Regenerative farms are between 24% and 38% more productive than the average European farm, according to a landmark study.
The European Alliance for Regenerative Agriculture (EARA) benchmarked 78 regenerating farms in 14 countries, including the UK, covering over 7,000 hectares against neighbouring and average conventional farms. Their performance was assessed by agricultural and ecological productivity presented in a “new, simple and comprehensive multidimensional index” – Regenerating Full Productivity (RFP).
The results are impressive – especially in terms of yields. Regenerating farms achieved, on average, only a 2% lower yield (in kilocalories and protein), while using 61% less synthetic fertiliser and 76% fewer pesticides per hectare.
Europe’s farmers tend to import more than 30% of livestock feed from outside the EU, however the assessed farmers achieved their yields using “no feed from outside their bioregion”.
The report reads: “[…] regenerating systems, whether rooted in agroecology, conservation agriculture, organic farming, syntropic agroforestry or other disciplines, are not only viable but already superior in most contexts.”
In Greece, EARA farmer Sheila Darmos is producing olives, oranges, limes and lemons with 280% higher yields per hectare, using zero fertiliser or pesticides and 78% less fuel than national averages. This has not happened overnight, taking years of hard work and risks, but results like this across dozens of farms will undoubtedly add momentum to the ‘regen ag’ movement.
“The fourth agricultural revolution is unfolding now,” said EARA executive director Simon Krämer as he presented his team’s findings at an online briefing, which means consigning “The Green Revolution to the bin”.
The European Commission has just projected €60bn (£51bn) in agricultural losses by 2025, rising to over €90bn by 2050, driven by climate change, input dependency and a failing food system.
According to EARA, conventional approaches to agriculture with high chemical inputs actually put Europe at risk due to “ever more fragile yields, rising input quantities and costs”.
The farms involved in the study also demonstrated the agroecological advantage of regenerative approaches: in the five years from 2019 they boasted 23% more soil cover and 17% higher plant diversity than their conventional neighbours. Photosynthesis was also 24% higher.
Together the results mean “more biodiversity and better soil health”, EARA said. If regenerating forms of agriculture were adopted on half of Europe’s farmland it could “more than offset current EU agricultural emissions”. Full adoption would mitigate three times current agricultural emissions in the block.
Yann Boulestreau, an arable farmer and consultant in Germany, hopes the study will make people realise that restoring ecosystems while being productive and profitable “is not a dream of some theory- lovers sitting in offices. It is what pioneer farmers are achieving on their fields throughout Europe”.
