There is a lot of discussion these days about Regenerative Agriculture. Through the thoughtful application of regenerative agriculture principles, all farmers and the entire population stand to benefit. I have been fortunate to work with farmers that have applied these principles for decades, and the benefits are very dramatic. The good news is that every farmer can take steps to improve the soil and the broader ecology on their farm, no matter how large their footprint, and no matter what they grow.
As we move into a New Year, take some time to think about how your farm could benefit from increasing the attention you put on these simple principles. If you are unfamiliar with any of them then there are plenty of educational opportunities coming up this winter to learn more.
There is no universally accepted definition of “Regenerative Agriculture”, but the concept is based on the idea that nearly all of our agricultural lands are in a degenerated and degraded state. Before widespread tillage was practiced our top soils had a high level of organic matter, biological activity, and a diversity of both plant and animal organisms. They were inherently fertile. For our ancestors “New Ground” was highly productive and gave very significant production with little input. Over centuries of agricultural use, most of these soils lost their ability to grow plants well without amendments. Overgrazing of pastures and grasslands also lead to degraded soil health due to compaction, loss of carbon, and loss of desirable plant populations.
Farming on degraded land can continue if enough inputs are added. This successfully occurs on millions of acres of farmland in this country. The ultimate goal of regenerative agriculture is to restore the inherent productivity of the land so that it can better support farmers and rural communities. The exciting thing to me is the great number of management options that can be used to move a farm toward this long-term goal. Even a very conventional farm can take first steps that will improve their system. Growing cover crops and minimizing tillage on cropland is a great opportunity, as is improving grazing management on grasslands. There are a nearly unlimited number of other things you can do that might help you in your specific situation, and the trick is to figure out the best system for you.
Under common discussion today are 6 principles of Regenerative Agriculture as applied to grazing systems. The first 5 principles are pretty much the same as the principles of Soil Health.
The first principle is, “Keep the Soil Covered”. This means rotating off pasture while there is still a high level of plant material remaining. This helps keep soil cool in summer and warm in winter, reduces erosion and helps feed and shelter the biology. It also helps to physically “armor” the soil to protect it from trampling by livestock, vehicle traffic, etc. If you have more livestock than the land can reasonably support you will struggle to keep a high level of residual plant material. Make sure that you evaluate your stocking rate; overstocking will dramatically reduce your ability to apply the principles. In many cases if you reduce your stocking rate initially, you will find that you can increase it again as the system starts to be more productive.
The second principle is “Control and Optimize Disturbance”. Grazing of livestock is a disturbance that is potentially beneficial if it is at a high intensity for a short time. Learning to control livestock so they are easily moved and contained is a critical aspect of any grazing farm and will be critical to applying all of the principles. Other disturbances would be things like the use of an herbicide, clipping, haying, and just common traffic. A grazing system has to be disturbed to be productive, but we need to be in control of that and leave a long time for recovery after each disturbance. If we use an herbicide to target a specific problem we need to consider collateral damage to other plants in the pasture and also need to plan to add back species we want that are removed (such as clover). While clipping can be used too much, at home we have found that clipping once a year at the right time provides control against the forces of natural succession that push our land toward forest. Also, think about simple disturbances like vehicular traffic. If you have to drive through a pasture to access other pastures stick to a single path rather than randomly driving around.
The third principle is to “Develop and Maintain Biodiversity”. Often this one is stated as “Increase Plant and Animal Diversity”. It is important to keep in mind that this goal can be accomplished in a wide variety of ways. There are many species of bacteria, protozoa, fungi, and insects that live within healthy soil. There are also many species of plants and animals above the soil surface that live in pastures. With a single species of row crop on heavily tilled soil there is very limited biodiversity. There is not much of a food web to stimulate diverse species of animals or plants.
Improving diversity may mean planting diverse mixtures of pasture plants, reducing herbicide use, or adding additional species of grazing livestock. For example, many of our pastures could benefit dramatically from the addition of red and/or white clover. A well balanced pasture should have a base of perennial grasses (either cool-season, warm-season or both), perennial legumes (usually clover in our area), and perennial forbes (other broadleaf plants). Ideally there will be some annual species like crabgrass or annual clovers in the seedbank that can help fill in gaps that may occur between perennial forages due to treading and other forces that may lead to small patches of bare ground. In general, when you adhere to the fundamentals of grazing management you will stimulate biodiversity, especially in the plant species present and the wildlife including insects, small mammals, and birds.
It is important to understand that the benefits of plant diversity can’t overcome the disadvantages of having a lot of undesirable plants in the mix. Even if you have a diverse pasture, if it contains a lot of species like nimblewill, KY31 tall fescue, horsenettle, etc., then it may be in your best interest to completely renovate the field to remove the undesirables. Planting back a simple mix (like novel endophyte tall fescue and clover) or a complex mix can be very beneficial as one of your strategies. If you plant that simple mix it can be very productive and you will see more and more diversity creep in over the decades that follow. If you plant a complex mix, be careful to limit the seeding rate so the more aggressive seedlings don’t outcompete the less aggressive.
Toxic KY31 tall fescue is the most common problem species by far that I encounter in my work. Chronic fescue toxicosis plagues all the animals in KY31-based systems, and while there are many things you can do to partially mitigate the impacts on livestock, this particular plant and it’s toxic endophyte is very damaging to the ecology because it suppresses biodiversity. Toxic fescue has an unfair competitive advantage over other non-toxic plants, and it uses this power to take over and dominate, spreading toxins that cause direct and secondary damage throughout the system.
