THURSDAY, JAN 26, 2023: NOTE TO FILE
Module 3-15
Regenerative agriculture
The term Regenerative Agriculture is a fairly recent term which emerged when a team of Regrarians combined several systems of sustainable agriculture. In this combination, Permaculture lays out the intrinsic design principles; the Yeomans Scale of Permanence (Keyline System) outlines the design sequence for these principles; and, Holistic Management provides the fundamental understanding of the whole integrated system, including the mob grazing methodology. All the other sustainable agricultural methods are merely subsets of these three main influences of Regenerative Agriculture, namely, Permaculture, the Keyline System and Holistic Management. According to 'regenerative agriculture definition', Regenerative Agriculture is:
· a system of farming principles and practices that increases biodiversity, enriches soils, improves watersheds, and enhances ecosystem services;
· it aims to capture carbon in soil and aboveground biomass, reversing current global trends of atmospheric accumulation; and,
· it simultaneously offers increased yields, resilience to climate instability, and higher health and vitality for farming and ranching communities.
The design sequence for Regenerative Agriculture from the Regrarians team is outlined in Figure 3.8 with the components comprising the following layers of information that is accumulated until a regenerative farm design is complete, whether it is for a new or retrofitting an existing farm:
Figure 3.8: Regrarians design sequence
- Climate: This first component assesses the farmer, the farm enterprise, the weather, risk issues, and, provides the strategic framework for holistic management.
- Geography: This assesses the shape of the landform (valleys, ridges, riparian, special features, etc.); the components on the land (farm facilities, infrastructure, utilities, buildings; and, the proximity to towns, markets, labour, etc.
- Water: This is the design of landscape-based rainwater harvesting; water storage in catchment and other dams; and, water reticulation for irrigation.
- Access: This is an assessment of and design integration of water with road, track and foot access; delineation of servitudes for utilities and other farm infrastructure; and, access to consumers and markets.
- Forestry: This entails the design integration with water and access in order to establish biodiverse forest shelter belts which provide the micro-climates for cultivation, grazing, orchards, riparian or wilderness areas.
- Buildings: This component identifies the ideal locations for or the retrofitting of homesteads, sheds, facilities, etc.
- Fencing: This entails the planning and installation of permanent, mobile, electric or living fences that facilities livestock-controlled mob grazing.
- Soils: This component provides the management process for livestock-controlled mob grazing; limited till plans; enhancement of soil minerals and fertility; and, the rotational cultivation plan of crops.
- Economy: This entails the market analysis, strategy, value chain and enterprise development for a diverse income stream in order to create economic resilience.
- Energy: This component establishes off-grid energy systems for the operation of the farm from sources such as, solar, wind, micro-hydro, woodlots, biomass, etc.
Some of the key features of Regenerative Agriculture are explored in the next section in order to appreciate their input in the above design sequence
Module 3, lesson 16
