Abstract Research - Regenerative Agriculture

Regenerative agriculture is a future-proof form of food production that combines farming with soil improvement and nature restoration, while providing a sound revenue model for farmers. It makes use of self-regulating natural processes, requiring few external resources. By focusing on improving soil health and making optimal use of ecosystem services, the quality of the soil and the natural environment surrounding the farm can improve. Although a regenerative approach in dairy farming can solve various problems, it is currently difficult to find a revenue model for this way of farming.

The research questions
1. What opportunities and obstacles exist in developing regenerative business models?
2. Which stakeholders (particularly financiers and supply chain partners) are needed for this, and what role do they play in this process?
3. How can the interaction between farmers, banks, buyers, consumers, government, and other relevant parties be improved? What is needed to establish these new forms of collaboration?
4. What foundation is needed to scale this up and make it possible in other areas as well?
5. What is the role of governments (national and regional) in the transition to new revenue models and a regenerative system?

Brief Methodology
The results are based on:
• Individual interviews with dairy farmers in the Northeast Friesland and Twente regions,
• Discussions with other stakeholders in the supply chain, the region, and government agencies,
• Workshops and group discussions involving a mix of dairy farmers and stakeholders.

Key Findings
Opportunities and Barriers
There are a number of barriers that play a role in the transition to a regenerative farm. Poor institutional conditions hinder the shift to regenerative business models due to a lack of clarity regarding rules, policies, and expectations; conflicting policies; the perception that the government does not understand the realities of farming; and dissatisfaction with top-down communication. The embedding of dairy farmers in an export-oriented value chain (where production occurs at the lowest possible cost with heavy use of inputs) poses a barrier due to a lack of structural incentives for more sustainable production, insufficient financial resources to transition to a more sustainable business model, a lack of alternative markets, strong influence of supply chain actors, and limited attention to regenerative agriculture in education. There are knowledge gaps regarding regenerative agriculture; visible and measurable results take a long time to achieve, there is uncertainty about the link between measures and their effects, measurement methods are expensive, and local conditions pose challenges.

In addition, there are many opportunities for regenerative agriculture. Farmers’ intrinsic motivation, identity, and sense of community offer opportunities for a shift toward regenerative agriculture, provided that the aforementioned barriers are removed. Shared problem ownership makes it possible to link policy measures aimed at solving societal problems with their implications for farmers’ revenue models. It is essential to improve the relationship of trust between the government and farmers.

Role of (supply chain) stakeholders and the government

A transition to regenerative agriculture requires a major shift across the entire system, involving everyone in the supply chain and requiring them to adapt. Encouraging a collective movement should prevent greenwashing and help drive progress. Sustainability is important for society and requires structural investments (from public and private funds) and an active approach from, for example, companies in the supply chain. It is important that all measures and goals are well aligned and that administrative burdens are minimized by simplifying sustainability requirements. The role of governments must change at various levels. There is still a significant lack of knowledge, expertise, and resources at the local and regional levels to provide effective guidance. This calls for a coordinating role, with room for policies that fit the local and regional context.

Interactions and Scaling Up
The foundation for scaling up is the thorough documentation of collaborative process steps, so that lessons learned can be applied elsewhere. This always requires a tailored approach, with the involvement of local stakeholders. It is essential to build a relationship of trust among the parties involved, with shared ownership of the change process

Our recommendations
• Set clear goals and requirements for the future of dairy farming.• Make policy comprehensive and ensure comprehensive assessment of agricultural businesses, plans, and applications.
• Provide financial support to farmers to help them achieve environmental goals (quickly).• Create a new intermediate land category between agriculture and nature.
• Ensure that experiments and trials are followed up.• Establish an independent, sustainability-focused, and non-commercial information and knowledge ecosystem.
• Prevent and reduce administrative burdens.• Restore trust through better communication.