The best tool we have to fight toxic fescue is Novel Endophyte Tall Fescue, which makes a more friendly neighbor in the plant community, provides a high level of nutrition, and helps keep the Toxic KY31 from invading the system. I don’t think we can truly regenerate our grasslands without doing something about toxic fescue in the forage system. If you are planting new pastures, or “overdrilling” to thicken up fescue stands, absolutely don’t plant toxic KY31!
There is a gathering movement of progressive graziers that are doing something about this fescue problem. Join them and “Plant Performance, Not Toxins”.
The fourth principle is “Maintain Living Roots Year Round”. This means building your system on perennial forage species and not being too dependent on annuals. Living roots feed soil biology with what are termed “Root Exudates”. We are only now starting to understanding the importance and details of this part of the food web, but it is clear that soil health is maximized in systems with healthy, vigorous and diverse perennial forages. Even within perennial pastures, managing for bigger and healthier plants will mean more and deeper root systems, which are highly beneficial. Annuals can be used strategically to fill holes in your perennial forage supply and/or as a step in perennial pasture renovation, but be aware that whenever you use an annual system you will have some times when there are few living roots present, and that will impact soil health.
The Fifth principle is to “Incorporate Livestock”. This is a no brainer for grazing folks, but it is a major challenge for row crop agriculture because grazing livestock have been deemphasized in many crop producing regions. Most row crop farmers don’t have the skill, time or interest to become livestock producers.
Graziers should look for opportunities for grazing contracts on both cover crops and crop residues on farms that want to add grazing livestock but that don’t want to own them. These opportunities should increase in the future as the regenerative movement takes hold. Also, some cattle farmers will consider adding small ruminants, pigs, or poultry to their system. While these are opportunities, it is possible to have a very healthy system with only one species of livestock.
Incorporating livestock also means limiting the amount of dedicated hay land that you have. Hay fields can suffer from not having animal impact just like cropland. Fencing hay fields that are accessible to the herd will allow you to incorporate livestock grazing on every acre you manage. If you do have land that you regularly cut for hay, remember that you need to add back the nutrients you remove in that hay crop to keep your system in balance.
The Sixth principle is “Know Your Context”. Some list this as the first principle because it is perhaps the most important, but I put it as the final principle because you need to understand the first 5 before deciding how they apply to your specific situation. The amount of time you have to manage your system, the amount of help you have, your skill level, your potential markets, and what interests you will vary a lot, so how you apply the principles will also vary. You have to use the principles to build your own custom system.
Knowing your context is critical to what we call “Adaptive Management”. As you start applying all these principles you will have many decisions to make, and your plans will need to evolve and change as your system responds to your management. Being observant and flexible as your system evolves is the way to become an integral part of the healthy ecology you are regenerating.
While the goal of the regenerative process is to restore soil fertility to the point that inputs are not needed, it is not to say that inputs should not be used to help get you there. Many of our pasture soils are low in pH and other critical soil elements like phosphorus and potassium. Early in the process you need to pull soil samples, and you may find you need to add nutrients to prime the system. This can come through liming and fertilization with conventional fertilizers, the use of animal wastes like poultry litter, or adding nutrients from imported hay by either unrolling or bale grazing. This will add nutrients to the system to stimulate plant growth and will help improve the diversity of plants. Adding nutrient sources with a high level of carbon like compost or poultry litter may also have a priming effect on the soil biology. After the soil nutrients are at adequate levels, then they will cycle through the plants and livestock, with most being reapplied in the form of urine and feces.
In a healthy and well managed production system some inputs will always be needed. Inputs like vaccination for common diseases in the livestock, judicious use of antibiotics to treat things like foot rot and pinkeye, and the use of a good complete mineral supplement are important tools to keep in your tool box. They will be needed no matter how healthy your system and your cattle get. Some farmers think going to regenerative management means giving up all inputs, but I don’t know of a single successful farm that is totally closed to outside inputs. My advice is to keep all inputs as potential tools in your toolbox. Some will be used regularly like the mineral supplement and vaccinations. All others should be only used tactically to affect some specific affect meant to nudge the system in a desired direction.
I would offer one additional principle that I think is critical and that is “Be Patient”. While you will see benefits quickly when you start Regenerative Management it will take time for the pieces of the system to fall into place and start working together. In recent research we found that biological activity, nutrient cycling, and soil carbon where all higher on farms that had been managing for over 20 years. It is worth being tenacious if you want to see the benefits. Keeping up the management for a long period of time will also lead to a system that the next generation can benefit from.
On February 22, 2024 the North Carolina Forage and Grassland Council will gather in Hickory, NC for a winter conference focused on Regenerative Grazing. It has been a while since we have had a large event, and this will be one to remember. Our guest speaker will be Dr. Allen Williams who is an animal scientist that has worked his whole life as a Farmer, Professor, Consultant, and Educator. His long-term dedication to developing and teaching the principles of Soil Health and Regenerative Grazing are unmatched. Attendees will learn more about the principles of Regenerative Grazing and will have an opportunity to meet Dr. Williams and visit with him in an informal setting. The following day will again feature Dr. Williams as part of the educational program at the NC Cattlemen’s Association annual conference. If you are interested in regenerating your soils to improve the future productivity of your farm don’t miss it! Registration here.
~ Matt Poore, NC State and Chair of the Alliance for Grassland Renewal
This is a preview of an article written for the Amazing Grazing column in the Carolina Cattle Connection, official publication of the North and South Carolina Cattlemen’s Associations. Used with permission.
The Alliance for Grassland Renewal is a national organization focused on enhancing the appropriate adoption of novel endophyte tall fescue technology through education, incentives, self-regulation and promotion. For more resources or to learn more about the Alliance for Grassland Renewal, go to www.grasslandrenewal.org
The Alliance for Grassland Renewal 