Building a Regenerative Future One Farm at a Time
In the United States a majority of farming is characterized by large monocultures whose productivity is reliant upon external fertilizers, pesticides, and costly tillage. Despite this, there has been a growing movement to promote regenerative farming techniques that promote soil health and biodiversity, while profitably producing nutrient-dense farm products. The purpose of my project was to better understand how farms can become more regenerative. To accomplish this task, I completed an internship with The Organic Farm School where I helped create a calendar to define, quantify, and measure regenerative progress. I also conducted an extensive literature review of farming practices from various disciplines like permaculture, aquaculture, agroforestry, organic cropping, polyculture, and livestock integration. I then combined my internship experience with my personal research to create a loose template that small farmers can use to set short, medium, and long-term goals as well as measure regenerative progress. My findings indicate that regenerative practices offer numerous benefits including reversing climate change through rebuilding soil, providing safe and nutritious food as well as helping re-establish relationships between humans, crops, animals, soil, and ecosystems. However, often times new farmers can feel overwhelmed by the amount of information and the feeling that regenerative farming is an all or nothing prospect. It is my hope that my research can act as a helpful starting point for new farmers interested in regenerative practices.
