REGENERATIVE AGRICULTURE
What is it and how do we use it?
​
The definition of Regenerative Agriculture can be defined in many ways, and continues to evolve through new ideas, practices and techniques. Still, Regenerative Agriculture is not a new approach to agriculture or farming and in-fact has been used by our ancestors for centuries prior to the pre-modern farming practices seen today. It’s often considered a Holistic Approach to agriculture, focusing on integrating your individual farming system with the natural ecosystem of your farm and allowing maximum production with the least impact on the environment. However, there are 5 main principles of Regenerative Agriculture that remains; and while there are many types of regenerative farms, they all seek to follow these same five principles:
1:
Minimizing soil disturbances:
Regenerative agriculture uses farming practices such as “no-till” that minimize physical, biological, and chemical soil disturbances.
2:
Soil coverage:
Instead of relying on tilling, regenerative farming practices focus on keeping the soil covered with vegetation and natural materials through mulching, cover crops, and pastures.
3:
Increased plant diversity:
Diversity is an essential component in building healthy soils that retain excess water and nutrients. It can even be used to help farmers obtain other sources of revenue as it's beneficial to other wildlife and pollinators.
4:
Keeping living roots in the soil as much as possible:
Having living roots in the soil ensures that fields are never bare. It can be done by farming practices such as planting winter cover crops or having land in permanent pasture. Keeping living roots in the soil helps stabilize the soil, retaining excess water and nutrient runoff.
5:
Integrate animals into the farm as much as possible:
Manure produced by our Pasture Raised Berkshire Pigs can add valuable nutrients to the soil, reducing the need for fertilizers, and increasing soil organic matter. Healthy soils capture large amounts of carbon and water and reduce the amount of polluted runoff.