The Indigenous Origins of Regenerative Agriculture

by Tracy Heim (National Farmers Union) ... Long before the arrival of Europeans, Indigenous populations protected local ecosystems and preserved biodiversity through land management and farming practices. European settlers did not arrive at an ‘untouched land,’ an idea known as the ‘pristine myth’ of the early Americas. Charles Mann, the author of “1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus,” notes how the pristine land myth obscures the reality that Indigenous Americans actively shaped the environment around them. As we rethink American history, we can thank Indigenous Americans for advancing practices that define sustainable agriculture and land stewardship.

Diverse farming systems are central to today’s regenerative agriculture movement – but the concept is far from new. For hundreds of years, Indigenous Americans have planted more than one crop together in a practice known as intercropping. Intercropping is based on synergy in which the physical aspects of each plant complement one another and improve each other’s health and growth. A combination of corn, beans, and squash known as the ‘Three Sisters’ was cultivated extensively by the Iroquois in the Northeast. In this system, the corn stalks provide a natural trellis for the beans to grow on, which in turn help the corn grow by adding nitrogen to the soil. At the same time, the squash vines act as a “living mulch” that maintains soil moisture and prevents weeds from growing.

Successful intercropping relies on growing crops that complement one another and minimally compete for resources. When done correctly, this practice can improve crop productivity, crop yield stability over time, and overall soil health. Intercropping can also help manage pests naturally, reducing weeds, insects, and diseases. The principles of intercropping can also be applied to cover crops, so as to improve soil health, sequester carbon, and bolster biodiversity year-round.

Polycultures, or planting different species of plants in the same area in a way that imitates nature, has similar benefits to intercropping.

The modern sustainable agriculture movement prioritizes water management and climate-specific adaptations using many pre-colonial practices. For example, Indigenous communities in more humid climates planted the Three Sisters on mounds of soil, which drains the soil of excess moisture. Today, mounds are still used as a way to preserve soil and reduce erosion.

In contrast, the Hohokam tribe in Arizona dug and maintained canals as an irrigation system to facilitate farming in a relatively arid climate. Similarly, the Pueblo peoples used light dams to prevent deep ruts and gullies from forming and redirect the water for agricultural and other purposes.

Indigenous Americans practiced agroforestry, or the management of trees, crops, and animals together in a way that benefits all three. Silviculture, the management of tree growth and forest composition, was practiced in the prehistoric Eastern Woodlands and to foster wildlife populations and improve hunting. Along those same lines, Native Americans also grazed animals among trees using a practice now known as silvopasture.

Across the Americas, Indigenous populations used controlled fires to manage forests. Over time, trees would grow back in a process known as environmental succession, shifting nutrients from the soil to an organic form. The grasslands of the Midwest and Southwest resulted from swidden agriculture which involves selectively burning forests to use ash as a fertilizer for crops and promote regeneration over time.

Permaculture refers to agricultural systems that are sustainable and mimic natural patterns while allowing for production. The core of permaculture is working with, as opposed to against, natural forces and having a deep understanding of the local environment. By planting species that accumulated or ‘fixed’ nitrogen and other vital nutrients to the soil, Native Americans overcame a main limiting factor in plant growth. Indigenous populations in the Northeast and Midwest planted legumes, a nitrogen-fixing crop, a practice that is now used to reduce dependence on fertilizers and improve soil health. READ MORE

Excerpt from Forbes: Only scale can bring down costs and increase reach to the point that regenerative food becomes everyday food connecting more mouths to more acres in a food system that actually creates positive impact as a whole.

Technology can help, but isn’t a silver bullet. In regenerative agriculture, the role of new technology isn’t to replace or fight nature, but to understand and help her. Technology can absolutely help us do things like count and track carbon (e.g. Regrow Ag), move cows (e.g. Vence), track production (e.g. AgriWebb), and measure nutrients (e.g. BFA). But tech alone is not enough.

In my view, new and scalable business models represent the biggest opportunity for catalytic innovation. Novel business models will be required to get more and different products to more people and places along different supply pathways. In the same way that companies like Uber disrupted urban transport with a different way to match riders with drivers, novel business models can aggregate food supply and demand while operating more diverse and flexible supply and distribution networks (e.g. Barn2Door, CrowdCow). Novel business models may also have an especially important role to play in pricing and transacting associated benefits (e.g. Nori, Grass Roots Carbon), and could even define whole new asset classes (e.g. Intrinsic Exchange Group). Just like Uber, Amazon and Tesla were once the quirky names of new-to-the-world business models, the complexities of a new “field to fork” food system present a huge opportunity for great new brands to make and deliver on new honest promises.

A final point for emphatic clarity – “scale” DOES NOT mean repeating the tragedy of get big or get out which defined 20th century farming. In nature, scale doesn’t necessarily come from a few big things, it more often comes from connecting the small and many. After all, there is more biomass in ants than elephants on this planet.

Likewise, large incumbents can still play, but they would be smart to remember that it was the smaller dinosaurs called “birds” that adapted and thrived when the world changed. They would be wise to keep their eyes on agile upstarts creating dynamic, distributed and multi-scale supply chains, instead of lumbering, centralized, and monolithic ones. And although many will try to just mimic outward appearances, neither will it work to glue some fur on their hides and pretend to be mammals. Real transformation from a degenerative to a regenerative food system is required.

Although the path is fuzzy, the objective is clear – now is the time to turn wildflower gardens into prairies. It’s time for regenerative agriculture to scale or die. READ MORE