Farming as a Living System
Our food system needs our help to protect itself from rising global challenges, such as water scarcity, desertification, increased population growth, biodiversity loss, soil erosion, and ocean nitrification. Through natural observations and biomimicry, we can create a space for fruitful farming, long-lasting health, and nutrient-rich food.
If we look at a farm like a human body, we find that they’re both complex and highly diverse biological systems consisting of trillions of lifeforms of all shapes and sizes. These diverse organisms live symbiotically, constantly adapting to changes in their surrounding environment. Thus, both our bodies and our farms are happier and more resilient when we put our health first, tending to the lifeforms that live within us and other biological systems.
Just as we have unwillingly diminished vital microbes in the human gut through the overuse of antibiotics and highly processed foods, we have unwittingly devastated soil microbiota essential to plant health through the overuse of chemical fertilizers, fungicides, herbicides, pesticides, and heavy tillage. These soil microorganisms — such as bacteria and fungi — cycle nutrients and water to our crops and ultimately our health.
Like a forest, a farm’s ecosystem has dynamic systems within and above the soil. If there is a major disturbance to the farm’s ecosystem, a biodiverse system can recover rapidly. However, if biodiversity decreases, such as with modern chemical-based farming practices, the resilience of the entire system decreases, and it becomes unable to bounce back from disturbances. This missing factor in industrial agriculture has led to a “super-pest” crisis that occurs when pest species are exposed to toxic chemicals. They can evolve genetic changes that confer resistance to the harmful effects, which are then passed onto offspring and become widespread in future populations.
When we tend to farms holistically and view them as a living system, we see that the microscopic organisms at the bottom of the food chain and the larger organisms like crops and livestock– work together to create symbiotic relationships based on mutualism and cooperation.
What is Regenerative Agriculture?
Re·gen·er·ate
Verb
(of a living organism) regrow (new tissue) to replace lost or injured tissue.
adjective
reformed or reborn, especially in a spiritual or moral sense.
Ag·ri·cul·ture
Noun
the science or art of farming, including cultivation of the soil for the growing of crops and the rearing of animals to provide food, wool, and other products.
“Regenerative Agriculture is a system of farming principles and practices that increases biodiversity, enriches soil, improves watersheds, and enhances ecosystem services. It aims to capture carbon in the soil and aboveground biomass (plants), reversing current global trends of atmospheric accumulation and climate [challenges]. At the same time, it offers increased yields, resilience to climate instability, and higher health and vitality for farming and ranching communities.” – Terra Genesis International
Regeneration occurs in all biological systems when we renew something that has been damaged. For example, your body uses stem cells to replace damaged or dying cells. Without them, we wouldn’t grow or heal our bodies after injury. Regeneration allows us to live a meaningful life with the diverse challenges human beings face on Earth.
Some examples of regenerative agricultural practices include (1) Reduced to No-Till Farming, (2) Cover Cropping, (3) Increasing Plant Diversity, (4) Organic Annual Cropping, (5) Animal Integration, (6) Managed Grazing, (7) Silvopasture, and (8) Agroforestry.
What is Regenerative Technology?
Tech·nol·o·gy
Noun
“science of craft”, from Greek, techne, “art, skill, [the] cunning of hand”; and, -logia) is the sum of techniques, skills, methods, and processes used in the production of goods or services or in the accomplishment of objectives, such as scientific investigation.
Nature is inherently regenerative because it utilizes energy one hundred percent efficiently. It does this through the continuous cycles of death and rebirth. This natural cycle exists in plants, humans, and animals. Microbes break down organic matter into the building blocks of life, so they are available for rebirth and regrowth.
Let’s take it back to Chemistry 101– The first law of Thermodynamics states that “energy is never created nor destroyed.” As humans, we struggle to complete the cycle of life. We are excellent makers of novel commodities, but we also cause damaging pollution and waste.
In our current paradigm, human technology is nowhere near being as efficient as nature. All of our processes create waste heat, pollution, material, etc. which could be more intelligently recycled, repurposed, and redirected toward beneficial use.
Regenerative technology then is a technology designed utilizing the principles of biomimicry striving towards nature’s perfect efficiency. For example, when an element within the natural ecosystem dies, its constituent nutrients are absorbed into the soil and repurposed to support a different form of life. Regenerative technology strives to support this circular process to give the natural environment the space to self-regulate and heal.
Our technologies are designed to be as regenerative as possible, given our current state of knowledge of awareness – we don’t claim to be perfect, but we do promise to strive for perfection, transparency, humility, and balance.
Our TerraFlow™ water structuring technology simulates the processes that occur naturally as part of the water cycle, returning irrigation water to its natural state, thereby reducing water and input needs by 30% or more, with nothing to replace and nothing to wear out. Our TerraScribe™ frequency imprinting technology potentiates mineral activity by charging and restructuring water for maximum hydration and impact to the crops and soil, while imparting information patterns of the macro and micronutrients. And our TerraCell™ technology utilizes tissue samples of pests and pathogens along with soil samples to identify biometric signatures that can then be used to broadcast superluminal signals to treat the farm.
Please reach out if you’d like to learn more.