Program on the Environment

Regenerative agriculture (RA) has in mind the long-term health of soil and the nearby ecosystem. As opposed to conventional agriculture, it prioritizes regeneration of natural resources through techniques such as no-or-reduced tillage, not using synthetic fertilizers or herbicides and pesticides, utilizing cover crops, and prioritizing biodiversity. Not much is currently known about the difficulties farmers face when trying to implement these techniques, so this project aimed to produce a more nuanced and location-specific understanding of those obstacles. I conducted interviews with 5 farmers in Washington state, and also completed an internship with agricultural company Indigo Ag. During my internship at Indigo Ag, I learned to use a greenhouse gas accounting tool (COMET-Farm) to compare the environmental effects of regenerative vs. conventional farming practices. I found that regenerative agricultural methods tend to sequester more carbon than conventional practices, and found from my interviews that the carbon sequestration potential of RA is a major motivation for farmers. The interviews also helped me understand the Washington state-specific legislative and environmental factors that influence farmers’ ability to run a profitable, but value-abiding farm business. This suggests that although RA farmers chose to become regenerative out of a sense of duty to the environment and the health of their surrounding ecosystem and people, they often have to make compromises in those very practices in order to be viable as a business.