Regenerative Agriculture: farmer motivation, environment and climate improvement

Abstract

Regenerative agriculture has become a social movement in farming. It embraces the environmental basis of farming. Land, water and nutrients are viewed as an ecological whole. This includes bacteria and mycorrhiza as essential to soil health and plant diversity, and mob stocking and no-till farming above ground. Regen ag, as regenerative agriculture is often called, is a paradigm shift for farmers, who are often perceived as resistant. There is a mismatch between academic and policy interest focusing on the scientific need for and value of regenerative agriculture, and the social and human motivating benefits of regenerative agriculture. This crucial willingness, not simply the turn away from denialism, is the signal significance of this new form of farming. In New Zealand and globally, climate change and environmental degradation can be addressed much more quickly, more thoroughly and less contentiously if regenerative agriculture is supported and extended, even as science documentation is achieved over time.