Facts and myths about regenerative agriculture

Soil is not only the basis of crop production, but also the primary source of our life and food. Yet it is being destroyed at a dramatic rate worldwide, while agriculture has reached a crossroads. Regenerative agriculture is not just another fad, but an opportunity for a comprehensive change in mindset. This approach aims not only to produce, but also to heal: the soil, the ecosystem, and the farmer. But does it really work? And won't it just become another green illusion? In our article, we explore the facts and misconceptions in a clear yet in-depth manner.

– I have been farming regeneratively ever since I realized that this is the only way to improve my soil, he says. Zoltán Szabó, farmer and regenerative consultant in Bács-Kiskun County. – I would never go back to tilling the soil because it is unnatural. There is no natural example of soil needing to be tilled. On the contrary, soil builds up from the top down without being disturbed.

Photo: shutterstock.com

My grandfather also plowed, and there's nothing wrong with that. We often hear objections to soil-conserving or soil-renewing technologies. Did our ancestors really know how to farm well, or is change necessary? Is regenerative agriculture really good for us, or is it just another tool for greenwashing? Won't we drown in glyphosate?

A regenerative agriculture A farming approach that not only preserves but also improves soil health, helps restore natural ecosystems, and adapts to climate change. The goal is not only to produce food, but also to develop more living, healthier soil, greater biodiversity, and more efficient water and nutrient cycles. This approach does not mean a single method, but rather various soil regeneration techniques (such as abandoning or reducing tillage, sowing cover crops, grazing livestock) adapted to local conditions.

Photo: József Molnár, soil protection expert, Bajót

The history and philosophy of the regenerative approach

The term regenerative agriculture was first coined by researchers at the Rhodale Institute in the United States in the 1980s in the „Regenerative agriculture: an approach to rebuilding soil and society”In Rodale's view, „regenerative” agriculture went beyond „sustainable”: it was not enough to simply preserve existing resources, but also to rebuild what traditional agriculture had destroyed—such as soil life, water management, and biodiversity.

„Let's change ourselves, and our soils will change too,” said Attila Szabó, president of the Soil Renewal Farmers' Association, in his presentation at the first public Soil Life Conference in Nemesnádudvar in January 2023.

Is change really necessary? Is traditional agriculture really destructive?

– Yes and yes. We often hear that our ancestors did not plow by accident, and if this form of agriculture worked centuries ago, it still works today. There is no need for change. Meanwhile, our fertile soil is being washed away by rain, blown away by wind, and depleted of its organic content. The soil is becoming a lifeless matrix in which we can only grow nutrient-poor food with the help of large amounts of external chemical inputs, fertilizers, and pesticides.

David Montgomery American geology professor at the University of Washington, also published in Hungarian Soil: the erosion of civilizations In his book, he traces the history of agriculture over the past 10,000 years. This work clearly shows us that the decline of great empires is closely linked to soil degradation. Of course, the rise and fall of these now-defunct societies is also linked to agriculture. The more efficient agriculture is, the more food it produces, the more the population grows, and the more land needs to be broken up and put under the yoke.

However, due to deforestation, constant soil disturbance and exposure, beyond a certain point the land is exhausted, They became salty, were carried away by the wind, and washed away by the rain. As the soil became increasingly infertile, it became more and more difficult to feed the growing population, and periods of prosperity were followed by wars, famines, and ultimately collapse. From Mesopotamia to ancient Egypt, from the Roman Empire to the Mayan civilization, the pattern is eerily similar.

Photo: János Horváth, farmer, Mezőfalva

So, no, what didn't work in the past won't work today either. We need to be aware of the scale. According to Montgomery, soil degradation and recovery follow each other in cycles of approximately a thousand years. A human lifetime is nothing compared to this time frame, and the slow change went unnoticed by our ancestors. However, this is not the case in today's fast-paced, technocratic industrial world. The soil is being destroyed before our very eyes. In the more than two centuries since the Industrial Revolution, thanks to increasingly efficient tools and the advent of fertilizers and pesticides, the destruction accelerated rapidly, and became visible.

Photo: shutterstock.com

In Hungary, the extent of soil degradation is becoming increasingly alarming. Driving across the country, we see snow-white slopes in the hilly regions, where farmers are now cultivating the subsoil because the humus-rich topsoil has washed away into the valleys. Meanwhile, desertification has already begun in the Great Plain, and predictions are growing louder that by the end of the century, the entire Great Plain will be characterized by a barren desert ecosystem.

We cannot allow the soil, the foundation of our lives and the future of our children, to disappear right before our eyes. We must take action. Regenerative agriculture and soil restoration offer a treasure trove of tools that can not only revive and revitalize our farmland, but also make our economy more resilient and sustainable.

Could regenerative agriculture be another tool for greenwashing?

– Of course. Everything can be used for good or bad. It would be naive to assume that no one in the market ever embellishes reality, exploits current market trends, or uses catchy slogans. Unfortunately, this is one of the scourges of our time, which also calls for change. Since there are no uniform, strict regulations on the use of the „regenerative” label, anyone can put it on their product. Some companies may overemphasize partial or minimal measures, while the rest of the system is unsustainable. Other times, the emphasis is more on communication than results: beautiful campaign videos, but little transparent data.

