A "Regenerative Agriculture Summit" with the theme "The Global Event for Regenerative Brands and Leaders" was held in San Diego in October 2024. The debates underscored how popular the topic of regenerative agriculture was becoming in the United States. The transition to regenerative agriculture is encouraged and financed by large groups such as PepsiCo and Walmart. Below are the conclusions and initial results of the mobilization for a transition to regenerative agriculture.
The "summit" began by agreeing on the goals and benefits of regenerative agriculture. There are many definitions of regenerative agriculture. However, all agree on its main objective: to improve the "health of the soil", i.e. the vitality of the complex biological systems present in the soil (fungi, bacteria, earthworms, beneficial insects and nematodes...), water and biodiversity while ensuring healthy and economically viable food production. Its principles are:
- Avoid mechanical disturbances by reducing or even eliminating ploughing and other intensive tillage. The goal is to preserve soil structure, microbial life, and the fungal web that are essential to soil fertility. No-till is a common practice.
- Maintain soil covered by main crops, cover crops or crop residues throughout the year. This protects the soil from erosion.
- Maximise crop diversity: Crop rotation over long periods of time promotes biodiversity, reduces pest damage and optimises nutrient use.
- Integrate, where possible, livestock farming: Livestock farming, managed holistically, can play a crucial role in nutrient cycling. Its droppings enrich the soil.
- Reduce the use of synthetic inputs such as chemical fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides by favoring natural and organic solutions.
Soils maintained in this way build a granular, aggregated structure based on "stable organic matter" (SOM), so the soil can "breathe," capture more of the rainfall or irrigation water, store more of that water, and retain/recirculate the mineral nutrients that plants need to thrive.
Environmental benefits
Practices such as no-till and cover cropping, which allow organic matter to accumulate in the soil over time, can lead to net carbon sequestration. The sparing use of fertilizers reduces the carbon footprint of production and, in many cases, decreases runoff or leaching of nitrates and phosphorus. This has beneficial effects on water quality and, in some circumstances, can minimize the greenhouse gas footprint caused by indirect nitrous oxide emissions. As a general rule, regenerative agricultural systems are more resilient to extreme weather events (drought, heavy rains, etc.).
Regenerative agriculture promotes better water management: improving soil structure and its ability to retain water reduces runoff, erosion and irrigation requirements.Another benefit is the improved biodiversity of regenerative systems: the creation of habitats that are favourable to pollinating insects, crop auxiliaries and wildlife in general. Regenerative crops and pastures may have measurable differences in the nutrient density of foods in terms of trace minerals and/or healthy fats. This is a very attractive argument for consumers.
Finally, on the socio-economic level, regenerative agriculture promotes the economic viability of farms. In the long term, reducing inputs and improving soil health leads to cost savings and yield stability.
Encourager la transition
Once the principles and methods of regenerative agriculture have been defined, the summit discussed ways to get it adopted by farmers. One theme that came up repeatedly was the importance of creating a system that really works for the farmer, because he is the one who has to invest in equipment and supplies, take risks, and make a long-term commitment. The rules of regenerative agriculture should not be hyper-prescriptive because "every farm is different."
Another important theme is that of trust. The individual farming practices that make up a regeneration programme are already being used by farmers to varying degrees, but it is a big step to move to a full set of practices under an open-ended commitment. To make such an important decision, farmers tend to turn to "trusted advisors" within their own community, such as a licensed farm advisor or other agronomist. A PepsiCo/Walmart program specifically uses this kind of expertise and also uses local demonstration trials on 82 farms around the world so producers can see the results in their own environment. The next step tends to be taken by farmers who tend to be "early adopters" and can then provide additional evidence to their neighbors.
The context is favourable. Farmers are already feeling the effects of extreme weather events, which motivates them to evaluate regenerative agriculture as a way to protect their farm income and their ability to pass on a viable business to the next generation. In addition to reliable advice and local evidence, switching to a regenerative program usually involves some investment in things like equipment or cover crop seeds. There are also yield risks in the first few seasons before the soil health benefits begin to be felt. In many of the successful regenerative programs, sponsors provide farmers with bridging funding. For example, in its 2023 project, PepsiCo supported 5,500 farmers who made these types of changes and were able to drive the adoption of regenerative agriculture on 1.8 million acres (728,430 hectares).
Fighting greenwashing
Due to problematic examples of greenwashing, the need for independent, third-party verification of the benefits of regenerative agriculture has arisen. For protocols that involve agricultural practices such as no-till and cover crops, satellite and aerial imagery can be used to document the fact that they are being used in a given field. Quantitative benefits can be calculated on the basis of models. Data provided by input suppliers and yield monitoring technologies can be used to document actual improvements in resource use efficiency, which has worked well in various sustainability protocols developed by multi-stakeholder groups such as Field-To-Market.
There are independent and commercial regenerative certification schemes, which are already applied to large areas (e.g. the Regenified Certification programme). There are also project-specific certifications, in which a third party is called upon to validate a specific protocol between the farmer and the final buyer. An important step towards a global standard was taken in September 2023 when the SAI Platform announced a new "Global Framework for Regenerative Agriculture Practices" called "Regenerating Together". SAI brings 20 years of experience and has been instrumental in organizing global collaborative standards and certifications for sustainable agriculture. Major players in the agri-food industry – Nestlé, Danone, Unilever and PepsiCo – have committed to these standards.
What will be the trajectory of regenerative agriculture?
A survey conducted by the certification group rRegenefied™ found a growing awareness of the term "regenerative" among the U.S. public, especially among those buyers who rely on values other than price, taste, or brand. After an explanation of the term "regenerative", these consumers discussed the benefits of soil regeneration, improved biodiversity and ecosystem restoration. These consumers may be willing to pay a premium or favor Rregenerative-certified brands. This supplement could be paid to producers.
To achieve its optimal potential for environmental and food supply resilience, the trajectory of regenerative agriculture must go far beyond the birth of a high-end segment. Many companies in the traditional food industry are choosing to invest in the expansion of regenerative agriculture both as a form of corporate social responsibility and to "future-proof" their supply chains by increasing the amount of climate-resilient farmland their products depend on. This is the logic behind the regeneration projects supported by PepsicCo, Walmart, Mars, ADM and many others.
Source: Forbes
