Regenerative Farming For The Future Generations
“We believe that the future of farming is in our soil and the only way for us to guarantee our future is by changing agriculture practices now.” Adam Palmer – MD of littleseed
Regenerative agriculture is something we are passionate about here at littleseed and we have been implementing regenerative farming practices on our farm for several years now.
After recently being covered on Series 3 of Clarkson’s Farm, regenerative farming has been brought to the public’s attention. With ex-musician Andy Cato and TV personality George Lamb bringing regenerative farming to the attention of consumers through their brand Wildfarmed, there’s an argument that the the demand for products made using regeneratively farmed crops could be about to get a whole lot bigger.
What is regenerative farming?
Earthday.org describe regenerative agriculture as “farming and grazing practices that, among other benefits, reverse climate change by rebuilding soil organic matter and restoring degraded soil biodiversity.”
“Regenerative agriculture improves soil health, primarily through the practices that increase soil organic matter. This not only aids in increasing soil biodiversity and health, but increases biodiversity both above and below the soil surface, while increasing both water holding capacity and sequestering carbon at greater depths, thus drawing down climate-damaging levels of atmospheric CO2, and improving soil structure to reverse civilisation-threatening human-caused soil loss.”
To put it simply, by intensively farming with the sole focus of profit, the agriculture industry have been stripping the land of all the essential organic matter that ensures the balance of biodiversity (any kind of life including animals, plants, fungi and micro-organisms like bacteria) both above and below the soil surface.
Implementing regenerative farming practices is the only option if we are to reverse the damage caused by years of monoculture and intensive farming practices. Adopting regenerative farming methods secures both the future of both farming and the planet for future generations.
What regenerative agriculture techniques do we use on the littleseed farm?
Cover cropping – This helps reduce soil erosion by protecting the soil’s surface and increasing its inflitration
Crop rotation – Planting the same crop in the same field year on year continually draws the same nutrients out of the soil leaving it stripped of any goodness. That’s why we rotate our crops including nitrogen fixing crops (for example, fava beans) in our rotation, allowing our soil to regain vital nutrients.
Minimal/no tillage – Tilling is the process of over-turning or disturbing the soil in preparation for planting. By tilling sparingly, or not at all, we minimise our carbon emissions
Integrating livestock – To put it simply… Livestock = Poo, and Poo = organic matter back into the soil
How to find out more about regenerative agriculture?
Earthday.org is a great place to find out more about the benefits of regenerative agriculture.
Check out their fact sheets, you can even take a quiz to test your knowledge.
Reference links:
https://www.earthday.org/regenerative-agriculture-fact-sheet/
https://www.earthday.org/campaign/regenerative-agriculture/
