An Introduction to Regenerative Agriculture
For New York farmers and growers, the legalization of adult-use cannabis presents an unparalleled opportunity to create an environmentally regenerative industry. The MRTA is unique in its focus on small businesses and away from vertically integrated cannabis companies.
Creating a cannabis market based on small businesses and regenerative agricultural practices is the first step forward to a world where consciously-grown, community-based cannabis can heal the planet and uplift our local economies.
What is Regenerative Agriculture?
Regenerative agriculture describes a set of farming practices that are intended to build fertile, healthy soil by feeding the microbes in the soil.
Regenerative practices call for a polyculture of plants grown together in a living soil, where the plants each give and take different nutrients. This living soil is created from fertilizer and compost, and supports a healthy microbial population. In turn, plants are able to grow to their full potential without any chemicals, fertilizers, or pesticides.
Removing these chemicals from the process is beneficial to both the earth and the end consumer.
These techniques are available to all and have been used for millennia by Native communities across the world.
NYSF member suggestions to learn about implementing regenerative agriculture:
- The Regenerative Grower’s Guide to Garden Amendments
How is Regenerative Agriculture Different than Organic?
Like organic farming practices, regenerative agriculture eschews the use of any chemical fertilizers and pesticides, but it also goes a step further. Regenerative practices center the soil as an essential part of the growing process, and works to feed the soil, support microbial life, and create nutrient rich soil that produces nutrient-rich harvests.
Additionally, living soil pulls CO2 from the atmosphere and stores it underground, making it a carbon-sequestering practice.
This is a departure away from industrial farming methods that are carbon-heavy and treat the soil as a sterile medium through which nutrients are transferred. By incorporating soil health into the growing process, we are able to create a mutually beneficial and environmentally sustainable way of growing cannabis.
Why Cannabis?
Indoor grown cannabis is one of the most energy intensive industries in the US. It uses an incredible amount of water and energy, and releases disastrous levels of greenhouse gases. But our current industrial farming practices are no better, with nearly 1/3 of the world’s farmland destroyed in the last four centuries.
Soil is the second largest reservoir of carbon on the planet, and when treated properly, can be an essentially ally in the fight against climate change. Regenerative farming techniques take advantage of this by creating an environment where carbon-absorbing microbes flourish.
As a plant, cannabis naturally removes CO2 from the atmosphere, but cannabis grown in a living soil removes even more CO2. Since hemp is one of the fastest growing plants in the world, this presents a unique opportunity to remove CO2 from the atmosphere while supporting and empowering local economies through cannabis production. In a planet that is rapidly warming from C02 gas, we need more plants and farming practices that can draw it out of the atmosphere to slow climate change.
We believe that consciously-grown cannabis can heal the earth, rather than continue to drain it of resources. Regenerative agricultural techniques have been used by Native communities for centuries, creating a mutually beneficial relationship between the farmer and the earth. When we work in tandem with Nature, we’re rewarded with a more complex plant, a deeper understanding of the growing process, and the knowledge that we’re taking tangible steps to help the earth heal.
Why Should NY Cannabis Growers use Regenerative Agricultural Techniques?
As mentioned above, indoor grown cannabis is one of the most energy intensive industries in the US. As legalization spreads, this energy use is only set to increase.
Regenerative agricultural techniques are easiest to implement in small farms and businesses. With the adult-use bill giving priority to small farmers over vertically integrated companies, New York has the opportunity to start the cannabis industry off on a mutually beneficial and environmentally sustainable note for consumers and the earth, rather than becoming a larger drain on our already limited resources.
Regenerative agricultural techniques also put a larger emphasis on the terroir that the cannabis is grown in, giving users a wide variety of hyper-local plant cultivars to choose from, rather than the same lab grown selections over and over again. NY has a unique opportunity to set itself up as the most environmentally conscious cannabis market in the country, with the largest selection of craft cannabis through artisans producers using regenerative agricultural techniques.
Can I Use Regenerative Techniques in My Garden?
Yes! Anyone can incorporate regenerative agricultural techniques in your garden or farm to create a thriving soil environment. These techniques have been used for centuries across the world by Native communities, who understood that farming is a balance between the harvest and tending to the earth. The first step for any garden is creating a living soil that supports a healthy microbial population. This can be created through composting food waste, which in turn cuts down on household waste.
Once home growing opens up in New York, passionate gardeners will be able to grow cannabis alongside tomatoes, herbs, and any other plants. Even for experienced gardeners, the art of outdoor cannabis grow will be a new skill to master but your reward is home grown cannabis. For home growers who don’t have the space to grow outside, you can still create a living soil to use for your indoor plants.
Does regenerative agriculture make a difference?
Yes! At NY Small Farma, we believe we every person and every small business has the opportunity to create positive change in our world. By incorporating regenerative agricultural techniques into your cannabis growing or home garden, you’re deepening your relationship with the earth, developing your green thumb, and making a positive impact in the fight against climate change. No one is too small to have an impact!
Jessica Reilly
Jessica Reilly is copywriter, content strategist and cannabis aficionado. She combines her passion for cannabis with her talent for writing at Jessica Reilly, Writer and runs the Cannabis Creative Blog, interviewing industry leaders. She helps cannabusinesses create copy that speaks to the soul of your business, makes you stand out in Google, and establishes the foundation for an empire. Connect with her on LinkedIn, Instagram @Cannabis_writer, or on Hi-Curious at Jess the Cannabis Blogger.