Abstract
Background: Ongoing efforts attempt to define farms as regenerative to aid marketers, policymakers, farmers, etc. The approach needs to balance precision with function, and must be transparent, simple, scalable, transferable, incorruptible, and replicable. Methods: We developed practice-based scoring systems to distinguish regenerative cropland and rangeland, and validate them based on whether these scores scaled with regenerative goals on actual farm operations. Study systems included cornfields of the Upper Midwest, almond orchards of California, and rangeland systems of the Northern Plains. Response variables included soil carbon and organic matter, soil micronutrients, water infiltration rates, soil microbial communities, plant community structure, invertebrate community structure, pest populations, yields, and profit. Results: Regenerative outcomes were strongly correlated with our approach to farm scoring. Soil organic matter, fine particulate organic matter, total soil carbon, total soil nitrogen, phosphorous, calcium and sulfur all increased alongside regenerative matrix scores in one or both of the cropping systems. Water infiltration rates were significantly faster in more regenerative almond orchards. Soil bacterial biomass and Haney soil health test scores were higher as cropland incorporated more regenerative practices. Plant species diversity and biomass increased significantly with the number of regenerative practices employed on almonds and rangelands. Invertebrate species diversity and richness were positively associated with regenerative practices in corn, almonds, and rangelands, whereas pest populations and almond yields were unaffected by the number of regenerative practices. Corn yields were negatively associated with more regenerative practices, while almond yields were unaffected by the number of regenerative practices. Profit was significantly higher on more regenerative corn and almond operations. Conclusions: Our scoring system scaled positively with desired regenerative outcomes, and provides the basis for predicting ecosystem responses with minimal information about the farming operation. Natural clusters in the number of regenerative practices used can be used to distinguish regenerative and conventional operations.
Highlights
The term “regenerative agriculture” was first coined by Robert Rodale (1983)
We examined soil organic matter (SOM), fine particulate organic matter, soil bulk density, water infiltration, invertebrate communities in the soil, on the soil surface and in the plant canopy, pest abundance, yields, and profits
Higher matrix scores correlated to significantly higher levels of total soil carbon (TSC) and total soil nitrogen (TSN) (500–6000 Equivalent Soil Mass (ESM) layers) and SOM (15 cm depth)
Summary
The term “regenerative agriculture” was first coined by Robert Rodale (1983). The name highlighted how industrialized agriculture was severely reducing its natural resource base, and that without rebuilding that natural resource base, “sustainable agriculture” and “conservation agriculture” were insufficient for supporting the food and natural resource needs of a growing human population. Regenerative practices can be distilled down to two central principles: 1) reduce uniform disturbance (such as tillage and agrichemical use), and 2) increase diversity (biodiversity, and the diversity of revenue streams from an operation). We add a fifth principle: 5) reduce or eliminate synthetic agrichemicals In croplands, practices such as no-till, diverse crop rotations lasting more than four seasons, cover cropping, intercropping and interseeding, and livestock integration all contribute to a regenerative farming model (LaCanne & Lundgren, 2018; Rhodes, 2017). Regenerative farms are diverse and complementary in their enterprises, and adaptive in their management choices, ensuring that a farm is resilient and profitable in the face of adversity These practices are dependent upon one another within a system for them to be optimally successful, and it is the system, not the individual practices, that drives the success of an operation. Invertebrate species diversity and richness were positively associated with regenerative practices in corn, almonds, and rangelands, Invited Reviewers version 1
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