Regenerative farming: Weeding out the good ideas and weasel words

Australian farmers are finding ways to regenerate the land without chemicals, but not everyone is on board with how the trend is being labelled.

NSW farmer Martin Royds reckons he's stumbled onto something big.

How to kill one of Australia's worst weeds - serrated tussock - with a chemical-free fertiliser known as urea, without killing the soil and surrounding plants.

The weed is invading properties across southeast Australia and once dominated parts of the cattle producer's 2700 hectares east of Canberra.

"You're promoting what you do want and you're killing what you don't want," Mr Royds said from his Braidwood property.

After previously "nuking" the weed with poison, Mr Royds has been spreading the common farming fertiliser to destroy the tussock, without the surrounding natural grasses dying off.

But while some farmers have questioned the cost-effectiveness of the method and the time it takes, Mr Royds is determined to explore chemical-free alternatives to allow the landscape to thrive.

"The bottom line is our costs are much lower," he said.

It's part of the fourth-generation farmer's "regenerative" approach, although he doesn't much care for labels.

"We don't care what you call us, we (farmers) are all excitedly talking to each other ... we're all looking at solutions," Mr Royds said.

Some consider the term regenerative agriculture a buzzword and divisive - one that implies other farming methods degenerate the land.

Even regenerative farmers themselves have difficulty articulating what the term means.

Now a group of academics and producers are drilling down on a definition.

The National Farmers' Federation is working with Food Agility, Charles Sturt University, and Agricultural Innovation Australia to come up with standards and data for an industry-accepted term.

"At (their) worst, standards or definitions can be divisive, and they can alienate producers or stakeholders or consumers," Tony Mahar, the outgoing chief executive of Australia's peak farming lobby, said.

READ MORE: Tony Mahar to leave NFF for commissioner role

In a world where consumers are increasingly demanding more sustainable products, a definition would help, he said.

"As requirements on producers continue to evolve, there will be more focus on improving our own (agricultural) sustainability framework," Mr Mahar said.

Helen Lewis, who heads up the Australian Holistic Management Co-operative, said farmers are becoming more and more interested in regenerative agriculture.

She estimates that at least 10,000 Australian producers have trained in holistic management over the past three decades.

"Your grazing can restore the landscape, can restore grasslands. The way in which you approach your land planning is constructive and enhances nature and enhances your business," she said.

But she's perplexed why the term regenerative agriculture irks some people.

"What causes a way of farming to be polarising? Is it the people? Is it about their reluctance to change?

"We're looking for a regenerating outcome ... there's not a silver bullet."

She's expecting hundreds of farmers to attend a field day and conference celebrating 30 years of holistic management in Australia, being held at Carcoar in central western NSW in October.  

Mr Royds will be speaking at the conference and is keen to spread the word about the benefits of regenerative agriculture.

"Part of being a regenerative farmer is accepting and being honest with yourself that what we've been doing in the past is not working," he said.

"Our soils are getting less productive, our soil carbon has gone down, our costs of production have gone up."