Regenerative agriculture is the current buzz word is agriculture and supporters claim these practices build resilience to climate change, increase farm profitability and improve the health benefit of the food produced. But is there evidence to back up these claims. Many critics don’t think there is.
Wheatbelt NRM is not just talking about Regen Ag but is doing the work to try and build the evidence base so Wheatbelt farmers can make informed decisions.
We hear so much about the promise of regenerative agriculture, so it’s exciting to be at the forefront of research aimed at evidencing how these systems work.
Under the banner of the national Soil Cooperative Research Centre (Soil CRC) we are a partner in a research project that will compare carbon function in soils of established regenerative farms compared to conventional properties.
In addition to the Soil CRC other project participants include the South Australian Department of Primary Industries and Regions and Landcare New Zealand.
Wheatbelt NRM is currently completing emergence counts as the first stage of analysis at 5 Wheatbelt farms. Over the coming year a range of tests will be performed aimed at understanding whether organic soil carbon is functioning any differently within the regenerative systems compared to their conventional pairs.
By the end of this, we are hoping our community has increased knowledge about regenerative agriculture, based on solid evidence, to support their decision making.
This Wheatbelt NRM project is supported through funding from the Australian Government’s National Landcare Program.