Regenerative Ag Celebrated at S.F. Conference

Last week, ReGenFriends kicked off the #BillionPersonMovement with its inaugural Global Challenge event focusing on regenerative agricultural practices. ReGenFriends labels itself a “customer-centric diverse and inclusive global platform that invites all different types of brands, businesses, organizations and customers to join together and promote regenerative solutions.”

The group has an expressed goal of sharing its programs and ideas with a billion people by Earth Day 2023. The one-day San Francisco show, held in a conference room at the Presidio Golden Gate Club, featured regenerative ag activists, as well as scientists, farmers, marketers, chefs and others who have a stake in the concept or are just advocates of it. In general, regenerative agriculture involves using a systems approach to farming that creates a net positive effect for the environment.

ReGenFriends founders Emily Olson and Nils-Michael Langenborg, kicked off the conference by giving attendees a sneak peak of a research study they authored defining “The Emerging Regenerative Customer." The basic message from the research was that consumers will support brands and products that are produced using regenerative practices. In fact, only one out of 10 consumers responded “No” when asked if they would support brands that are taking a more responsible approach to food and apparel production. Six out of 10 expressed positive views, while three out of 10 were non-committal.

Langenborg was unabashed in articulating the main goal of ReGenFriends: “We are here to change the world,” he said, adding that their needs to be a “fundamental shift” in agricultural production to reverse climate change. The day featured keynote speakers, panel discussions and “pitches” from companies and organizations working toward a regenerative economy.

One panel featured agriculturalists discussing farming practices that improve the soil, such as no-till farming and the use of cover crops. Jessica Chiartas, a PhD candidate in soils and biogeochemistry at UC Davis, revealed that research on crops grown on the university’s farms have shown that the use of organic farming techniques significantly improve the quality of the soil. Soil is a very important factor in regenerative farming as it is through these specific farming practices that carbon can be removed from the atmosphere and sequestered in the earth.

Other panelists explored the use of these techniques in cattle grazing and the beneficial use of land being used for solar power installations. Nick de Fries of Silicon Ranch Corporation noted that he manages 16,000 acres of ground with solar panels on it. Besides generating clean, carbon-neutral power from that land, Silicon Ranch is now getting a net positive result by utilizing carbon-sequestering practices on the ground below the panels. “We are making the soil part of the solution,” he said.

The farmers’ panel included Cannon Michael, president of Bowles Farming Company in Los Banos, CA. Bowles has earned its reputation as an environmentally friendly farming operation with its mix of organic and conventional crops, its use of technology to increase water efficiencies and decrease its carbon footprint, and its efforts to restore degraded habitats and improve the ecological functionality of working lands.

But Michael did caution the crowd about labeling non-regenerative farming techniques as unenlightened or environmentally challenged. He said farmers necessarily work their land for generations and it’s “counter-intuitive” to believe that they are systematically or deliberately harming the very soil they need to survive. “Soil is the foundation of our business,” he said, and added that asking a grower to change his farming practices without risk mitigation is a tough road to hoe. “We do what we do because it works.”

He added that he has a 20-crop rotation and adding cover crops may not produce the economic results he needs. "Farmers respond to economics," he said, noting that a farmer can change on a dime if there is a value. "It costs about $400 per acre to execute a cover crop."

Michael said farmers will change their practices, if consumers are willing to pay the increased costs.

That topic was repeated throughout the day with many discussions centered around the concept that there has to be incentives to stimulate change. One speaker indicated that the premium organic produce receives in the marketplace has worked as an incentive, and has resulted in greater organic production. “How can we unlock that model,” asked Erin Heitkamp of Pipeline Foods, which has a product line-up including ancient grains and organic field crops.