Outside the Greenelife Greenehouse in Greeneville, Tennessee where covering crops is a top regenerative agriculture practice
Farmer on the ground planting green leafy vegetables
A harvest full of green and red bell peppers, beans tomatoes, garlic, summer squash and more.
Image of a tree on a healthy soil with a large network of underground root system
Orange wildflowers growing in a healthy soil
Growing pak choy on the Greenelife's Greenhouse in Greeneville, Tennessee
Growing healthy radishes on the Greenelife's Greenhouse in Greeneville, Tennessee
Delicious shallots and onions growing in the Greenelife's Greenhouse in Greeneville, Tennessee
Harvesting red radishes using some of the best practices in regenerative agriculture
Growing tomatoes on the Greenelife's Greenhouse in Greeneville, Tennessee
Image of radishes peeping out from the healthy soil in the Greenelife's Greenhouse in Greeneville, Tennessee
South Poll cows looking at the camera
Red cows mob grazing in a mature forage
Prized white goats
Sheep grazing around the paddock
Sheep looking at the camera

 What is Regenerative Agriculture?

A Holistic Management Approach That Improves the Environmental Resources It Uses: Soil, Water, and Sunlight

More than a mere alternative strategy, Regenerative Agriculture represents a fundamental shift in our culture’s relationship to nature.

- Charles Eisenstein

Understanding the natural interactions of sunlight, plants, soils, animals, and microorganisms, regenerative agriculture concentrates on soil health, biodiversity, and the conservation of resources which enables family farms to thrive, communities to prosper, and the climate to become more resilient.

 Soil Health

The Foundation on which Regenerative Agriculture is Built

Tree-with-big-root-system-in-a-healthy-soil

The nation that destroys its soil - destroys itself.

Franklin Roosevelt

healhty-soil-with-healthy-earthworms-using-regenerative-agriculture

With Regenerative Agriculture, We Get Healthy Soils that:

  • Grow More Nutritious Food

  • Grow Superior Forages

  • Hold More Water

  • Store Carbon

 Did you know…

  • For every 1% increase in organic matter, soils increase their water holding capacity by approximately 27,000 gallons per acre, according to the USDA.

  • There is more life UNDER your feet than above ground.

  • One teaspoon of healthy soil contains billions of living organisms - bacteria, fungi, algae, beetles, ants, mites, earthworms, microscopic insects ….

  • The life underground, interacting with plant roots and nutrients deposited by animals, drives the soil ecology that feeds all life above ground.

  • Erosion destroys 36 billion tons of topsoil yearly, according to a 2017 study.

Integrating Livestock and Poultry

 Animals Used Correctly = Tools to Build Soil

Reduce Tillage & Machinery

Harvest crop aftermath, failed crops, and cover crops

  • Increase diversity of pasture forage with managed grazing

  • Diversify income

Poultry-chicken-regenerative-agriculture-regenerative-grazing

Build Soil Health

  • Increase organic material

  • Sustain soil biodiversity

  • Feed soil microorganisms

Reduce Chemical Inputs of:

  • Insecticides

  • Herbicides

  • Synthetic Fertilizers

Regenerative Grazing

 Integration of Animals Fuels the Regenerative System

South-Poll-Cattle-in-rotational-grazing-program-at-USARAAI-Farm-Campus

Maintaining forage in the vegetative state where plants continually grow, as long as weather permits, has numerous benefits.

  • Extends Grazing Season

  • Improves Nutritional Quality of Forage

  • Improves Soil Health

    • Photosynthesis produces oxygen & removes CO2

    • Healthy roots feed soil microbiology & sequester carbon

    • Trampling vegetation provides cover and nutrients for soil

    • Distributes nutrients

  • Keeps Soil Covered

    • Lowers temperature of soil

    • Reduces water loss from soil

  • Adds Organic Matter

  • Prevents Erosion

  • Controls Insect Pests

  • Increases Biodiversity of Plants

  • Supports Biodiversity of Entire Ecosystem

  • Reduces Parasite Pressure

Cows graze on lush green grass, thriving from the healthy soil enriched by regenerative agriculture practices.

pig.jpg

Even pigs love to do regenerative grazing!

Photos courtesy of Whispering Grass Farm - Greenfield, Ohio.

True regenerative grazing maintains quality and quantity of forage.

The challenge is - there is not ONE right way that works for everyone.

Things can change from year to year.

Regenerative grazing is part SCIENCE and part ART.

Maintaining flexibility is Paramount to Success.

South Poll cattle graze at the USARAAI Farm Campus in Greeneville, Tennessee

For success - keep these points in mind:

  • Forage maturity, not height, indicates gazing readiness

  • Height varies with variety, weather, soils…

  • Take half - leave half

    • Works well to maintain plant and root health

  • Allow adequate rest periods for forage growth

  • Distribute nutrients evenly

  • Incentivize less utilized areas

    • Shade, Minerals, Water

  • Not grazing below 4 inches reduces parasite ingestion

  • Rotational grazing doesn’t ensure success

  • Set stocking can work if maintain approximately six inches of growth

  • Avoid overgrazing!

    • Overgrazing has far reaching negative impacts on entire system

  • The most serious mistake that impacts plant health, animal health, and soil health = OVERGRAZING

Overgrazing decreases the leaf area which decreases nutrition available to the plant, causing stress and root loss. These stress the plants, making them more susceptible to disease, insects, and weather induced complications.

Once root health suffers so does soil health and the soil microbiome.

rotational-grazing-management-chart

When we base grazing decisions on both the nutritional needs of plants AND animals, the entire system benefits.