What’s the difference between “Regenarative Farming” and traditional “Mixed Farming”?

Pilatus

Member
Location
cotswolds
As above.
I would have thought that the traditional mixed farming system ,utilising Grass leys for livestock, and then planting cereals into those leys is the same as regenerative farming :scratchhead:
I am obviously missing something??
Is it the economics of the system , especially if one is paying a high rent or mortgage equivalent..😉
Forgot to say.
As mixed farming/regenerative farming needs livestock, that is at direct odds with Supermarkets , Vegans etc etc , trying to manipulate the general public to switch to a vegan diet , to enable the supermarkets to increase there profits !!!
 
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tr250

Member
Location
Northants
The way I see it coming from a mixed farm is that we do the same as always which is being self sufficient as possible, aiming to use less bought in inputs without moving the soil. The aim is to be somewhere between what I call 80s-90s farming which is yield at all cost and organic while still keeping production at a reasonable level
 

Frank-the-Wool

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
East Sussex
Mixed farming is farming livestock and cereals crops on the same holding , regenerative is mainly about how you manage your soils so no it's not the same
I'm a cyclist not a sportsman , mixed farming is a broader term as a sportsman is

Can you then exactly define how you achieve regenerative?
If I have PP that I graze with livestock, apply no artificial fertilizer, occasionally take a cut of Hay but do little else, is this Regenerative?

If I plant a grass ley with clover, apply a moderate amount of artificial fertilizer, take Hay/Silage and then graze with livestock is this regenerative?

If I plant a fodder crop with fertilizer and feed livestock on it and after a year put it back to grass, is this regenerative?

If I grow continuous cereals I presume it is not regenerative?
If I grow cereals and plant a break/fodder crop in between is it regenerative?

Does it not depend on the quality of the land and the climate?
 

Derrick Hughes

Member
Location
Ceredigion
Can you then exactly define how you achieve regenerative?
If I have PP that I graze with livestock, apply no artificial fertilizer, occasionally take a cut of Hay but do little else, is this Regenerative?

If I plant a grass ley with clover, apply a moderate amount of artificial fertilizer, take Hay/Silage and then graze with livestock is this regenerative?

If I plant a fodder crop with fertilizer and feed livestock on it and after a year put it back to grass, is this regenerative?

If I grow continuous cereals I presume it is not regenerative?
If I grow cereals and plant a break/fodder crop in between is it regenerative?

Does it not depend on the quality of the land and the climate?
was referring to the heading , you just answered it yourself , if as in your first point , if you keep all livestock you can't be a traditional mixed farmer but you could easily fit the mold of a re-gen , I used to be a mixed farmer , sheep beef and corn , but used a hell of a lot of sprays and firtilzer, so I was a mixed farmer not a re-gen one
 

Derrick Hughes

Member
Location
Ceredigion

OriginsEdit

Regenerative agriculture is based on various agricultural and ecological practices, with a particular emphasis on minimal soil disturbance and the practice of composting.[10] Maynard Murray had similar ideas, using sea minerals.[11][12] His work led to innovations in no-till practices, such as slash and mulch in tropical regions.[13][14][15] Sheet mulching is a regenerative agriculture practice that smothers weeds and adds nutrients to the soil below.[16][17
 

Derrick Hughes

Member
Location
Ceredigion
Mixed farming doesn't sound sexy

Regenerative does.

Another meaningless soundbite
I'm not having some new found woke mixed farmer saying I was never a mixed farmer because my shed was full of Nitram , fungicides and herbicides , and a big reversible plough

I am now swinging to a re-gen farmer , I don't plough unless I have to , don't buy chemical fertilizers and introducing herbs and legumes
 
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Ffermer Bach

Member
Livestock Farmer
The way I see it coming from a mixed farm is that we do the same as always which is being self sufficient as possible, aiming to use less bought in inputs without moving the soil. The aim is to be somewhere between what I call 80s-90s farming which is yield at all cost and organic while still keeping production at a reasonable level
organic is not necessarily regenerative. Organic often has to "move lots of soil" which is not regenerative. Organic is just following a set of rules that remove a lot of chemicals from the system, and have excellent marketing I will add. Regen is all about looking after the soil and building carbon content in the soil, so to my mind has a far more robust intellectual foundation.
 

Sid

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
South Molton
I'm not having some new found woke mixed farmer saying I was never a mixed farmer because my shed was full of Nitram , fungicides and herbicides , and a big reversible plough

I am now swinging to a re-gen farmer , I don't plough unless I have to , don't buy chemical fertilizers and introducing herbs and legumes

When you regenerate something you fix/mend/improve.

If its not broken in the first place then you can not be regenerative.

It's a buzz word to make those that have just seen the light feel good.

They probably owned a square plough at one stage as well!
 

B'o'B

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Rutland
I suggest those that think they are re inventing the wheel by regenerative farming , get hold of a copy of George Henderson’s books “The Farming Ladder” and “Farmers Progress”, and read them. I am sure that they were doing regenerative farming all those years ago. :banghead: ;)
Pre the "Green revolution" you had to farm "regeneratively" as it was your only way of getting N into the system, and there weren't any quick fixes or get out of jail cards that could be brought in.

Edit: on reflection some of the cultivated fallows used for weed control were far from regenerative.
 
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Ffermer Bach

Member
Livestock Farmer
I suggest those that think they are re inventing the wheel by regenerative farming , get hold of a copy of George Henderson’s books “The Farming Ladder” and “Farmers Progress”, and read them. I am sure that they were doing regenerative farming all those years ago. :banghead: ;)
over the years or hundreds of years soil has been lost and organic matter lost, that does not imply to me that people were using regenerative farming principles in the past. I remember Mike Hann in college saying the worst thing to happen to soil was when the man doing the cultivating moved in front of the cultivator instead of behind it, so he couldn't see what effect he was having on the soil.
 

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Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

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quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
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