Is regenerative farming here to stay?

Moving from large-scale farm management into a consultancy role in which he’s helping farmers transition to regenerative systems of production, Tim Williams believes you must understand regen to realise its value. And by combining conventional wisdom with a deep knowledge of regenerative practices, farmers have the potential “to create these really powerful, resilient systems” to take the industry forward. 

“Into the future, as input costs rise, as energy rises, as the climate becomes more challenging, we need these resilient systems,” said Tim. “It's more a matter of when rather than if.”

The meaning of regenerative farming

He stressed it’s about making incremental changes to adapt a farming system from one focused on yield to one aiming for profitability and resilience.

“[It’s] moving towards a more resilient system where you're not just going from drought to soggy fields back to drought,” Tim explained. “How can you actually build resilience into those fields so that during these times of stress you can continue to produce from your land? In a good year, of course, conventional systems are great, but in a bad year, and we're seeing more and more bad years, it’s how much resilience is in your system, and actually how much profitability is in your system.”

But regen doesn’t need a ‘membership’ badge.

“You don't have to be a ‘regenerative farmer’, but you can implement more regenerative approaches to management,” he added.

Louise Penn agreed: “I think regen is just good farming. It's good agricultural practice. We need to look after our resources, our soil, our water, our air. All the farmers I work with, they're all implementing the principles to some degree. And I think that as time goes on, we will see more of that as people's knowledge develops.”

“It's more than just sustainability; it's regenerating it to what it once was,” she said.

Overcoming the practical challenges of change

In his work as a consultant and mentor, Tim encourages farmers to identify the causes of what’s happening on farm before trying to change.

“It's a system approach,” he said. “It's about sort of zooming out and looking at the causes. Some people might have spent a lot of money on certain interventions, but without having that deeper understanding of the system.

“Why are you making those incremental changes? Why would you put a cover crop in? Even to the point, what is the functional nature of that cover crop?”

In a similar vein, Louise’s advice centred on soil, reaffirming recommendations made in the podcast episode, ‘Farm resilience: does it start with soil health?’ [series 1, episode 1]

“It's really getting farmers to look at their soil, getting interested in their soil, understanding a benchmark of where it is now, and then implementing things to improve it,” she explained. “The principles of regenerative agriculture are all about improving the health of your soil, which in turn improves the resilience of your soil, which improves the resilience of your business.

“We need resilient businesses.”

Mindful farmers are often the ones taking the risk in the supply chain, it was suggested the business resilience afforded by developing a regenerative farming system could be a form of risk management - and enable farmers to take back some control.

Tim described this as making those incremental changes, trialling new methods and, for some, learning by doing having gathered knowledge and advice from others.

“Once you know better, you do better,” he said. “Then you're starting to see the incremental knowledge gain, incremental shifts in your skill development. And then over time, that is that true essence of a regenerative system, because you're basically working your way out.”

 

Does regen make business sense?

In the subsequent bonus episode, Tim and Louise emphasised the enduring nature of regenerative farming, the biggest investment needed being time. Addressing the common concern of it costing more and delivering less, Tim encouraged farmers to adopt a long-term mindset and consider soil as an asset.

“Understanding that you're in it for the long-term gain,” he said. “Understanding that your soil, particularly if you're a landowner, is your greatest asset. And so, you are working on banking that and improving that asset.”

He also suggested looking ahead and working backwards was the way to creating an efficient, resilient system: “Ten years down the track, what do you want to achieve? Where do you want to be heading? Then we start to work back in terms of how you get there.”

Both guests agreed profitability is what allows farmers to continue from one year to the next so putting time and effort – and numbers – into a plan is essential when considering change, but you can just “dip your toe in” according to Louise, echoing Tim’s earlier call for changes to be made incrementally. 

The future of regen in UK farming

Although regen might be seen by some as a buzzword, Louise sees this as a positive for consumers, reiterating views expressed in a previous podcast episode, 'Does Regenerative Agriculture have a place in the marketplace?' [series 1, episode 8].

“Being a buzzword is what is going to make a consumer pick it off the shelf,” she said. “We need to be able to differentiate our products because we are going out of our way to farm with more attention to detail and invest in farming in a more climate friendly, sustainable, regenerative way.”

Episode showstoppers

1. When thinking about implementing regenerative practices, understand the context of your farm and your business.
2. Look at your specific objectives and what you are trying to achieve.
3. Make the changes incrementally and learn by doing to create a more resilient and balanced system. 

Listen to the full main episode and bonus below - also available via Spotify, Apple podcasts and YouTube.

About our guests

Based in West Dorset, Tim Williams runs Earth Farmers to support farmers build resilient, profitable and ecologically sound farming systems. Originally from New Zealand, he has management experience in arable and livestock enterprises in both NZ and the UK.

A farmer’s daughter from Northamptonshire, Louise Penn is a BASIS and FACTS-qualified agronomist and farm consultant with Ceres Rural. After gaining a first-class degree in agriculture with farm management, she worked in Australia before returning to the UK.