LIFE REGEN FARMING - Regenerative agricultural practices: Demonstration of a sustainable agricultural and livestock soil management alternative. LIFE12 ENV/ES/000232 INFORMATION GUIDE ON REGENERATIVE PRACTICES ARKAUTE PARTNERS COLLABORATORS ORDUÑA RONCESVALLES
BACKGROUND The growing environmental concerns and the need to produce food in a sustainable and environmentally-friendly way make the agri-food sector a key sector for the society. The development of sustainable livestock brings many benefits that are translated into an optimum use of natural resources. Meantime inputs are reduced and positive externalities are increased. The LIFE REGEN FARMING project is part of this line of work, with the implementation of regenerative practices and measurement of their impact.
Throughout the life of the project, a great effort was made to combine la- boratory techniques with field methodologie, which were easy to assess for farmers and technicians to work with. All this way, the training/awareness raising and work dynamics of participatory research action (the environment in which farmers, researchers and rural development technicians actively collaborated) were key to the success and dissemination of the work.
What regenerative practices were used in the project? During the three and a half years of the project, a number of regenerative practices aimed at both soil conservation and determining its socio-economic and environmental viability were tested. The practices used were: direct sowing with perennial species and legumes, organic fertilizations from the farm and grazing plans. DIRECT SOWING Direct sowing is used when grasslands reach an unwanted botanical composition or to improve the nutritional quality with plants that are not present in the grassland. It has both environmental and technical-economical benefits, as it avoids turning the earth over, allows keeping permanent pastures, reduces the loss of soil, maintains fertility and reduces the fuel and the number of machine hours. How is this practice carried out? The choice of mixture of seeds depends mainly on the agro-climatic characteristics of each area and the managenment of the grassland (grazing, harvesting, etc.). The doses used in LIFE REGEN FARMING varied between 30 and 50 kg of seeds/hectare. Grasslands can be sowed in autumn or spring, but subjected to the availability of appropriate moisture and temperature in the soil.
Before sowing, it is important to take into account the fertility and soil type by carrying out a physical-chemical analysis. In addition, it is a good practice to graze or mowe the old grass. If grazing is chosen, it is best to avoid areas with tall grass. ORGANIC FERTILISERS Organic fertilisers produced at farms (manure) have great fertilising potential and their use reduces fertilisers inputs. Manure can be used directly or composted. In both cases, it is advisable to know its actual composition in order to adjust the fertiliser to the needs of each plot, as a criterion for optimising the provision of organic fertilisers on grasslands. Composting is a biological transformation process by which organic by-products (manure) decompose, giving rise to a stabilised and odourless product which is easy to store and distribute. For more information, please consult the ENEEK 2013 Compost Guide. When is this work carried out? Organic fertilisers should be applied when good use of their fertilising elements occurs, avoiding times of excessive rainfall or lack of moisture. Throughout the project, it was found that the regenerative grazing regime minimised the need of fertilisers on grasslands.
GRAZING PLAN A grazing plan is based on devising a timetable of use of grassland (grazing or harvest), considering the number of animals and plots. The plan is devised by taking into account the seasonality and production of the grasslands and is adjusted depending on any unexpected climate events that arise. How is this practice carried out? When preparing a grazing plan, it is advisable to know the agro-climatic conditions, as well as the potential seasonal production of the grass. In rapid growth periods (e.g. spring), a rotation schedule will be set for animals and a possible harvest of the surplus production. Longer rest periods will be left between the two consecutive uses of slow growth periods (e.g. summer). This preset plan needs to be adjusted to the current forage supply, which needs to be reviewed once a week. In the eyes of the farmer, the height of the grass or cutting a particular area and estimating the biomass are good indicators of the grass availability. At a more technical level, other indirect methods can be used, such as herbometers, plate meters, etc. In addition, when setting the grazing plan, it is also necessary to take into account the objectives of animal production, such as the evolution of milk production, body condition, etc.
