About Regenerative Agriculture

Regenerative is an emerging term that is still developing. The basic concept is that rather than degrading soil, water, and ecosystems and exploiting labor due to the impacts of toxic chemicals and other practices, regenerative farming aims to enhance the productive capacity of the land, its people and the biological communities linked to that land. Soil-building is the primary activity. Regenerative farming would typically mean no till, spreading of compost and/or planting of cover crops, use of livestock in ways that mimic nature, elimination or large reductions in chemical use, a focus on crop diversity and rotations. There is now an effort in the private sector to establish certifications for this approach, see the Regenerative Organic Alliance, Land to Market EOV, A Greener World, and Audubon. We expect the use of the term and the production approach to grow rapidly in the years ahead.

The California Department of Food and Agriculture has put together a workgroup to draft a definition of regenerative agriculture to inform state policies and programs. This workgroup began meeting in 2023, and has posted a draft definition of regenerative agriculture for consideration by the California State Board of Food and Agriculture.