Regenerative Agriculture

Use of cover crops as climate tool on the rise

Purdue’s Ag Economy Barometer announced recently that over half of the U.S,’ largest farms (over $500,000 worth of production yearly) planted cover crops this year. Cover crops are now seen as a way to earn money from carbon contracts while lessening climate change impacts. In the survey of 400 producers, most were newcomers, with half […]

Planting perennial prairie strips—environmental boon, while increasing agricultural production

Less erosion, reduced nitrogen runoff, and loads more butterflies and microorganisms—sound worth it? Planting perennial prairie strips on farms provides these benefits, and more. Missouri farmer Frank Oberle has been using one-mile-long prairie strips for over 15 years—strips of 30-120 feet wide placed along waterways, through fields, or in terrace channels—seeding them with native flowers […]

Cargill aims to create new revenue stream for farmers as part of 10 million-acre regenerative agriculture commitment

Cargill RegenConnectTM links farmers to the emerging carbon marketplace and aims to scale the voluntary adoption of regenerative ag practices. But questions remain about the emerging carbon markets. As part of Cargill’s commitment to advance regenerative agriculture practices across 10 million acres of land in North America by 2030, the agricultural giant has been enrolling […]

Nestlé investing $1.29 billion to support transition to a regenerative food system

(Editor’s note: It’s great to see large companies like Nestlé make substantial commitments to regenerative agriculture, but there is no mention in their press release about reducing agrochemical inputs such as herbicides. Killing cover crops with Roundup is not regenerative agriculture.) Nestlé is laying out its plans to support and accelerate the transition to a […]

Farmers see promise in hybrid rye as regenerative solution to weed problems

Ragweed is wreaking havoc in corn fields in the Midwest. The giant weed, which Iowa organic farmer Tom Frantzen calls an “evolutionary monster,” is resistant to glyphosate herbicide. Fortunately, farmers like Frantzen have a new solution that is helping them deal with ragweed—hybrid rye. Ragweed hammered Frantzen’s organic soybean crop, cutting yields in half in […]