HOW TO MONITOR ITS IMPACT IN THE FIELD? These practices are monitored both in the field and in the laboratory. In the field, a great effort has been made to use simple methodologies, such as soil health cards (AHCs) and chromatograms. AGROECOLOGIC SOIL HEALTH CARDS (AHC) What are AHCs? The AHCs developed within the LIFE SOILMONTANA (LIFE10NAT/IS/000579) project make possible to assess the impact of different agricultural activities on the health of pastoral agro-ecosystems. AHCs indicate how to measure a number of soil and vegetation indicators and the ranges considered to be good, normal and bad. These indicators are grouped to reflect the state of four ecosystem services that pastures provide, which are: grass production, biodiversity conservation, soil conservation and the fight against climate change. How are they carried out? On the SOILMONTANA website (www.soilmontana.com) tutorials are available for measuring each of the indicators, as well as a guide to best practices for the project.
CROMATOGRAMS What are chromatograms? Conventional analyses of soil fertility determine chemical elements (N, P, K, etc.) without considering interactions with physical and biological components. Chromatography is a complementary tool which makes possible to sense the interactions between chemical, physical and biological components. Chromatograms are soil images that provide qualitative information on their health. Using chromatography, a colour drawing is obtained of the soil, making it possible to recognise whether it is well structured, the minerals present are available for plants and there is good integration between the different soil phases. How are they carried out? Representative soil samples are collected for determining both chemical composition and croms. Chromatograms are carried out following the methodology described in the document Soil chromatography. As a result the LIFE REGEN FARMING project, we have a reference collection of more than a hundred chromatograms have been done, most of which relate to the grasslands involved in the project.
All this work has been done integrating RPA dinamics and training/awareness raising activities. WHAT IS PRA? Participatory Research Action (PRA) is an innovative work method, which bases research on the participation of all involved groups. It is a new working dinamyc in which the farmers themselves become actors in the research, interacting throughout the process, with direct personal involvement with the technicians and researchers. This innovative methodology improve decision-making through programmes for training, design of testing, selection and monitoring of indicators and evaluation of the results jointly and collectively. How is PRA carried out? PRA is based on identifying a specific need, creating a network of agents (farmers, technicians and researchers), systematising the work dynamics of the group, training/raising awareness in the group and designing specific pilot projects. Work tools were developed in the pilot project, which facilitated decisionmaking, knowledge transfer and the monitoring of actions carried out. In this sense, the LIFE REGEN FARMING initiative is a good example of a PRApilot project, as it had an association of farmers in Orduña from its inception and transferred simple methodologies for monitoring the implemented actions.
TRAINING AND RAISING AWARENESS What for? Training and raising awareness in different sectors involved in agriculture and livestock raising serves to improve knowledge, innovations, etc. In addition, it allows greater autonomy for farmers in decision-making on their farms. Training programmes, designed together with the sector in PRA methodology, make it possible to raise the awareness of participants. Spaces are promoted at these encounters to exchange experiences and knowledge, adapted to each particular context. How was this done in LIFE REGEN FARMING? Throughout the project a network of agents was created (farmers, technicians and researchers). They took part in designing the programmes for seminars held: Holistic management and planned grazing, Soil health under regenerative practices and Feeding ruminants with grass-based diet. In addition, a seminar to transfer results, several dissemination sessions and a final conference were held. This activity was accompanied with an active website, where news and information relevant to the project was uploaded. The project had more than 30 impacts in printed press and more than 100 appearances in digital media, 7 interviews on radio/tv and a very active website (more than 10,000 visits with more than 8,000 users). Also, 7 TV spots and a documentary was produced for the disemination of the project.
PERIOD OF EXECUTION From July 2013 to December 2016. COST AND FINANCING This project has been cofunded by the program LIFE of the European Commission. Total budget: 1,338,221 EU budget: 669,110 (50%) CONTACT Project head: Dr. Nerea Mandaluniz nmandaluniz@neiker.eus Tel. +34 945 121320 www.regenfarming.eu