Drivers and barriers to adoption of regenerative agriculture: cases studies on lessons learned from organic

ABSTRACT

Regenerative agriculture has emerged as a potentially outcome-based paradigm centring on soil health, biodiversity and other environmental and social parameters. Early days of organic agriculture also focused on philosophy first and evolved into a process-based regulatory paradigm whose adoption remains small relative to conventional production. Five case studies of professional growers, representing a total of 100,000 acres of production, were collected to identify reasons for choosing to grow or stop growing organic, challenges faced and attitudes around regenerative agriculture. Growers identified issues of complex and unpredictable regulation, labour, inability to predict market trends and secure needed premiums, cost and effectiveness of natural fertilizers and lack of effectiveness in pest control. These growers adopted similar practices (e.g., integrated pest management) for environmental benefits across conventional and organic acres, and viewed consumer demand and potential profitability rather than environmental benefits as the main drivers for practising organic. Growers expressed interest in outcome-based regenerative agriculture. To be viable, a programme requires criteria on measurement and certification, regionally tailored flexibility and clear financial incentives. Growers doubt such a programme would replace organic but see opportunities for new marketing programmes, particularly in carbon sequestration and water management. Challenges identified by growers warrant further study.

KEYWORDS:

• Regenerative agriculture
• organic agriculture
• environmental outcomes

Acknowledgements

Many thanks to the growers who participated in this survey.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Conflict of interest

SLL received a stipend from Crop Life America for her work on this article. NS and CT were interns for Crop Life America. KS is an employee of Crop Life America.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Crop Life America.

Notes on contributors

Shawna Lemke

Shawna Lemke holds a PhD in toxicology from Texas A&M University. She has occupied a unique position in the science-to-policy continuum on a wide range of food, nutrition and agricultural technology topics. She has extensive experience in building partnerships to advance sustainability goals. Currently, she has a consulting practice in regulatory science strategy and communication.

Nathan Smith

Nathan Smith holds an MS in molecular biology from Purdue University. He is passionate about advancing the global and local impact of Purdue technologies and currently focuses on licensing within the Purdue Research Foundation Office of Tech Commercialization.

Christian Thiim

Christian Thiim holds an MPA in Environmental Policy and Natural Resource Management from the O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs. He has a multidisciplinary background in environmental studies, political science and public affairs and currently works in Sustainability for the City of Salem, MA.

Katie Stump

Katie Stump holds an MS in Agricultural and Applied Economics from Virginia Tech. She currently works as a science policy manager for Crop Life America.