Regeneration nation: What might our future farms look like?
New Zealand has long been a food-growing nation, but with agriculture (largely for export) making up half of the countrys greenhouse emissions , and being a major contributor to soil and water pollution, we must find ways to do it more sustainably. If farming is to survive, it needs to change. But how, when, and by whom? Its too easy to blame farmers for our current environmental state. There is no farmer to my knowledge that purposefully says lets ruin the environment so the townies get mad, or lets ruin the environment, so my kids wont be able to farm, says Professor Pablo Gregorini, the head of Lincoln Universitys Centre of Excellence for Designing Future Productive Landscapes. READ MORE: * The good soil: Kiwis make regenerative farming strides overseas * New Zealand farming has the change reflex - so why aren't we using it when it's needed the most? * $80,000 scholarship a boost for Maori financial independence research Having worked for 15 years across ten different countries, Gregorini says New Zealand farmers are some of the quickest to adopt new technologies because they care about the land. Changing our farming systems starts with stepping back and reframing how we, as a nation, think about our land. Is it something to tamed, ploughed and fertilised to extract maximum production and profit? Or is it more holistic seeing land for all its benefits. Land as a foodscape, a wildscape, a healthscape, a socialscape. A farm could be all of those things, says Gregorini. Maori offer a deeper lens yet. Like other indigenous cultures, Maori recognise links between healthy ecosystems (including its life-supporting food) and peoples cultural and spiritual well-being.Maori knowledge is developed in place, through intergenerational observation and connection with the land. Its about being co-producers and co-creators with nature. Not above nature, but a part of nature, says food sovereignty researcher and family food farmer, Dr Jessica Hutchings (Ngai Tahu, Ngati Huirapa, Gujarati). Some of this thinking is finding expression in the regenerative farming movement a global phenomenon thats grown in popularity since the 1980s. Its part of the wider case being made for steering away from chemical-intensive, monoculture methods. Regenerative agriculture involves practices that help reverse climate change by restoring degraded soil and rebuilding soil organic matter resulting in carbon drawdown, improved waterways and increased biodiversity. Unlike organics, it has no firm definition and can mean many things to many people. At worst, it's used as a sort of greenwash for farming-as-usual. At best, it provides the pathway to a more sustainable food system. Looking ahead, farming-as-usual is just not going to cut it. The pandemic reminded us of the value of locally grown food and gave us a glimpse of what can happen when supply chains fail. The storm-led destruction across farmland over the past months pressed home the urgent need to build climate resilience into our food production systems. New opportunities and challenges are also coming in the shape of long-term weather patterns. Climate change could make Aotearoa's future temperatures better for farming new crops, according to a new Global Change and New Zealand Biosecurity report by Better Border Biosecurity. But there will also be increased risks of new, invasive plant-destroying insects, weeds and diseases, warned the researchers from the two-year collaborative project. Farming cant just be about producing food for nourishment any more, says Gregorini. Its about providing what he calls ecosystem services and creating landscapes that are multi-functional by design. When you have too much of the same thing, it can go from a remedy to a poison, says Gregorini. And if you look at the history of New Zealands primary sector, we have tended to have a lot of the same thing. Theres demand from the Government, from consumers and even parts of conservative society for a more holistic approach. Gregorini and his research team are trying to build it with their prototype systems at the Lincoln University research dairy farm. The success of the trials and the interest in this systems-based approach has proven to Gregorini that agriculture can be sustainable and ethical. This work encompasses cows selectively bred with lower nitrate excretion levels, research into the ways a broader variety of crops and pasture can further reduce nitrogen leaching while also improving milk quality, tree planting under irrigation systems, and using farm ecology to remediate issues. Gregorini says if we can change the current mindset and embrace a more integrated model, the future for agriculture looks very positive. We can enhance our landscape, remedy some things that have already happened and provide wealth. Hutchings says there's something wrong with our system and with our way of thinking if, as a nation, we produce food for 50 million people, but can't even feed five million people, because it goes off to export. A founder of the Papawhakaritorito Charitable Trust, Hutchings teaches Hua Parakore and how to grow Kai Atua (pure food) for whanau or market gardens. As well as a food growing system, Hua Parakore is the first indigenous verification scheme for certifying organic kai. This is run by Te Waka Kai Ora (National Maori Organics Authority), and supported by a network of growers. I'm a proponent of the notion of organic regenerative, says Hutchings. We get the poisons off papatuanuku. We say no to GMOs on the whenua. Hutchings says at heart its about bringing kaupapa Maori back into food and farming in ways that restore and connect local food communities. This involves a return to place-based, small-scale food farming, and building resilient seed banks in every valley. Its about having more diversity in the landscape including riparian planting and cleaning up streams as well as growing methods that better sequester carbon, returning it to the soil. This isn't new korero, says Hutchings. It draws on the past such as Transition Towns conversations. People have been saying this for years but the time and the urgency is right now, it's right in front of us.