Regenerative Agriculture
Regenerative agriculture is a holistic approach to land management that keeps water in the landscape, improve soil health, stores carbon and increases biodiversity. This ecosystems approach renews landscapes and supports increases in productivity.
The principles and approaches of regenerative agriculture are today gaining increasing popularity. Farmers are increasingly viewing soil health as paramount to maintaining agricultural productivity, understanding that the agricultural sector can play a vital role in storing carbon, and that building resilience to the increasing impacts of climate change is essential to agricultural resilience.
Regenerative agriculture makes sense to WALN and we are keen to assist with the promotion of the regenerative agriculture principles and practices throughout the landcare community. We have put together a raft of resources for groups wanting to spread the regenerative agriculture word. There is nothing here that can’t be found on the internet but hopefully bringing it all together is useful. If anyone has any further resources that can be added please contact us and we can include them here.
Thanks to Murrumbidgee Landcare who put some of this information together into an Info Pack to acknowledge the inaugural National Regenerative Agriculture Day on 14 February 2019.
Photo Source: Back from the Brink by Peter Andrews regenerative agriculture
What is Regenerative Agriculture
A short 1:15 m video made by the organisers of 2019 National Regenerative Agriculture Day.
Foodies and Farmers hijacking Valentine’s Day 2019. This is an awareness campaign about Regenerative Agriculture and Regenerative Communities. How we, together, inspire conversations, awareness and education around carbon in the soil.
REGENER8 is the first publication of its kind globally with a focus on Regenerative Agriculture and Regenerative Communities.
Some useful definitions
‘Regenerative Agriculture is a system of farming principle and practices that increases biodiversity, enriches soils, improves watersheds , and enhances ecosystem services. Regenerative Agriculture aims to capture carbon and aboveground biomass, reversing current global trends of atmospheric accumulations. At the same time, it offers increased yields, resilience to climate instability, and higher health and vitality for farming and ranching communities. The system draws from decades of scientific and applied research by the global communities of organic farming, agroecology, Holistic Management, and agroforestry’ Source: http://www.regenerativeagriculturedefinition.com/
‘Regenerative agriculture contests the industrial model in that it encompasses various types of farming that seek to enable natural systems and functions to not just be renewed but also to do the renewing: to allow self-organisation of natural systems back to healthy function.
In its original derivation, the verb ‘regenerate’ also has moral and ethical connotations. So I would say that organic farming is one of a range of practices that comprise regenerative agriculture: from holistic/ecological grazing, to agroforestry, biological cropping, pasture- and No-kill cropping; biodynamics and more.’ Source: Charles Massey, Author ‘Call of the Reed Wabbler’ https://www.echo.net.au/2018/08/charles-massy-interview/
‘The principle of regenerative agriculture and regenerative pastoralism is to restore landscape function and deliver results that include sustainable production, an improved natural resource base, healthy nutrient cycling, increased biodiversity and resilience to change.’ Source: Western Australian Department of Primary Industries and Development https://www.agric.wa.gov.au/land-use/regenerative-agriculture-and-pastoralism-western-australia
Federal Government Position on Regenerative Agriculture
There is currently no specific Federal policy position on regenerative agriculture, however in March 2018 the Federal Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources, Hon David Littleproud MP welcomed the release of a new report into the importance of soil to Australia’s farmers and food supply prepared by Major-General the Hon Michael Jeffery. ; Restore the Soil: Prosper the Nation. Ministers Media Release here http://minister.agriculture.gov.au/littleproud/Pages/Media-Releases/healthy-soils-to-grow-aus-farm-sector.aspx
Australia’s National Soil Advocate and Chair of Soils For Life, Major General Michael Jeffery, has welcomed the passage of the Future Drought Fund legislation as a catalyst for fundamental farming change
http://www.soilsforlife.org.au/news/drought-fund-should-be-a-catalyst-for-fundamental-farming-change?fbclid=IwAR2cRuJFyE0UvD36ZoEVYaq2jvgCGKUi2LzQhQvE9Q83X7HQSTTVpNeFJrA
State Government Position on Regenerative Agriculture
Hon Alannah MacTeirnan , Minster for Regional Development; Agriculture and Food is a strong supporter of regenerative agriculture and the Department of Agriculture is supporting the extension of Regenerative Agriculture practices and principles through a number of mechanisms:
Documenting the regenerative practices of at least 5 landholders, to capture data on soil health, crop production, quality and profitability.
