The term regenerative agriculture has increased substantially in usage across academic papers and business practitioners, but there is no one definition of what it means to “do” agriculture regeneratively. Definitions tend to be process based, outcome based, or some mixture of the two.

Process-based definitions focus on the farming activities that promote regeneration in a landscape. This typically means disturbing the soil less, moving away from monocultures by integrating crop species and livestock in a given space, and reducing the use of synthetic inputs, such as fertilisers.

Outcome-based definitions classify regen as the achievement of certain objectives. This is usually a change of state, so that something (or many things) in the landscape has been increased or improved. Carbon sequestration gets a lot of spotlight, but soil, ecosystem and water health are equally, if not more, important.

Why care?

Getting the definition right can determine who gets the focus from:

🌱 Investors, who are increasingly looking to circular and regenerative businesses to spearhead future growth;

🌱 Governments, who are looking to incentivise and regulate businesses towards sustainable business models; and

🌱 Consumers, who want to know that their spend is going to companies that can evidence their good intentions.

Example: US SUBSIDIES FOR SUSTAINABLE AVIATION FUEL (SAF)

A programme launched by the Biden administration was set to allow corn-based ethanol “that demonstrates a 50% reduction in lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions compared to regular jet fuel” to qualify for SAF subsidies, in a bid to support farmers and reduce the CO2 impact of US air travel.

Reports state that “little to no ethanol” will qualify for these subsidies because the qualifying criteria requires producers to “verify their corn comes from farms using three climate-friendly farming practices in tandem: not tilling the soil, planting cover crops, and using higher efficiency fertilizers”.

A lack of awareness about the inclusion of these process-based criteria means that few farms are likely to qualify for the subsidy.

Bibliography

Newton, Civita et al., ‘What Is Regenerative Agriculture? A Review of Scholar and Practitioner Definitions Based on Processes and Outcomes’, Frontiers Sustainable Food Systems, 26 October 2020
Sec. Agroecology and Ecosystem Services – Volume 4

Douglas and Renshaw, Insight: Little to no ethanol will qualify for US aviation fuel credit, Reuters article

What is regenerative agriculture?