NCX Guides
Regenerative Agriculture Programs
Landowners can earn income from adopting regenerative practices on their farms and ranches.
Thinking about ways to improve the long-term resilience of your farm or ranch?
Regenerative agriculture is a system of land management that promotes soil health and biodiversity while creating a productive, profitable operation. This guide highlights key concepts to understand about regenerative agriculture and how it can be integrated into your farm operations.
What are the main goals of regenerative agriculture?
There are 4 major benefits of regenerative agriculture that farmers and ranchers should consider.
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01 Improve Soil Health
Increasing soil organic matter promotes positive downstream effects on crop production, water retention, and reliance on external inputs.
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02 Increase Biodiversity
Regenerative practices promote biodiversity at every scale from soil microbes, pollinators and birds, to livestock like cows and sheep.
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03 Conserve Water
Healthy soil retains water more effectively than degraded soil, reducing erosion and desertification caused by mono-crop farming.
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04 Reduce Inputs
The need for synthetic fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides, and supplemental feed is reduced because the farm is generating the nutrients needed to sustain itself.
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Tillage Changes
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Cover crops
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Rotational Grazing
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Crop Rotation
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Agroforestry
Common Regenerative Practices
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Tillage Changes
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Cover crops
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Rotational Grazing
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Crop Rotation
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Agroforestry
How do you get paid for regenerative agriculture?
There are different types of payment structures and funding sources for adopting regenerative agriculture.
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Carbon
There are programs available to farmers and ranchers today that compensate them for adopting practices that increase soil carbon. Carbon developers measure the changes in soil carbon over time, following certified methodologies, and sell carbon credits to corporations looking to offset their carbon emissions. The farmers are typically paid a per-acre rate, a revenue share from the sale of carbon credits, or both. These programs often help cover the costs of implementation and equipment. NCX can help you explore these programs for your land.
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New Markets
Producing consumer goods that are certified as regenerative organic or biodynamic can lead to higher price premiums. Farmers can capitalize on these certification labels to gain access to new markets that command higher prices.
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Government funding
The USDA is investing hundreds of millions of dollars into programs like the Climate-Smart Commodities fund, which incentivizes farmers and ranchers to adopt regenerative practices through financial assistance. These programs can meaningfully change the unit economics of producing regenerative crops. NCX can help you explore these programs for your land.
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Long-term profitability
Traditional agriculture produces significant yields, but also requires significant investment in inputs like fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides. While these inputs support short-term yield, they are expensive and can damage the long-term viability of the land’s production. Regenerative agriculture, while it requires up front investment and potential sacrifices in yield, can provide a path to longer term, sustainable profitability.
THE MARKET
Why are farmers adopting regenerative practices?
Farmers are increasingly adopting regenerative practices to build long-term resilience and independence, improve soil health, and meet shifting consumer demands. As more consumers prioritize organic products and want transparency about where their food comes from, regenerative farming practices are becoming a way to meet this demand and capture premium pricing. These practices support the land’s health over time, creating a more sustainable foundation for future production. Also, financial support is growing through public and private programs from carbon projects to funding from the USDA.
Where can you implement regenerative agriculture?
Pastureland – Practices like rotational grazing, silvopasture, and diverse forage planting can improve soil health on pastures. Healthier soils with higher organic matter support a wider range of nutritious forage plants, allowing livestock to graze on high-quality grasses and legumes. This can improve weight gain, milk production, and overall animal health. Effectively rotating grazing animals on pasture also has positive effects on water retention, carbon sequestration, and resilience to unwanted weeds.
Row crops – Practices like reduced tillage, cover cropping, and diverse crop rotations help suppress weeds and pests, reduce input costs, improve soil health and enhance water efficiency, leading to more resilient and sustainable farming. This enhanced soil health improves nutrient availability and uptake, leading to crops that are often more nutrient-dense. These methods also contribute to carbon sequestration while supporting crop production.
Risks, Rewards, and Restrictions
Interest in regenerative agriculture is expanding rapidly. Farmers and ranchers should consider all the risks and rewards before pursuing programs.
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Risks
Regenerative agriculture offers many long-term benefits, but there are some risks and challenges that can make adoption difficult. Startup costs are often significant because practices may require new equipment and infrastructure. Transition periods are another challenge. It may take several seasons to see improvements in soil health, yields, or input costs, which can put financial strain on farmers used to immediate returns. Yields also may simply be lower for regenerative practices than a farmer’s current system, which is challenging. Short term benefits should be weighed against the long-term goals for each farm. Knowledge and skill gaps can also be a barrier. Farmers may need extensive training and technical assistance to implement regenerative practices, adding time and expense. Market access and premiums aren’t always guaranteed for regenerative products, especially in areas without established demand, so the financial reward may take time to materialize. Finally, threats like extreme weather or pests remain a risk to regenerative farms.
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Rewards
Regenerative practices can have both environmental and economic benefits. Your soil health can improve significantly and become more resilient to threats like erosion and drought. Adopting regenerative practices can also help reduce your input costs and increase the profitability of your growing operations.
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Restrictions
Programs that measure and pay for soil carbon restrict the types of activities that farmers can do on their properties. Typically, a farmer will sign a contract lasting anywhere from 1 to 30 years. During this time period, the project developer will periodically visit the property to take measurements of soil carbon and verify that the farmer has complied with the terms of the contract. If farmers conduct activities like tilling that violate the contract, they are at risk of receiving financial penalties from the carbon project developer. If farmers choose to become certified under labels like the Regenerative Organic Alliance Certification or Demeter Biodynamic Certification, they must abide by the rules, regulations, and verification requirements of those methodologies as well.