Speciality-Food-Magazine-March-2025

room for those who want to lead by example. Having something similar within regenerative agriculture could see farmers stop progressing after they’vemet criteria. “The whole point of regen is to continue the principles.” Any standard, he adds, should be at a farm level, recording what’s been done every year, what’s been achieved and how thosemeasurements can actively be improved upon. “There’s that continual adaptation and focus on getting to a better place. If we have a rigid system, nature doesn’t work that way. For farmers to come on the regenerative journey they need flexibility.” Martin goes on to say he’s troubled by businesses using regenerative terminology for commercial gain, and that he believes the culprits should be challenged. “What are they doing to rejuvenate and regenerate systems other than ticking a box? They have to be accountable. Maybe it will come to an audit systemwhereby somebody else is saying you are continually improving.” The topic of a ‘standard’ or 42 @specialityfood security. For us and our members it provides value to our farmers, their animals and their land, not tomention the pride that they’re truly having a positive impact.” Working towards regenerative principlesmeans any farmer can start and be supported, she says. “Let’s all just try and be a little bit better every day – the impact of that could be huge.” Is regeneratively-farmed food healthier? More widespread studies will need to be done, but indications are that yes, food grown in a system that prioritises soil nutrition and grazing is healthier. A study in the USA, for example, led by professor DavidMontgomery of the University of Washington, found that micronutrient and phytochemical density was improved in no-till systems with cover crops and diverse crop rotations. “The biology of the soil was really the part that got overlooked inmoving to chemistry-intensive farming,” he said. “It may be that one of our biggest levers for trying to combat themodern public health epidemic of chronic diseases is to rethink our diet, and not just what we eat, but howwe grow it.” Neils cites the work of Dan Kittredge, founder of the Bionutrient Food Association. “His early day findings show a close correlation between improved nutrient density and improved soil biology.” Should there be any regu- lation or standard around regenerative farming? The overwhelming answer frommost in the sector is ‘no’. Barnes explains, taking organic certification as an example, that while it’s fantastic to have a trusted, legal definition, any standardisationwithin regen could stiflemuch-needed innovation. Producers should, he says, be looking at driving forward, not towards certification necessarily, but to a collection of practices everyone can understand. Martin is on a similar page to Barnes, saying that organic farmers deserve “loads of respect” but that the system’s rigidity, set rules and set inspections don’t leavemuchwiggle ‘GOING REGENERATIVE HAS CHANGED OUR LIVES’ WHAT DOES REGENERATIVE MEAN TO YOU? In the beginning we emulated what Claire’s grandad did with a similar system to him, including sheep, and it was quite intensive in using a lot of fertiliser and feed. We did that for a few years, but it was clear it was going to be very difficult economically because fertiliser and feed are very expensive. We felt we needed to be grazing and pasture-fed, so that’s what we do now. In summer we have 80 head of cattle we finish for beef. It’s 100% pasture-fed and Pasture for Life certified. The animals live outside all year with very little supplementary feed. And we’re going to be organic soon as well. In terms of herbicides, fungicides and insecticides, we went cold turkey, which is not what most would recommend doing. The land looked a bit hungry in the early years, but we decided we had to be quite brutal. We couldn’t afford to buy the fertiliser, and we wanted the land to recover as quickly as possible. WHAT DIFFERENCES HAVE YOU NOTICED SINCE YOU ADOPTED REGENERATIVE AGRICULTURE? We have an area where we keep the cattle in winter, and in summertime they don’t graze there at all. It gets a chance to grow, and everything can set to seed. As a result, we’ve got thousands of saplings springing out of the ground, particularly in the watercourses, which has been incredible to see. But also lots of wildflowers. Things like Trefoils, a bit of Scabious, and a lovely one is the Grass-of-Parnassus, the county flower of Cumbria. It’s beautiful, and we’d never seen it anywhere before. Also, we mob graze in summertime and that’s seen a massive change. At the beginning of 2019 we had three to four species per square metre in the meadows, and two to three years later in some places that’s up to 14 species, things like red clover and plantain – all just through a change in land management. Before farming as we are today, my wife Claire was working full time, and I was the only person doing the day to day on the farm. We were running ourselves into the ground without making any money. We didn’t foresee a future. Now Claire is working just five days a month and doing a lot more direct sales of the beef and pork. She’s also developing a leather business using the hides from the cattle, and it looks like this year could be quite good. This is so exciting. Once you start changing your business it can unlock other things you might be able to do. We feel like we have time to think about and look at the business rather than chasing our tails firefighting. DO YOU THINK THERE SHOULD BE REGULATION AROUND REGENERATIVE AGRICULTURE? The movement is so positive and wonderful I wouldn’t want to see it become policed and monitored too much. I think it’s down to each individual farm to work out what it might mean for them. We have to carry on and do what’s right. Sam Beaumont and wife Claire moved to her family business, Gowbarrow Hall Farm (part of the NFFN) seven years ago, discovering regenerative agriculture as a way to improve the health of their land, animals and finances. ‘WE WERE ONE OF THE FIRST REGENERATIVE FARMS IN THE UK’ WHAT DOES REGENERATIVE MEAN TO YOU? We’ve been no-till and regenerative focused since 2008, making that transition at a time where nobody was really talking about it or doing it at scale. It’s my grandad, Tony, who pushed it forward. For us, it was an economical move at the start. Our machinery was very very old, and we Thomas Gent is the fourth generation of his family to be involved in regenerative agriculture at Gentle Farming in South Lincolnshire, farming in fields bought by his great grandad post-WWII needed to invest, which was going to cost a lot of money. Grandad had been to Argentina and seen no-till, regenetative farming in practice and thought it looked interesting. He trialled a field for one year and it was one of the best on the farm! The next year we went completely into it, 100%. HOWHAS GOING REGENERATIVE IMPACTED THE FARM? The best way to test soil health is by organic matter. When we first started we tested a neighbouring farm and the soil organic matter was 3-4%, ours is 8-10%. It’s a huge difference. I can’t describe how much change we’ve been able to drive on the farm. We don’t have as much waterlogging, the plants are much healthier, and everything functions better. We see more butterflies and birds too. But it all starts with the soil. If you don’t have that foundation, nothing works properly. DO YOU THINK THERE NEEDS TO BE A FRAMEWORK OR STANDARD FOR REGENERATIVE AGRICULTURE? I think it’s really really good people are talking about regenerative farming more. It’s becoming a bit of a topic, but we need to make sure we’re not misleading anyone. We can’t be greenwashing. If we say we’re doing something, we need to do it properly and that means looking at the outcomes. I would not like a standard put in place though. People could be incentivised to do the bare minimum of the standard. That’s not how it should be. We should be trying to exceed what we do now. regulation is a “tricky one” admits Leona. “The great thing about regen is that it encourages all and welcomes everyone in. If you are committed to making a change, thenwe celebrate and support you.” Leona feels protective of the community and doesn’t want there to be barriers to progression. “If we consider the B Corpmodel for example, businesses need to have a base standard and long-term commitment to get started, and so long as they keep improving year on year, their accreditation stands. I quite like that as a theory.” Greenwashing is, she adds, a big challenge. “All we can do is hold ourselves to account andmake sure that we are doing all we can to offer confidence to the rest of the industry and consumers at large.”