In recent years, the conversation around food systems has shifted from sustainability, maintaining what we have, to regeneration,improving our agricultural system. While conventional agriculture often views soil as a passive medium for holding plants, regenerative agriculture treats the soil as a dynamic, living ecosystem.
At its core, regenerative agriculture is a system of farming principles and practices that seeks to rehabilitate the entire ecosystem by focusing on soil health and carbon sequestration.
To understand how a farm transitions from extractive to regenerative, scientists and practitioners look at five foundational pillars:
Mechanical Tillage (ploughing) physically disrupts the complex “highways” of fungal mycelium and collapses the pore spaces where air and water circulate, damaging soil structure. By adopting no-till or minimum-till methods and direct drilling, the soil maintains its structural integrity.
Monocultures (growing a single crop) lead to a “specialised” and often fragile soil microbiome. In contrast, diverse plantings—including multi-species cover crops—ensure a wide variety of root exudates. This variety supports a more resilient and diverse community of bacteria and fungi, which in turn improves nutrient cycling.
In a natural ecosystem, the ground is rarely bare. Regenerative systems prioritise keeping living roots in the ground at all times. These roots provide a constant supply of sugars (carbon) to the soil microbiome, preventing the microbial population from starving or becoming dormant during the off-season.
This tenet involves leaving crop residues on the surface or using cover crops to shield the earth. This cover performs three critical functions:
Nature rarely separates animals from plants. In regenerative systems, planned grazing mimics the movement of wild herds. As livestock graze, their waste provides concentrated biological “inoculants” and natural fertilizers, while their hooves can help incorporate organic matter into the upper soil layers, stimulating further plant growth.
The success of these tenets is often measured by the increase in Soil Organic Matter (SOM). For every 1% increase in SOM, an acre of land can hold an additional 20,000 gallons of water.
By feeding the microbial biomass, atmospheric CO₂ is converted into stable, mineral-associated organic matter. In this way, the farm ceases to be a carbon source and becomes a significant carbon sink.
Contact PES Direct, to arrange rapid soil testing directly on your land.
On World Health Day, we’re thinking about the link between Human health and soil health. From soil microbes facilitating plant nutrient up take, to helping us avoid allergies, to providing us with life saving drugs, a healthy soil helps keep humans healthy.
In recent years, the conversation around food systems has shifted from sustainability, maintaining what we have, to regeneration,improving our agricultural system. While conventional agriculture often views soil as a passive medium for holding plants, regenerative agriculture treats the soil as a dynamic, living ecosystem.
As spring arrives across the UK, farmers and agronomists are preparing for the season ahead following one of the wettest winters in recent memory. Extended rainfall can affect soil structure, oxygen levels and biological activity beneath the surface, making this an important moment to understand what’s happening in your fields.
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