– Supporting the formation of a Regenerative Agriculture Round Table to bring soil health and regenerative farming practice experts together to develop long-term research and extension.
– Supporting RegenWA by supplying evidence-based information and staff to assist with extension.
– Re-establishing the Soil and Land Conservation Council as the Soils Ministerial Advisory Committee to help drive regenerative land practices across Western Australia.
– Collaborate with Meat and Livestock Australia and Rangelands NRM to investigate regenerative options for pastoral areas.
https://www.agric.wa.gov.au/land-use/regenerative-agriculture-and-pastoralism-western-australia
https://www.farmweekly.com.au/story/5658295/minister-digs-in-with-regenerative-support/
Useful links provided by the WA Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development
Soils for Life – WA Case Studies
The West Australian Regenerative Farmers Network
The West Australian Regenerative Farmers Network Twitter Page
Website under construction https://regenwa.com.au/
Presentations on Regeneration Agriculture
Regenerative Agriculture Presentations |Dr Charles Massey and Nick Kelly
How regenerative farming can help heal the planet and human health | Dr Charles Massy | TEDxCanberra
Farming futures: How Australia’s farmers are adapting to change | Dr Charles Massey
The Regenerative Farmer | Grow Love Project | David Marsh
Food Independence & Planetary Evolution: Zach Bush, MD | Rich Roll
Hope Springs |Peter Andrews & Natural Sequence Farming – Over many years, Australian Story has followed the efforts of farmer Peter Andrews to drought-proof the land. His unorthodox approach, which involves planting weeds and installing ‘leaky weirs’, was once considered heretical but a growing band of supporters has taken up his cause. At Mulloon, outside Canberra, Tony Coote and a group of like-minded landholders set out to prove that the Andrews method works. Now, during one of the worst droughts in living memory their results are cause for hope and have attracted the eye of Prime Minister Scott Morrison. Screened on ABC TV on Monday 29 October 2018 https://www.abc.net.au/austory/hope-springs/10395974
How Applegate is Developing its Regenerative Agriculture Platform by Danielle Gould In Food Tech Connect.
Article and Essays
Article: “Look after the soil, save the Earth: farming in Australia’s unrelenting climate”
Gabrielle Chan, The Guardian, October 22, 2018
Article: “Regenerative agriculture can make farmers stewards of the land again”
Stephanie Anderson, The Conversation, February 11, 2019
Essay: Transforming landscapes – Regenerating country in the Anthropocene
by Charles Massy in Griffith Review 63 – Writing the Country. For purchase in Griffith Review online store.
Podcasts
Farming in the Middle East and Australia: lessons about a brittle climate Charles Massy interviewed by Geraldine Doogue 
Agriculture has been both our saviour and our curse. That’s the message of Charles Massy, Merino sheep farmer and writer, who a couple of years ago wrote a book – ‘Call of the reed warbler’ – about regenerative farming, and its scope for reviving the land. Now, in an essay called ‘Transforming landscapes’, for Griffith Review, Charles Massy says Australia needs to learn from the agricultural history of the Middle East. The ‘desertification’ that he says Australia is now experiencing is not unlike what happened in that region, where agriculture had its origins. ABC RN – Saturday Extra with Geraldine Doogue, 9 Feb 2019
IMAGE: Charles Massey originally studied zoology before returning to the family farm in the Monoro District near Canberra. More recently he did a PhD on farmers who chose regenerative farming methods which became the book ‘Call of the Reed Wabbler’
Professor Myanna Dellinger interviews David R. Montgomery, a MacArthur Fellow and professor of geomorphology at the University of Washington. 
David Montgomery is author of The Hidden Half of Nature and Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations, as well as other award-winning popular science books. He lives in Seattle with his wife, author and biologist Anne Biklé, and Loki, their guide-dog dropout. What if there was a relatively simple, cost-effective way to help feed the world, reduce pollution, pull carbon from the atmosphere, protect biodiversity, and make farmers money to boot? Through fieldwork spanning three decades and six continents, renowned geologist David R. Montgomery discovers that the answer is right beneath our feet. GROWING A REVOLUTION: Bringing Our Soil Back to Life [W. W. Norton & Company; May 9, 2017] is a spellbinding journey to uncover the blueprint for a regenerative agriculture that builds soil health and leaves both farmers and the environment better off. It is a book that Kirkus Reviews states is, “An optimistic look at how regenerate farming can revive the world’s soil, increasing food production, boosting cost effectiveness, and slowing climate change.” The Global Energy and Environmental Law Podcast, Aug 9th, 2017