Understanding Regenerative Agriculture

It's the future

BY ADELEMARIE

Grocery store produce in the USA is a culture shock for many non-Americans. Most of it is abnormally large, almost artificial-looking, watery, and devoid of taste. It’s also comparatively lacking in nutrients, with significantly less nutritional content than 70 years ago. Much of this is due to soil depletion and subsequent land erosion caused by intense conventional agricultural methods such as monocropping, pesticide and fertilizer usage, and heavy tilling. Couple this with selective breeding for water content, rapid growth, and various other practices that have increased yield while lowering nutrient uptake, and we’ve got entire grocery stores full of subpar fruits and vegetables.

As food production has become increasingly globalized and industrialized, so has its labeling. We see labels such as organic, non-GMO, pasture-raised, cage-free, and try to make the best decisions we can. Enter the newest buzzword on the scene: regenerative. Regenerative agriculture has no singular definition, but at the very least in the USA it meets the criteria for USDA Organic certification. As its name suggests, regenerative agriculture is a set of agricultural methods intended to regenerate the land, adding to the value of the soil as much as it takes. Many times, farmers incorporate practices like crop diversity and/or rotation and limit the usage of pesticides and fertilizers. This supports nutrient-rich, absorbent, biodiverse soil which in turn provides us with food that is more nutrient-dense, leaving behind more resilient land.

How Soil Works

To understand how conventional farming impacts nutrition, we must first learn how food gets its nutrition in the first place. Soil is more than just a cushy pillow for roots to burrow into; it is a major determinant of the plant’s resilience, nutrient content, and taste. This is because soil is (or should be) home to a diverse array of decomposers such as mycelia, bacteria, worms, and small insects that break down organic matter into bite-sized bits of food for our food. Bacteria and fungi are generally words that make us want to grab a bottle of Clorox. However, they are unsung heroes because without them, plants would not survive. Their job is to ‘fix’ nutrients. Fixing means that as these decomposers digest organic matter, they release nutrients from their chemical bonds, turning them into a format compatible with plant uptake. Without them, our plants would have no way to absorb nutrients from the soil. In fact, there would be no soil at all.

For example, an animal dies in the forest. Flies, worms, and other scavenging insects start to pick away at it (and unknowingly become nutritious food for birds and other small animals). Eventually, what’s left are bones. Bones, as we know, are rich in calcium, but plants cannot extract it as it is bound to phosphates; these need to be separated. Enter bacteria and fungi. As they feast on the bones, they create acids that dissolve the phosphate, releasing calcium ions and phosphorus into the soil. Plants can readily absorb them, becoming rich in these minerals themselves, and becoming nutritious food for animals that eat them. This means that organic soil additives like bone meal, eggshells, and compost are useless to plants if not for the microorganisms that break them down.

Monocropping vs Biodiverse

Acres upon acres of strictly corn, soy, wheat, or any single plant never occur naturally. In conventional farming, this is the norm, where one plot of land is solely used to grow one type of plant. This decreases soil quality and reduces land and crop resilience. To combat these issues, conventional agriculture has turned to GMOs, pesticides, and herbicides to control disease within crop fields. Some of these GMOs even reduce the plant’s need for nutrients, guaranteeing limited nutritional value. In nature, organisms form mutually beneficial relationships for community resilience. Some plants have wide, shallow roots, allowing those with deep roots to dig deep and stabilize the soil. Certain types of bacterial or mycelial colonies prefer specific types of plants, which in turn protect those plants from unfavorable, disease-causing microbes. Just as a diverse gut microbiome is the first line of defense in our immune system, the soil microbiome functions as the immune system of a plant.

Regenerative farms may use methods of companion planting to maintain this biodiversity as they farm specific crops. One of the most recognizable uses of this method is the Native American Three Sisters system, in which beans were used to replenish the soil. This is because legumes, in particular, harbor a bacterial strain on their root nodules called rhizobium, which is specifically good at fixing nitrogen. Corn acted as a steady trellis for the beans to grow, and the squash’s broad leaves and short stature kept the soil cool and dark, encouraging a thriving colony of insects and microbes by protecting them from the hot sun.

Tillage vs Soil Protection

Often, conventional farms till the soil after harvest to oxygenate it and provide a ‘clean’ slate for the next round of crops. This soil is left uncovered, allowing wind and the sun to kill microbes and erode the soil. What we are left with is effectively dust. Mycelia, or fungi, form robust networks that carry and retain water and minerals. Disrupting this network by turning over the soil leaves future plant roots susceptible to disease because the lack of biodiversity means that these “bad” microbes have no competition to balance them out.

