Regenerative Agriculture: Increasing Inputs and Decreasing Outputs

By: Margot Zuckerman

Apr 18, 2023

Gigaton Potential

Regenerative agriculture can mitigate climate change by increasing carbon dioxide (CO₂) sequestration into soil. While estimates of potential of soil carbon uptake vary widely, one 2017 paper estimates that if all global agricultural land sequestered 0.5 metric tons of carbon per hectare per year, it would result in ~2.5 gigatons of carbon storage annually. (For reference, 0.5 tons of carbon dioxide would fill a 16-foot diameter sphere; 1 hectare is about the size of an athletic track.)

More bullish organizations, such as the Rodale Institute and The Carbon Underground, state that shifting agriculture globally to regenerative practices could draw down more than 100% of annual global carbon emissions. Meanwhile, the World Resources Institute cautions that even if we push the limits of global cropland toward no-till farming (one specific regenerative practice), we may only be able to sequester 0.2 gigatons of CO₂ per year globally.

Nevertheless, the potential for regenerative farming to sequester CO₂—alongside many other environmental benefits—has led public and private stakeholders to collaborate internationally to invest in regenerative agriculture. To maximize the environmental and social benefits of regenerative agriculture, policymakers, farmers, and other public and private stakeholders (e.g., certifying bodies, other agri-food businesses) must recognize potential carbon sequestration benefits and present uncertainties while scientists continue to improve soil carbon models.

For reference: in 2019, the world emitted 51 gigatons of CO₂-equivalent greenhouse gases. Project Drawdown estimates we need to cumulatively eliminate 1,000 GT from 2020-2050 to keep global warming below 2 degrees Celsius.

What You Should Know

There is no standard definition of regenerative agriculture. On a recent New Food Order episode, Reginaldo Haslett-Marroquin, founder of the Regenerative Agriculture Alliance, shared that from his Indigenous perspective, he does not seek to define regenerative agriculture, rather “understand it as a way of living, thinking, learning, [and] interacting with all the living organisms of the planet.”

In general, regenerative agricultural practitioners aim to create positive environmental impacts, including increasing biodiversity, improving soil quality, and reducing soil disturbance; notably, each of these already positive impacts can also increase soil carbon.

Source: Schreefel et al. 2020

Regenerative methods are specific to different crops, regions, and farm objectives, but key practices include reducing synthetic inputs, increasing sources of soil carbon, and reducing tillage. These and additional agricultural practices can be divided into two main ways regenerative agriculture can increase carbon sequestration: by increasing carbon inputs into the soil and decreasing outputs.

(Another way to increase soil carbon content is to increase the efficiency of soil carbon conversion from less to more stable forms of carbon. You can read about startup and incumbent companies working in this growing space here, here, and here.)

Source: “Carbon sequestration in soils”

The Rodale Institute describes how “the holistic interaction of management practices, soil conditions and climatic circumstances is more important than any [singular] practice’s potential contribution to soil carbon sequestration.” Increased carbon sequestration may directly prevent climate change, while other environmental benefits will help alleviate the environmental and socioeconomic impacts of climate change. For example, improved soil fertility may increase crop yields amidst climate change inflicting more weather stress on crops. Improved water retention can increase crops’ resiliency to drought and prevent soil erosion caused by extreme weather events. Both increased yields and resiliency have significant implications for local and global food security as well as livelihoods of agricultural communities.

Key Startup Players

In addition to public and nonprofit stakeholders—such as policymakers, research institutes, and certifying bodies—startups have entered the regenerative agriculture space to help solve challenges across the value chain.

Many startups assist farmers in implementing and sustaining regenerative agriculture practices. In the US, Continuum Ag, Carbon Yield, Indigo Ag, CIBO, and Nori provide consulting- and product-based services to help farmers implement regenerative agriculture. They then connect farmers with carbon markets and other financing streams. In Europe, key startup players include Klim, Soil Capital, and eAgronom, and The Land Accelerator supports similar startups in Africa, Latin America, and South Asia.

Additional startups aim to increase MRV accuracy and efficiency, which is necessary to assess and ensure permanence. Regrow and Agreena (which recently acquired Hummingbird Technologies) use combinations of crop and soil models, satellite imaging, and connections to farm operating platforms to monitor the impact of regenerative agriculture practices.

Opportunities for Innovation

Scaling regenerative farming to mitigate climate change while meeting farmers’ financial requirements requires overcoming challenges.

💵 Scaling up while not breaking the bank

Initial studies show that regenerative farming reduces farmers’ input costs and may provide them with increased income streams. Research affirms that regenerative farming can increase and stabilize yields, yet the payoff may take years to realize. Furthermore, while some large food companies, such as Kellogg, Cargill, and General Mills, are launching regenerative agriculture programs, the outlook for consumers’ willingness to pay for regeneratively farmed crops is less rosy.

👩🏼‍🌾 Ensuring permanence of carbon sequestration

Despite clear benefits of regenerative agriculture, a fundamental question lingers: how long does soil carbon stay in the soil? (There are multiple forms in which carbon is stored in soil, some of which are more stable than others.) “Permanence” is critical to ensure lasting impacts of carbon sequestration—and to create effective carbon offsets. Permanence typically refers to the duration for which a carbon sequestering activity is practiced. However, new research argues that the persistence of the right conditions for soil carbon to flow and transform through the soil, rather than the persistence of agricultural practices, is more important for keeping soil carbon in soil—and out of the atmosphere.

🌿 Accurately monitoring, verifying, and reporting (MRV) carbon sequestration

Accurately measuring the carbon sequestration potential of regenerative agriculture is essential to ensure that carbon credits are appropriately allocated. Farmers and scientists have traditionally measured soil carbon by taking soil samples, which is resource intensive; in fact, most soil sampling conducted today is too limited to reliably quantify field-level impacts.

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Author Bio:

I’m a first-year MBA candidate at Harvard Business School passionate about creating more sustainable and just food systems. My experience ranges from researching the environmental and social impacts of urban farms and community gardens to buying ingredients for Kraft Heinz. Fun fact: as a vegan cheese connoisseur, I’m proud to have helped to launch Kraft US’s first plant-based cheese products.

Sources:

Leslie Lepeska

Apr 21, 2023

Hi Margot! Your title is interesting -- what I usually read is that many (regenerative) farmers are interested in REDUCING inputs (like fertilizer and herbicide) in order to reduce costs, while increasing (or maintaining) outputs like quantity of food produced, quantity of life in the soil, diversity of life in the ecosystem.

I suppose your title has a focus on CARBON specifically?

The Savory Institute has a wonderful Ecological Outcome Verification program to measure changes in the farm ecosystem as a result of regeneration-supporting choices.

https://savory.global/eov/

Thanks for your good work!

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Kristie Pulvermacher

Apr 29, 2023

Dr. Jo Handelsman, a world renowned scientist and former White House Science advisor, wrote this excellent book on the subject. https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300271119/a-world-without-soil/

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