Regenerative Organic Farming

Good food and good farming starts with the health of the soil.

Regenerative agriculture is a system of farming that rebuilds the soil and pasture health of farms. Working and supporting nature’s systems and processes, farming regeneratively supports life and biodiversity both underneath and above the ground.

Regenerative agriculture refers to whole system approach to farming and includes:

• long grazing rotations, that mimics the grazing of herd animals,

• encouraging and planting diverse pastures with different species of herbs, legumes and grasses, each with a unique role to play in soil and animal health,

• vegetable cropping rotations, that uses the fertility from grazing animals to grow nutrient dense food and rests the soil between harvests,

• low and no tillage, supporting the structure and water holding capacity of soil, carbon stores and preventing erosion, and

• supporting life and preventing desertification (lifeless soil) by not using chemical sprays (pesticide and herbicides such as roundup) and synthetic fertilisers.

Farming the way nature intended

These practices have huge benefits for the environment, our communities and our planet, including increasing:

• physical health by growing safe, healthy and nutrient dense food without chemicals,

• mental health by farming in a way that is part of the solution and not part of the problem,

• community health, by supporting thriving eco-systems, bird populations and clean waterways,

• financial resilience and profitability by looking after natural resources and farming with freedom from expensive inputs,

• animal health by offering nutrition in the paddock and supports the welfare of animals,

• environmental health by increasing the absorption of carbon dioxide by diverse plants, pastures and trees and reducing greenhouse gas emissions,

• environmental resilience by building the water holding capacity of the soil and having a diversity of plants that thrive in different seasons.

Because healthy soil traps carbon, this farming method has the potential to change the way we grow food and restore the health of our soil and climate and has caught the attention of Governments, global environmental leaders and partnerships as perhaps our best bet at reversing climate change.

Find out more

Don’t just take out word for it. Learn about:

• Global sustainability leader Patagonia’s (awarded 2019 UN Champion of the Earth) commitment to Regenerative farming.

• The international 4 per 1000 initiative, introduced by the French Government to the UN Climate Change Conference (COP21), and;

• How the team at Toha and Calm the Farm in are backing New Zealand farmers to tackle some of the biggest environmental and climate challenges by transitioning to regenerative farming.

• How New Zealand farmers are leading the change to regenerative farming in New Zealand geographic.