In regenerative farming, fields are often rotated and cover crops are planted during dormant periods. Instead of tilling, cover crops are managed using roller crimpers, which cut and flatten the plants into the soil without turning it over. Alternatively, the soil is tilled just a few inches deep. Both methods help retain water evenly throughout the soil during its rest period while anchoring it against erosion from wind and rain. On livestock farms, grazing animals are rotated through pastures, where their hooves gently toss and aerate the topmost layer of soil without disturbing the deeper-rooted layers. Animals are moved before the pasture is overgrazed, leaving enough growth to protect and stabilize the soil.

Why can’t we just add fertilizer to our soil?

We address nutrient depletion with fertilizer, which the general public sees as a favorable soil amendment. It’s an unfortunate necessity in conventional systems, but it has broad, destructive effects. Fertilizers are largely composed of NPK — Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium. Not only is this the absolute bare minimum, but these synthetic nutrients often have devastating environmental effects.

This formula is applied to dry, dusty soil with limited absorption capacity, and the nitrogen-rich solution often runs off the soil quickly, creating pollution. This means more water must be used to hydrate crops, wasting a significant amount in the process. Even worse, this runoff makes its way into nearby water bodies and causes eutrophication.

Eutrophication is defined as nutrient pollution. You’d think nutrients finding their way into water would be good, no? Wrong. These nutrients are quickly devoured by algae, which then experience population booms far beyond natural levels. The fish and plankton simply cannot consume so much algae that quickly. This surge of algae depletes oxygen in the water, killing aquatic life, and transforms the ecosystem into a lifeless environment. Very soon, all you’re left with is a dead body of water.

Regenerative farms that have high amounts of organic matter in their soil mitigate this issue effectively. The organic material acts as a porous sponge, retaining water and feeding it to plants at an appropriate pace along with nutrients. The fields don’t need to be watered as often because of this ability to retain moisture, and water bodies are not inundated with excessive runoff.

Synthetic fertilizers can also burn plant roots and kill beneficial microbes in the soil, further reducing its ability to regenerate nutrients. Phosphorus, in particular, is not a renewable resource, as it comes from eroded rock and fossilized remains. To be included in commercial fertilizers, phosphorus must be mined — a process that is often highly destructive.

For regenerative farmers who raise livestock, rotating their pastures is an excellent way to maintain the health of the soil while allowing their animals to forage. Crop rotation — particularly growing legumes between other crops for nitrogen — is an ancient practice dating back to Medieval Europe designed to reduce fertilizer dependency. Organic amendments such as bone meal, oyster shell powder, worm castings, and compost are acceptable in regenerative farming, but remember that their efficacy is contingent upon the microbiome of the soil.

SOURCE: FAO

What this means for health

Is it really that big a deal? Well, studies show a striking difference in nutrient content between regenerative and conventional farms. Today, we need to consume more fruits and vegetables than our grandparents did to obtain the same amount of essential minerals and vitamins. Not to mention that pesticides and herbicides like glyphosate (which is also sprayed directly on produce like potatoes as a desiccant) are often passed on to us through conventional crops. Additionally, diseases are more likely transmitted through conventionally raised animals, and these contaminants come with their own set of toxins.

What many may not realize is that the soil microbiome of your food directly influences your gut microbiome. Fruits and vegetables naturally harbor bacteria on their skin. This is why fermentation — like making kimchi or sauerkraut with cabbage — works so effectively, as lactobacillus bacteria thrive on vegetables. These lactic acid-producing bacteria are particularly promising in protecting the gut against permeability. In the soil, they perform a similar function by protecting plants against disease. Just like in the soil, these bacteria free nutrients from their chemical bonds within vegetables, making them bioavailable to us. The diversity of bacteria in the soil translates into the diversity on produce, which inoculates the gut and helps shape our immune system.

At its core, regenerative agriculture is not a trendy, futuristic way to produce food. It’s an intimate return to what our ancestors already understood: nature had these systems figured out long ago. Bacteria, fungi, small insects, worms, and other decomposers excel at their roles, and regenerative practices simply capitalize on their benefits by staying out of their way. Biomimicry, a cornerstone of sustainable development, holds immense promise because it aligns with the evolutionary systems designed to self-regulate.

So, what can you do? Integrate regenerative practices into your own garden. Add mycorrhizae, worm castings, and other organic materials before fertilizer, and look for companion plants to what you’re growing. Shop at your local farmers’ market, especially from farmers that use these practices rather than the grocery store. Have conversations about regenerative agriculture more often with those around and learn more about it yourself.

This article was written by Adelemarie. She writes Renaissance Woman, a mag for the ladies who are in a little bit of everything.

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