"A new way of managing the land is essential for the fight against climate change, the energy transition, the challenge of food sovereignty and the viability of the agro-livestock sector."
The first 30cm of a living agricultural soil is where all the microorganisms that generate life on the planet reside. Therefore, for those of us who live on it (especially the farmers and ranchers who live on it) knowing very well how fertile agricultural soil works and its symbiosis with plants, herbivorous animals, deworming birds and predators should be vital importance Moreover, the interaction between all these elements is what allows life to continue to develop and humans need to extract products from this system to feed us.
Since the middle of the 20th century, the attention of farmers and ranchers around the world has continued to focus on quantitative yield and the practice of intensive agriculture and animal husbandry to achieve it. Deterioration of the land has been almost inevitable, as with this intensive production system the land is demineralized, biologically affected by heavy mechanization and large earthworks, and often also loaded with herbicide and pesticide residues.
At this point, a new way of managing the land is essential for the fight against climate change, the energy transition, the challenge of food sovereignty and the viability of the agro-livestock sector. Every time the perception of the adverse effects of climate change are more evident, with record high temperatures, virulent fires, intense and uneven rainfall in the territory and an altered performance of plants and animals. In addition, the war in Ukraine has shown the dependence on energy derived from oil and the lack of agricultural diversity and food sovereignty of the countries. Finally, small agro-livestock farms are folding or surviving as best they can in the face of increasingly uncertain harvests, the widespread rise in raw material and energy prices, and the costs of dealing with new regulations and excessive bureaucracy.
For all that, when we talk about finding solutions to this situation, lately we hear a lot of words like permaculture, agroecology, agroforestry, sustainable agriculture, design keyline, holistic management, direct seeding practices, etc. and, especially, those of regenerative agriculture. But what is regenerative agriculture?
"Regenerative agriculture is often also called climate change agriculture. If all the arable soils in the world increased carbon capture by 1.6%, in 10 years we would have captured all the excess CO2 from the atmosphere and fixed it in the soil.”
Regenerative agriculture is a set of modern agricultural techniques with ancestral knowledge, with which the farmer and the rancher collaborate with nature (abandoning the desire to dominate it) forming part of a production ecosystem where it is maintained the natural balance, working to recover the fertility of the land, to regenerate the soil, without impoverishing or contaminating it.
This type of agriculture seeks to apply the mechanisms that occur naturally in wild ecosystems and apply them to the cultivated agrosystem creating healthy, stable ecosystems that are resistant to pests and diseases. It's not about replacing synthetic chemicals with less polluting natural chemicals, but about creating resilient ecosystems that function with minimal human intervention. This new approach by farmers and ranchers is key, and it is not easy. Only the most conscientious and daring implement this new productive system that requires training, time, patience and money. The transition to regenerative agriculture involves a medium-long term vision. It is estimated that it takes between 5 and 10 years for the ecosystem to be fully functional. In the first years, the production of the land is lower than a usual production before implementing it and it is necessary to face, in addition, economic losses due to the low production and due to the investments of implementing the system. Over the years, however, those who have dared to do so, achieve higher returns on their farms and have considerably reduced production costs.
Regenerative agriculture is often also called climate change agriculture. If all the arable soils in the world increased carbon capture by 1.6%, in 10 years we would have captured all the excess CO2 from the atmosphere and fixed it in the soil. The right agricultural technology to combat climate change is the photosynthesis of plants, which capture CO2 from the atmosphere and fix the necessary carbon in the soil and release oxygen. And livestock grazing is what most stimulates plant photosynthesis. For this reason, regenerative agriculture promotes the breeding, in the same space, of several animal and plant species that act with each other in a symbiotic way, ensuring a sustainable balance and the enrichment of the soil.
On a practical level, with regenerative agriculture, plowing disappears and a permanent plant cover of the soil is maintained with a diversification of cultivated plants and trees, which helps in the uninterrupted fixation of carbon but also in the retention of water from rain or of irrigation, avoiding its erosion at the same time. By reducing the mechanical impact of plowing and applying direct seeding, the habitat and biological richness of the organisms that live in the soil are better protected.
Extensive animal husbandry can contribute to the biological vitality of the soil. It is about imitating the ancient nomadic populations or transhumant herds, who were moving wherever they found water and food for their livestock, in a delimited space and with a planning and decision-making system that helps to better manage agricultural resources . In this system, the herd of herbivorous cattle intensively graze a space for a certain time feeding the soil with the surplus plants and their excrement. Then it moves to another space to do the same process, leaving time in the abandoned space for the living soil to absorb it, transform it and regenerate the plants that are left there.
"Consumers increasingly appreciate this type of environmentally friendly food production and, by consuming this type of food, they help farmers and ranchers who implement it because they are more aware of their ability to actively decide what type of agro-livestock production model they want to promote."
With this type of agriculture, healthy food for people is achieved because the products from grazing cattle are very nutritious and of exceptional quality. In addition, consumers increasingly appreciate this type of environmentally friendly food production and, by consuming this type of food, they help farmers and ranchers who implement it because they are more aware of their ability to actively decide what type of agro-livestock production model they want to promote.
Anyone who wants to know more about this resilient agro-livestock system that is based on knowing and enhancing the natural relationships between living soil, plants and animals to increase the fertility of the entire production system, year after year, I recommend watching the documentary "kiss the ground" accessible on Netflix.
More information:
https://emporion.org/lagricultura-regenerativa/
