LUNCHTIME WEBINAR SERIES:

Regenerative
Agriculture in Aotearoa  

What is regenerative agriculture?
How do we find out if it works?

 

Webinar registrations have now closed.

What will you learn?

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Hear from the lead authors of new reports on research pathways for regenerative agriculture in Aotearoa.
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Opportunity to ask questions of topic experts.
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Evidence gaps – and how to fill them – explained.
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1. Overview of Regenerative Agriculture in New Zealand

Webinar: Video now available

Reports: Released 22 October

New Zealand farmers, industry, processors and marketers have an increasing interest in the role of regenerative agriculture for our food production systems. This highlights the need to better understand what regenerative agriculture means in the context of our country – and for scientific testing of its claimed benefits.

Join the Our Land and Water regenerative agriculture project leads as they discuss the series of reports being released over the coming month and how they went about defining what research is most needed in Aotearoa.

This webinar also provides an overview of some of the regenerative principles applied in New Zealand, and thoughts on how regenerative agriculture emerged from the many ‘alternative agricultures’. The webinar will also provide broad insights on questions asked about regenerative agriculture by four key New Zealand agricultural sectors. Finally, the webinar holds a space for different considerations and opportunities for Māori farming entities.

3. Biodiversity and Animal Welfare

Webinar: Video now available

Reports: Released on 5 November

How can native biodiversity be included within the context of a regenerative agriculture farming system – and what role does biodiversity have as indicator of improved outcomes? These two questions are explored in this webinar, along with principles for implementing biodiversity conservation on regenerative farms in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Speakers also take a look at how terrestrial macrofauna invertebrates can be used as indicators of agricultural land management practices. It has been found that terrestrial invertebrate community assessments can provide valuable evidence of how land management practices impact biodiversity, and ecosystem function and services. The focus on macrofauna includes insects, spiders, earthworms and millipedes – all of which are sensitive to environmental disturbances.

Animal welfare is a complicated and emotive subject – tune in to hear about various ways in which animal welfare can be assessed in New Zealand pastoral farms and the key animal welfare questions raised in the context of regenerative agriculture.

 

2. Soil and Climate Change

Webinar: Video now available

Reports: Released 29 October

People are increasingly aware of the current food system’s role in the planet’s climate change crisis. Regenerative agriculture has been proposed as an opportunity to slow and adapt to climate change.

This webinar will examine nature-based solutions to climate change, such as reducing greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture, increasing soil carbon stocks, and increasing the resilience of farmland to flood and drought conditions. Presenters will provide an overview of the science gaps still to be closed and possible approaches to test whether regenerative agriculture indeed offers viable climate change solutions for New Zealand.

All these possible environmental benefits ultimately stem from the nurturing of healthy soils, and this webinar will also present a framework for assessing the impact of regenerative agriculture on soil health in New Zealand farming systems.

4. Productivity, Profit and Food Quality

Webinar: Video now available

Reports: Released on 15 November

The impact of regenerative agriculture on farm profitability cannot be looked at in isolation from the wider agrifood system, including domestic and overseas demand for regeneratively farmed food. In this webinar, we will provide an overview of market studies and data applicable to regenerative agriculture.

Presenters will explore the multiple lenses through which farm business performance can be assessed. How should we measure the impact on farm businesses when they adopt regenerative agriculture principles? How can costs and benefits from environmental impacts be accounted for? And what about farm productivity? What are the relevant approaches and metrics to determine whether the adoption of regenerative agriculture can increase the quality or quantity of farm produce? Is the much-debated concept of ‘food nutrient density’ relevant?

These are some of the questions addressed in the reports to be released a few days prior to this webinar, and will be explored at a non-technical level by the presenters.

5. Measuring What Works, Where It Matters

Webinar: Video now available

Reports: Released on 23 November

The adoption of regenerative agriculture principles might yield greater benefits in some areas of New Zealand – for example, in places that are already experiencing intense climatic challenges, or where communities are already working together and uphold strong land-stewardship principles.

From mountains to sea, land managers and scientists could work together to understand whether such benefits are real – and assess how substantial any benefits might be, now and in the future.

In this webinar, various ways of working together will be explored in multiple contexts, from vegetable production in Pukekohe, to improving farm systems for better nurturing of our precious fresh water.

Learn from topic experts

Join our experts for a discussion and Q&A about how we can fill the evidence gaps for regenerative agriculture in Aotearoa.

Gwen Grelet

Gwen Grelet

Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research

Clare Buchanan

Clare Buchanan

Align Farms

Geoff Ross

Geoff Ross

Lake Hawea Station

Hugh Good

Hugh Good

Beef + Lamb New Zealand

Mike Taitoko

Mike Taitoko

Calm the Farm

Sam Lang

Sam Lang

 Independent social researcher

Robyn Dynes

Dr Robyn Dynes

AgResearch

Charles Merfield 1

Dr Charles Merfield

 Future Farming Centre

Nicole Schon

Dr Nicole Schon

AgResearch

Matt-Harcombe

Matt Harcombe

Silver Ferm Farms

paulmudge

Dr Paul Mudge

Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research

David Norton FNC

Professor David Norton 

University of Canterbury

Gregorini Pablo

Professor Pablo Gregorini

Lincoln University

Dr Melanie Davidson

Dr Melanie Davidson

Plant & Food Research

Mitchell Donovan

Dr Mitchell Donovan

AgResearch

Carolyn Lister

Dr Carolyn Lister

Plant & Food Research

Ina Pinxterhuis

Dr Ina Pinxterhuis

Dairy NZ

Fiona Curran-Cournane

Dr Fiona Curran-Cournane

Ministry for the Environment

Johannes Laubach

Dr Johannes Laubach

Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research

Selai Letica

Dr Selai Letica

Our Land and Water

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Our Land and Water, 2021