Have any questions?
01603 814869
Have any questions?
01603 814869
Regenerative agriculture (otherwise known as Regen Ag) aims to restore soil health, increase biodiversity, and protect and improve soil water capture and storage. Regenerative practices combine a range of land management techniques to reduce the reliance on agrochemical inputs, create climate resilience and restore soil and ecosystem health.
Regen ag is based on principles rather than rules. Individual farm context is crucial. Some of the principles include:
Use of cover crops during periods of fallow as well as companions alongside cash crops. These help with soil temperature regulation, moisture retention, increase in soil microbial community, weed suppression and prevention of soil erosion.
Reducing soil disturbance includes limiting physical disturbance in the form of tillage; chemical disturbance in the form of inputs; and biological disturbance from removing living roots from the soil.
Increasing in field diversity through growing cereal blends, bi-cropping or companion cropping. Introducing wider variety crops into rotation as well as legume fallows or herbal leys. Crop diversity lowers risk of pest and disease, improves plant nutrient cycling and increases plant resilience to climatic conditions.
Livestock integration plays an essential role in a whole farm system which had been practiced for millennia and it is gaining attention again. The key benefits are nutrient cycling which reduces fertilizer use, improvement in soil health and nutrient dense meat production – additional income.
Soils in nature are never bare. Soil microbes, vital for nutrient cycling, need carbon exuded by plant roots to exist. In its absence, they will feed on organic matter, degrading the soil over time. Plant-microbes symbiotic relation has existed since the early stages of life on Earth.
Each farm is unique and implementation of the above practices will differ according to farm’s context. NFWAG can help with tailored advice to suit your business and provide a long term transitional plan. The overall aim of regen ag is to improve health of the land, reduce reliance on inputs, increase biodiversity and produce food which is nutrient dense.
With knowledge of the regen ag principles of Norfolk-based processors and merchants, Norfolk FWAG can provide advice to help you understand how you can transition to enter into these supply chains, with a view to establishing contracts.
During the winter of 2023-2024, Norfolk FWAG team members, Evan Burdett and Henry Walker, worked with Norfolk County Council to identify ponds eligible for restoration and opportunities for pond creation to reverse terrestrialisation.
Our team set out with the goal of creating a detailed report that would provide an understanding of this situation, which would then assist in targeting environmental stewardship options and other initiatives.
In celebration of Earth Day, a spirited group of volunteers from Crisp Malt joined forces with representatives from Norfolk FWAG — Henry Walker and Bea White — along with farmer, Nick Anema, for a day of tree guard removal.
As the Norfolk delivery partner for the DEFRA Future Farming Resilience Fund-funded Royal Countryside Fund run, and Farm for the Future programme, Norfolk FWAG’s Sasha Wells and Bea White are providing essential support to farmers.
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