When used correctly, the framework of regenerative agriculture is an effective tool for soil renewal and ecosystem restoration. In Hungary, the most authentic representatives of regenerative agriculture are soil-renewing farmers who, without any external market influences, are committed to preventing desertification in the Carpathian Basin. Do they have a financial interest in this? Of course they do. Their farms have become more sustainable and profitable, giving them more time for their families or to learn from each other and share their knowledge with others.

Regenerative farmers have been put in a vise, between two trends. While advocates of organic, chemical-free farming reject the system because of farmers who still rely on chemicals (especially glyphosate), farmers who use traditional plowing techniques also reject their regenerative counterparts, which appear untidy and are labeled as sources of weeds, pathogens, and pests.

Are we really going to drown in glyphosate?

– Before we turn to the issue of glyphosate, let's take a brief look at history. It has become clear that physical and chemical-based agriculture has become unsustainable. The hundred years following the industrial revolution, with the invention of the steam engine, was the era of physics in agriculture. We used increasingly powerful and efficient machines to cultivate the soil. The biggest catalyst for soil degradation is tillage. The annual tilling and fragmentation of the soil structure prevents natural regeneration processes from taking place. The organic matter content of the soil oxidizes, and the living organisms that provide humus and nutrient cycling become impoverished. This accelerates the process of decline described above, leading to the collapse of civilizations.

The destruction accelerated in the chemical century. The chemical industry began to spread after World War I. Artificial nitrogen fixation from the air, which served as a raw material for explosives, and chemical weapons laid the foundation for the chemicalization of agriculture. For decades, this raised enormous hopes, as yields increased. At the same time, however, the use of chemicals further deteriorated the health of farmland. The basis of the food chain is the health of the soil. Unhealthy soil produces unhealthy food.

Although the store shelves are full with food, these often poor nutritional value. Due to soil degradation, they already contain fewer nutrients, which is further exacerbated by the residues of chemicals used during cultivation – so these foods are not only inadequate in terms of nutrition, but can even be harmful to our health.

And this is where glyphosate, the world's most widely used and most studied herbicide, comes into the picture, which is why regenerative agriculture receives the most criticism. In 2023, the European Commission renewed glyphosate's license for ten years, sparking outrage among activists and environmental organizations. Farmers, on the other hand, celebrated the fact that they would not have to resort to more complex and potentially more harmful chemicals. Zandra Klatyik, a MATE He was a research fellow at the Institute of Environmental Sciences and author of a review article published in 2023 summarizing the ecotoxicological effects of glyphosate on terrestrial organisms.

He concluded that in some cases this chemical has a toxic effect on many soil organisms (e.g., nematodes, snails, springtails), while in other cases no effect can be detected. Most of the studies reviewed were conducted in laboratories, with a small percentage conducted on degraded farmland, so it is doubtful whether the results are applicable to farmland with a living, diverse soil population. This is a very important question. If glyphosate is banned, there will be few alternatives left for terminating cover crops and controlling weeds: other, potentially more harmful herbicides or mechanical disturbance of the soil. We have already seen above what disastrous consequences soil disturbance can have.

Regenerative farmers use glyphosate in reduced quantities (1.5–2 l/ha) and never in crops. The greatest danger of glyphosate occurs with genetically modified resistant species and with desiccation to aid simultaneous ripening, as in these cases the agent enters human food and animal feed directly.

Glyphosate effects on soil life Individual studies show mixed and often contradictory results. According to researchers at the University of Texas, glyphosate application can stimulate microbial activity and biomass, and increase the rate of carbon and nitrogen mineralization. At the same time, high doses or long-term use can have a negative impact on soil fungal communities, reducing fungal biomass and species richness, according to a research group in Argentina.

According to studies conducted by researchers at the University of Helsinki in agricultural areas, the effect of glyphosate on soil fauna and ecosystem functioning was minor and temporary, and no herbicide residues were detected at the end of the experiment. The effect of glyphosate on soil microbes can vary depending on the dose applied, soil type, cultivation method, and soil microbiological activity. Although glyphosate can serve as a nutrient source for some soil microbes while clearly killing others, the overall effect of the agent on soil quality and plant growth in a regenerative agricultural system remains unclear.

What can we do today? – Reducing disturbance is key

– There is no doubt that we need to change agriculture's enormous appetite for chemicals. We need to find a way to phase out glyphosate and other pesticides from production. Not only because it is in our well-considered ecological interest, but also because the EU is moving in this direction. Anyone considering a transition to regenerative farming today must weigh up the options: mechanical weed control and cover crop termination, or chemical solutions. In the former case, much smaller improvements can be expected. soil health in this area, as disturbance is the most dangerous factor in soil degradation.

Triticale and peas sown directly into corn stubble (photo: Zoltán Szabó, Kiskunmajsa)

The most important job: taking care of the soil

– In the current agricultural environment, I consider the efforts of any farmer who is committed to soil improvement to be an acceptable and even welcome step. They can do this by reducing their use of chemicals, which they may eventually stop using altogether, or by using no chemicals at all. The key is that the soil be disturbed as little as possible (preferably only by direct seeding), always keep them covered, and ensure a permanent living root system to nourish the soil. The way we treat the land entrusted to us is the way it treats us. Almost half of Hungary is agricultural land, and here, on the brink of economic and ecological collapse, there is no more important profession than being a farmer. We need farmers who are capable of thinking and who can use their common sense to understand the enormous task that lies ahead of us. Let us change, and our soils will change too! The direction we take is up to us.

The author is a soil ecologist, the Soil Renewal Farmers Association head of the education program, the Terravitka founder

Author: Víg Vitália