Awareness of regenerative agriculture may be low, but grassroots efforts are working to change that. Groups like Kiss the Ground are targeting the 2023 Farm Bill to secure funding to support farmers and efforts to improve crop production methods.

“Over 50% of soils are heavily degraded,” noted Finian Makepeace, co-founder, policy director, and lead educator of the nonprofit organization Kiss The Ground speaking at Natural Products Expo East in September, “with our farmland losing 5.6 tons of topsoil per acre each year, at a rate 10 times faster than it is being replenished.”

The livelihoods of farmers are also in crisis, Makepeace said. “Agricultural crops aren’t taking in the minerals or water that they need, and having to deal with more inputs is hurting both the water crisis and farmers’ bottom lines. When soil is barren, rainwater simply hits it and runs off. The nutrient density of food is a shadow of what it once was because over half of minerals in our plants come from biological activity in soil. We’re also dealing with floods and droughts like we’ve never seen, and the fact that soil isn’t functioning is a major contributor.”

What is Regenerative Agriculture?

According to Makepeace, regenerative agriculture is not a one-size-fits-all methodology to be used on every farm in every region. Rather, a handful of basic principles and techniques applied in combination can help restore areas and improve resilience against extreme weather events, pests, and more. While the principles are universal, specific practices depend on the environmental context.

While efforts to mitigate climate change often focus on reducing the greenhouse gas emissions, regenerative agriculture is designed to sequester carbon dioxide into the soil.

One key principle of regenerative agriculture is to minimize soil disturbance by keeping the living roots of plants in the ground, Makepeace noted, as bare fields result in a net loss of sequestered carbon. Cover crops, which help to provide soil protection, are another fundamental component in order to slow erosion, preserve the nutrient and water content of soil, and control pests and diseases.

Animals factor into regenerative agriculture in multiple ways. Farmers promote biodiversity in order to help pollinators proliferate and grazing animals can actually help to regenerate land more quickly than some other methods.

Regenerate America

In addition to releasing a feature-length documentary discussing the science behind why soil health is a vital piece of mitigating greenhouse gases, Kiss The Ground has launched its Regenerate America grassroots campaign.

The group maintains a presence on Capitol Hill, recently testifying at a hearing held by the House Agriculture Committee, and promotes educational materials for both farmers and advocates. According to Makepeace, one key goal is central to its mission: a larger allocation of the 2023 U.S. Farm Bill spending to regenerative agriculture.

By the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) own reporting, 76.1% of spending from the 2018 Farm Bill went to nutrition programs. Kiss The Ground reported that just 1% of Farm Bill spending was devoted to farmers and ranchers taking comprehensive steps to rebuild soil.

“What if, next time, that amount of spending was somewhere between 3 and 5%? We’re not calling for extra funds, but just for minor adjustments. We’ve met with countless stakeholders to create a farm bill that doesn’t need more funding necessarily, just a minor shift in priorities. With 70% of spending going toward the SNAP program, we’re not considering how SNAP can actually be used to help people access healthy food.”

The organization, which is now comprised of over 40 working groups, has made some headway in convincing officials about the urgent need to shift the U.S. agricultural landscape, such as Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and Chair of the House Committee on Agriculture David Scott.

“This is all centered around farmers, ranchers, and indigenous communities. Their voices will convey the truth and articulate the right message, and while it seems like a no-brainer, current discussions involve policy wonks talking to staffers in Washington, D.C., without any real conversations with famers,” Makepeace said.

Equity and Access

Makepeace noted other priorities for Regenerate America, including farmer education on regenerative agriculture and equity of access to USDA funding.

“There are many historically underserved producers who are losing farmland to urban sprawl and other factors, and the average age of a U.S. farmer is 60 years old,” he noted. “We need to improve regional access to infrastructure, processing, and markets for producing crops with regenerative practices. This isn’t something that can magically be done without the proper infrastructure.”

Further, the U.S. taxpayer foots 60% of a farmer’s insurance bill. Support could be garnered on both sides of the aisle to require insurance companies to financially incentivize regenerative practices. “Right now, farmers who work on degraded land can be bailed out by insurance more easily than a farmer using regenerative practices; those practices may actually disqualify them from insurance,” Makepeace noted. “There isn’t enough incentive to support soil health and use these practices for risk mitigation.”