What is Regenerative Agriculture?

Nature has maintained an ecological balance on this planet for a long time; until recent history humans have disrupted that ecological balance with the adventation of agriculture. Agriculture has been a disruptive force on our planet. The domestication of plants, animals and ultimately ourselves. The land where Parker Creek Ranch resides has been permanently changed by human influences. The Native Americans that once resided here were primarily hunter-gatherers. They carefully took only what they needed from the landscape and when it could not provide they moved on. Agriculture has made us sedentary. My ancestors from Alsace brought with them cattle and other livestock that overgrazed the once vibrant savannah. They cut down all of the ancient oak trees along the creek for firewood. Overgrazing catapulted the ecosystem into “repair mode” and doing so brought on the invasion of soil building brush and mesquite trees. We plowed the land for over a hundred years robbing the soil of all it’s minerals and microscopic life. We sprayed chemicals on the weeds we didn’t like, fertilized the ground with nitrogen fertilizer crusting the Earth with a layer of salt, all to control nature. I can’t blame the previous generations for their destructive practices because they simply didn’t know any better and were oblivious to the consequences of fighting against nature. We were unknowingly steering our land in a direction that was not sustainable. They employed all of the industrial tools and techniques that science had developed to take the cost out of farming and increase yields.

In 2010 we began the conversion of a conventionally-run commodity cattle ranch to a regenerative farm. We raised cattle, pigs, ducks, chickens and turkeys using natural methods of production. We rotate the animals throughout our pastures at Parker Creek Ranch. The cattle forage for grass and browse the brush, the poultry eat insect and seeds, just as nature intended. The domestic animals fertilize the land with their manure, giving the soil nutrients and organic matter. The energy, carbon, mineral, microbial and water cycle are slowly being regenerated on this damaged landscape. This method of raising livestock isn’t the cheapest. We believe that this method of livestock production is best for the animals, the land and healthiest for the people that consume them.

Regenerative agriculture not only benefits ecosystem function, but it also reverses climate change by rebuilding soil organic matter and restoring degraded soil biodiversity - resulting in both carbon drawdown and improving the water cycle. It’s a holistic land management practice that leverages the power of photosynthesis in plants to close the carbon cycle, and build soil health, crop resilience and nutrient density. Regenerative agriculture improves soil health, primarily through the practices that increase soil organic matter. This not only aids in increasing soil biota diversity and health, but increases biodiversity both above and below the soil surface, while increasing both water holding capacity and sequestering carbon at greater depths, thus drawing down climate-damaging levels of atmospheric CO2, and improving soil structure to reverse civilization-threatening human-caused soil loss. Research continues to reveal the damaging effects to soil from tillage, applications of agricultural chemicals and salt based fertilizers, and carbon mining. Regenerative Agriculture reverses this paradigm to build for the future.