b'I would always tell the farmers I worked with in North Dakota that they were growing soil. The crop they were growing, the livestock they were placing on the cropthose things are just tools to help grow better soil. And, for me, that is the heart of regenerative agriculture regenerated soil. Leveraging the experiences she garnered through her work with North Dakota farmers, paired with a PhD in soil science and her holistic view of the modern production agriculture paradigm, Nichols is regarded as a pioneering thought-leader on regenera-tive agriculture. The BasicsRegenerative agriculture operates in multiple ways to produce a soil health benefit. A systems approach that relies on the adher-ence to principles rather than certifications and prescriptions guides regenerative agriculture implementation. The approach hinges on keeping soil covered, minimizing disturbance, integrating a variety of plants to diversify life above and below the soils surface and the incorporation of animal, both macroscopic and microscopic.When I talk about integrating animals, it doesnt mean that everyone has to have a grazing animal, Nichols says. What itThis MyLand Boost system set up allows farmers to supercharge means is that you need to be thinking about the insects and thenaturally occuring microalgae in their soils.microscopic animals as well as the wildlife. And implementing the system is not an all or nothing approach, and context is an operative word that those looking to begin their journey in regenerative ag will hear frequently. Regenerative agriculture was started by farmers who had questions and wanted to see if there was a different way of doing things on their individual farms. They needed to make changesRegenerative agriculture was started by farmers who because of the stress level in their farming systems. And I thinkhad questions and wanted to see if there was a different theres a lot of interest in regenerative agriculture today because food production, at all levels, is under a lot of stress. But theresway of doing things on their individual farms. no one recipe to get there, Nichols says. Just like baking a cake Kris Nicholsis different if youre on the Atlantic coast; you cant just follow a recipe card. You have to respond to where you are and whats going on around you. Regenerative ag is the same. You have to be able to respond to weather projections, crop prices, and consumer demand. Regenerative ag allows you to have that dynamic response.Every farm is unique in its soil health starting point, long-termwere at, has a long history of conservation farming. Were all goals and available human, equipment and financial resources.trying to push the envelope and drive further. For us, its about But all can agree that any implementation is better than nomaking money and were using the cover crops and the no-till implementation.in these conservation systems as offensive management tools. Theyve got to drive dollars to our bottom line. The Bottom-Line Hora says that on the 700 acres that makes up his familys In southeast Iowa, Mitchell Hora is the seventh generation tofarming operation, every decision and every action must be farm his familys land, a responsibility he doesnt take lightly.profitable. The Continuum Ag founder and regenerative agricultureWe have to be profitable now, we cant wait, he says. champion is leveraging the ag conservation leadership thatToday, soil biology is the driver of both Horas on-farm and has always been a part of his familys farming operation withentrepreneurial business models. his ambition to help farms around the world achieve soil healthSoil is very biologically driven and its the biology thats through regenerative practices.going to help you manage your fertility, he says. Its not us as The conservation side of things has been ingrained for acaretakers of the land. Were actually farming those microbesreally long time, and, I think, thats why were at the spot thatthose microbes know how to farm a crop way better than we do, were at, Hora says. Dad started using no-till in 1978 and weveand now with the Haney test, were able to understand how to been using cover crops since 2013. Washington County, wherebetter farm microbes. 66/ SEEDWORLD.COMJANUARY 2022'