDA, consumer demand for organically produced goods continues to show double-digit growth, with organic products now available in nearly 20,000 natural food stores and nearly 3 out of 4 conventional grocery stores throughout the country.

Research released by the Organic Trade Association in 2017 showed that sales of organic food and goods crested at $47 billion in 2016, an increase of more than 8 percent over the previous year. Organic food now boasts more than 5 percent of the nation’s total food sales.

With the demand for organic food growing throughout the country, a group of Nebraska farmers, ranchers, and community organizations are focused on increasing access to, and production of, those foods by promoting regenerative agriculture practices throughout the state.

KEEP READING ON FREMONT TRIBUNE

Agriculture Could Fix Ecological Mistakes of Past

/by

Producers have a responsibility to reverse past mistakes made in agriculture, according to Grain SA conservation agriculture (CA) facilitator, Dr Hendrik Smith.

Author: Gerhard Uys | Published: March 23, 2018

Producers have a responsibility to reverse past mistakes made in agriculture, according to Grain SA conservation agriculture (CA) facilitator, Dr Hendrik Smith.

Speaking at the recent Landbouweekblad Regenerative Agriculture Conference in Reitz in the Free State, Smith said agriculture historically played a large role in issues such as climate change, and was only surpassed by fossil fuel production as the largest producer of greenhouse gasses in the 1960s.

He said producers needed to take the carbon footprint of their production into account, and one of the first areas where they could make a difference was the soil health on their farms.

KEEP READING ON FARMER’S WEEKLY

‘Beyond Organic’ Food Labels Seek to Supplant the USDA Standard

/by

What does Regenerative Organic Certification mean for producers and consumers?

Author: Katie O’Reilly | Published: March 23, 2018

The word “sustainable” doesn’t pack much punch any longer. Whether through overuse or greenwashing, it seems to have joined the same ranks as “eco” and “natural,” terms that essentially mean everything and nothing at once. Employed as it so often is—to blithely extoll corporate greening efforts and lifestyle products—some feel the word runs the risk of obscuring more than it reveals. “We should not as a society want to sustain; we should strive to improve,” says  Jeff Moyer, executive director of the Rodale Institute, a nonprofit that conducts and funds organic farming research. “Ask growers in the developing world—they’re not hoping to sustain their subsistence farms, but to improve their soil and yields.”

It was an effort to move beyond sustainability that inspired the Rodale Institute to partner with two like-minded companies—Patagonia and Dr. Bronner’s—to create a Regenerative Organic Alliance and introduce a new food product label designed to encourage and reward continuous improvement in agricultural practices: the Regenerative Organic Certification (ROC), which officially launched earlier this month at the Natural Products Expo West trade show in Anaheim, California.

KEEP READING ON SIERRA MAGAZINE

This Georgia Rancher Might Be Our Best Hope for a Sustainable Future

/by

Ride shotgun on this game-changing farm in “One Hundred Thousand Beating Hearts,” streaming now on Salon Premium

Author: Tom Roston | Published: March 23, 2018

Will Harris, a good ol’ boy Georgia rancher, may well be our nation’s best bet for a better, more sustainable future. He’s the subject of a documentary by Peter Byck, “One Hundred Thousand Beating Hearts.”

Salon talked to Byck, a professor at Arizona State University who teaches a film class for the School of Sustainability and Cronkite School of Journalism, about “One Hundred Thousand Beating Hearts.”

How’d you find Will Harris?

Our short film, “Soil Carbon Cowboys,” was well received in the ranching community, so when I was at a Grassfed Exchange conference, I was introduced to Will, and he invited me down to his farm, White Oak Pastures. It took me about nine months to then get down there to film.

KEEP READING ON SALON.COM

The Organic Way

/by

High demand means more organic crop production is needed to keep pace.

Author: Corinna Kaufman | Published: March 23, 2018

In a study by the Organic Produce Network and Nielsen, it was shown that sales of organic fresh produce items reached almost $5 billion in 2017, an 8% increase from the previous year (1). In fact, a bill was recently passed to increase the funding of organic farming research to meet this growing demand.

By the year 2023 the annual funding is supposed to increase to $50 million. Yet as organic remains the fastest growing sector in grocery, particularly fresh foods, it will require creativity and more private partnerships to meet demand with reliability.

General Mills just announced it is creating South Dakota’s largest organic crop farm and will convert 34,000 growing acres to organic production by 2020. The company will grow organic wheat for its popular Annie’s Macaroni & Cheese line, reports the StarTribune (2). But it will take more than that.

KEEP READING ON WHOLE FOODS MAGAZINE

Cape Town is Out of Water: What Can Living Soils Do to Help?

/by

Published: November 28, 2017

Rainfall over 2017 in Cape Town, South Africa has been dismal. The city is experiencing the worst drought in over a century, and the city has about 10% of its usual water capacity available. The water is estimated to last the city until mid-July, with strict usage regulations already in place.

Regenerative agriculture rebuilds degraded agricultural soils and increases the soil organic matter in those lands. Just 1% of soil organic matter in an acre of land can hold as much water as a backyard swimming pool, serving as a reservoir of water in dry times like the current conditions. This can help reduce the water pressures caused by agricultural irrigation, which could instead be diverted to drinking water for residents. Unfortunately, lands farmed using conventional farming methods have gotten down into the 1–3% soil organic matter range, when they should be in the 6–8% range. That’s a shortage of 60,000–140,000 gallons of water per acre that the soil should be holding.

KEEP READING ON MEDIUM

Land to Market: The World’s First Verified Regenerative Sourcing Solution

/by

Author: Chris Kerston | Published: March 22, 2018

Every March in Anaheim, not far from the sound of crashing waves, under the rejuvenating rays of California sunshine and blessed by the sounds of squealing amusement park children and the nightly glow of a famous mouse, the largest natural food tradeshow in the world takes place. This year, the 38th annual Natural Products Expo West had over 85,000 attendees – the largest gathering to date. Over 3,500 different companies were represented in the tradeshow and we had a Savory Institute booth for the first time this year as well. The conference also features a robust education and networking program with a jam-packed schedule of lectures and panels taking place all 5 days. If you have never been to an Expo, check out this quick hyperlapse video, to get a sense of what it is like.

Regeneration Nation

Regenerative Agriculture has become a cinderella-story at Expo West, originally being something that those furthest on the fringe met to discuss hoping to one day have a larger voice, to now present day where it is openly acknowledged as one of the top trends in the natural foods industry.

KEEP READING ON SAVORY INSTITUTE

Economic Impact of Organic Agriculture Hotspots in the United States

/by

Authors: I. Julia Marasteanu, and Edward C. Jaenicke | Published: February 2018

In this paper, we assess whether or not organic agriculture has a positive impact on local economies. We first identify organic agriculture hotspots (clusters of counties with positively correlated high numbers of organic operations) using spatial statistics. Then, we estimate a treatment effects model that classifies a county’s membership in an organic hotspot as an endogenous treatment variable. By modeling what a hotspot county’s economic indicators would have been had the county not been part of a hotspot, this model captures the effect of being in a hotspot on a county’s economic indicators. We perform the same analysis for general agricultural farm hotspots to confirm that the benefits associated with organic production hotspots are, in fact, due to the organic component. Our results show that organic hotspot membership leads to a lower county-level poverty rate and a higher median household income. A similar result is not found when investigating the impact of general agriculture hotspots.

KEEP READING ON RESEARCH GATE