IAC | Regerative Agriculture

Regenerative Agriculture
Projects

UNDERSTANDING THE FINANCIAL IMPACTS
OF REGENERATIVE AGRICULTURE

Regenerative agriculture approaches can provide a host of benefits, including revitalizing degraded land, increasing productivity or reducing risk in the case of extreme weather. But what does the research say about how regenerative agriculture financially benefits farms and ranches?

OVERVIEW

Learn how IAC and Environmental Defense Fund are collaborating to learn about the impact of regenerative agriculture on Native land.

REGENERATIVE AG ON NATIVE LAND

Find out what Native farmers and ranchers, as well as IAC staff, think about using regenerative agriculture practices.

FINANCIAL DYNAMICS OF REGENERATIVE AG

Explore existing research on the financial impacts of reduced tillage, cover cropping and rotational grazing.

CASE STUDY: ROSE RANCH

Thad Rose owns and operates Rose Ranch. We evaluated the financial profitability of Thad’s sustainable land practices.

Explore each section below to learn more.

Reduced tillage lowers production costs

Reduced tillage involves reducing the intensity and/or number of tillage passes across the field. This sometimes involves investments in new tillage equipment that can later be paid off by the annual cost savings associated with the practice.

Multi-farm studies have found that conservation tillage can have lower operating costs and higher net returns per acre compared to conventional tillage.

Iowa soybean farmers saved $10-$88 per acre in equipment, fuel and labor when using strip-till (Iowa Soybean Association, 2019)

Midwest corn and soybean farmers saved $14 in fuel, $6 in repairs and $30 in equipment per acre when using conservation tillage (Soil Health Partnership, 2020)

The most profitable tillage system for Illinois corn was ≤2 light tillage passes averaging a net return of $274/acre (Precision Conservation Management, 2020)

Efficient nutrient management can reduce costs while maintaining productivity

The 4R Nutrient Stewardship protocol can help producers define the right source, rate, time, and place for plant nutrient application. This helps producers achieve management goals such as increased production, profitability and sustainability.

The most profitable Illinois farms apply nitrogen in the range of 150-200 lb. N/acre for corn as a preplant or side-dress application. (Precision Conservation Management, 2020)

Illinois farmers applying in excess of 200 lb. N/acre experienced decreased profitability and water quality (Figure 2). (Precision Conservation Management, 2020)

Figure 2: Nitrogen rates, yields, returns, and environmental assessments of corn on high SPR 2015-2020.

What are some of the benefits you’ve experienced with regenerative ag practices?

Native producers have a variety of objectives for using regenerative agriculture approaches. Some shared by the interviewees include:

Figure 3: Cattle Grazing Management Systems Infographic, Source: University of Minnesota Extension

Due to high initial startup costs, many producers may think it takes a long time to recoup their investment. However, rotational grazing increases annual profit by sustaining more livestock on the same unit of grassland and, by managing forages more effectively, producers can reduce dependence on supplemental feed inputs, including grain and hay, while improving livestock performance.

Rotational grazing can cost $70/acre for ranches <100 acres, but costs less than $10/acre for ranges >400 acres. (Probert, 2013)

Dairy producers in Wisconsin increased net profits $200/cow using rotational grazing (Undersander et al, 2016)

Cover crops can be profitable over time or given specific
management challenges

The objective of planting cover crops is to maintain continuous ground cover and roots, reduce erosion and improve soil health.

Incorporating cover crops into a production system does involve additional costs for cover crop seed, planting the cover crop and terminating the cover crop.

The average median cost of using cover crops on 1,000 farms across the U.S. was $37/acre (National Cover Crop Survey, 2020)

$15/acre for cover crop seed and $12/acre for cover crop planting were the median cover crop costs on 82 farms across 11 states (Soil Health Partnership, 2020)

Cover crops can take 2-5 years before farmer experience and soil health benefits combine to increase yields or reduce costs (Figure 1).

Farmers with more than five years of experience with cover crops saved $9.19/acre for seed, $25/acre for fertilizer and $25/acre for equipment when growing corn compared to farmers with less than five years of experience (Soil Health Partnership, 2020)

Farmers with more than five years of experience with cover crops saved $5.90/acre for seed, $48/acre for fertilizer and $28/acre for equipment when growing soybeans compared to farmers with less than five years of experience (Soil Health Partnership, 2020)

Figure 1: Net returns for corn, by tillage and cover crop groups

Cover crops can also reduce the financial impact of weather events like severe precipitation and drought.

During the drought of 2012, corn and soybean farmers reported 9.6% and 11.6% higher yields in fields using cover crops than fields without them, due to the increased water retention capacity.

A summary of key findings

Learn More

As part of a collaborative project between IAC, Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and a group of Native producers, we are working to measure the soil health, livestock health, and financial impacts of regenerative agriculture specifically on Native farms and ranches in the Great Plains regions.

Learn More About This Project

INTERTRIBAL AGRICULTURE COUNCIL

Regenerative Agriculture
Projects

UNDERSTANDING THE FINANCIAL IMPACTS
OF REGENERATIVE AGRICULTURE

OVERVIEW

REGENERATIVE AG ON NATIVE LAND

FINANCIAL DYNAMICS OF REGENERATIVE AG

CASE STUDY: ROSE RANCH

A SUMMARY OF KEY FINDINGS

Explore each section below to learn more.

Reduced tillage lowers production costs

Efficient nutrient management can reduce costs while maintaining productivity

What are some of the benefits you’ve experienced with regenerative ag practices?

Cover crops can be profitable over time or given specific
management challenges

Regenerative Agriculture Projects

UNDERSTANDING THE FINANCIAL IMPACTS OF REGENERATIVE AGRICULTURE

OVERVIEW

REGENERATIVE AG ON NATIVE LAND

FINANCIAL DYNAMICS OF REGENERATIVE AG

CASE STUDY: ROSE RANCH

A SUMMARY OF KEY FINDINGS

Explore each section below to learn more.

Reduced tillage lowers production costs

Regenerative Agriculture
Projects

UNDERSTANDING THE FINANCIAL IMPACTS
OF REGENERATIVE AGRICULTURE