Grow soil first. Everything else follows.
Regen Roots gathers what the world knows about regenerative agriculture into one place: the principles, the biology, more than thirty practices, the water and soilless systems that sit beside them, landmark projects, and the organizations in every region ready to help you start.
Tap a horizon to dig in. The guide is layered like the ground it serves.
Six principles that travel to any farm
Regenerative agriculture is defined by outcomes, not a rulebook: soil that gains organic matter, water that soaks in, more life above and below ground, and farms that stay profitable. These principles, refined by farmers such as Gabe Brown and the USDA's soil health teams, apply from a balcony planter to a 10,000 hectare ranch.
Know your context
Climate, soils, markets, culture and your own goals decide which practices fit. Copying a neighbor's system without understanding why it works is the most common failure.
Tool: holistic context statementDisturb the soil as little as possible
Tillage, bare fallow, heavy synthetic inputs and overgrazing all break fungal networks and burn carbon. Less disturbance keeps the soil's structure and its workforce intact.
Tool: no-till, strip-till, planned grazingKeep the soil covered
Living plants or residue armor the surface against sun, wind and raindrop impact. Covered soil stays cooler, loses less water and feeds the organisms beneath it.
Tool: mulch, cover crops, residueKeep a living root in the ground
Roots leak sugars that feed microbes, which in turn deliver nutrients and build aggregates. Every month without a living root is a month the soil goes hungry.
Tool: relay crops, perennialsMaximize diversity
Many plant families, root depths, flowering times and insects make a resilient system. Diversity above ground builds diversity below ground.
Tool: multispecies covers, polyculturesIntegrate animals
Grazers, poultry, fish and insects cycle nutrients, control weeds and stimulate plant regrowth when they are managed with planned movement and recovery.
Tool: adaptive grazing, chicken tractorsHow living soil works
Soil is a city built by plants and microbes. Plants trade sugars made from sunlight for water and minerals delivered by fungi and bacteria. That trade is the engine behind every practice in this guide.
of healthy soil can hold more individual microorganisms than there are people on Earth, along with meters of fungal hyphae.USDA NRCS soil biology primer
Soils hold roughly three times as much carbon as the atmosphere, and more than all plants combined. Small percentage gains across farmland add up to a meaningful climate lever.FAO, Global Soil Partnership
Each 1% rise in soil organic matter lets soil hold substantially more water. Extension services often cite about 20,000 US gallons per acre in the top foot; research suggests the gain varies widely by soil texture.NRCS figure, debated in literature
The 4 per 1000 Initiative, launched at COP21, set out that raising soil carbon stocks by 0.4% a year could offset a large share of annual human emissions.4p1000.org
Roughly a third of the world's soils are moderately to highly degraded through erosion, compaction, salinization, nutrient loss and pollution.FAO Status of the World's Soil Resources
The soil food web, in five characters
Bacteria
Most numerous. Decompose simple residues, fix nitrogen (rhizobia), and make the sticky compounds that form microaggregates.
Fungi
Mycorrhizal fungi partner with about 80% of land plants, extending root reach for phosphorus and water. Glomalin helps bind soil.
Protozoa & nematodes
Graze bacteria and fungi, releasing surplus nitrogen right at the root zone. This "microbial loop" feeds most plant nitrogen in natural systems.
Arthropods
Mites, springtails and beetles shred residue, regulate populations and carry microbes through the soil.
Earthworms
Ecosystem engineers. Their channels move air and water deep; their castings are rich in available nutrients.
The practice library
Every practice below serves one or more of the six principles. Filter by family or search for a technique, a crop, or a problem such as "erosion" or "drought".
Water, soilless and hybrid systems
Not every food system starts in the field. Hydroponics, aquaponics, aquaculture, agrivoltaics and their cousins can grow food where soil is poor, water is scarce or land is expensive. Here is how each works, and an honest read on where it fits alongside soil regeneration.
Side by side
| System | Water use vs. field | Energy need | Builds soil | Startup cost | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regenerative field farming | Baseline, improves as SOM rises | Yes, directly | Low | Staples, grazing, landscapes | |
| Hydroponics | Often 70 to 95% less | No | Medium | Greens, herbs, tomatoes near cities | |
| Aquaponics | Often 80 to 95% less | Solids can be composted | Medium to high | Protein plus greens, schools | |
| Vertical farming | Up to 95% less | No | High | Premium greens, extreme climates | |
| Agrivoltaics | Shade can cut irrigation | Produces energy | Yes, if soil managed well | High (shared with energy) | Hot, sunny, water-limited farms |
| Seaweed & shellfish | None (no freshwater) | Cleans water; seaweed can feed soils | Low to medium | Coastal communities | |
| Pond polyculture & rice-fish | Shares water with crops | Pond mud is fertile | Low | Smallholders, tropics |
Where to start, by climate
A starting sequence for each broad climate. Order matters: the first move usually fixes the biggest limiting factor, which is almost always water or bare soil.
Arid & semi-arid
under ~500 mm rain / yr- Harvest every drop: half-moons, zai pits, swales, check dams
- Protect regrowth from free-range browsing
- FMNR and drought-hardy trees
- Planned grazing with long recovery
- Agrivoltaic shade for high-value crops
Temperate
~500 to 1,200 mm, cold winters- Cut tillage, move to no-till or strip-till
- Winter multispecies cover crops
- Diverse rotations, add a perennial or forage phase
- Integrate livestock on covers
- Hedgerows, windbreaks, alley cropping
Humid tropics
over ~1,500 mm, warm all year- Never leave soil bare: heavy mulch, living covers
- Layered agroforestry and syntropic systems
- Biochar and terra preta approaches for leached soils
- Rice-fish, azolla and pond polyculture
- Silvopasture for cattle country
Mediterranean
wet winters, long dry summers- Keyline and swales to store winter rain
- Grazed, self-seeding pastures in orchards and vines
- Drought-tolerant tree crops: olive, carob, almond, fig
- Compost and mulch to beat summer heat
- Agrivoltaics over vines and vegetables
Cold & highland
short seasons, frost risk- Perennial pastures with adaptive grazing
- Season extension: hoop houses, greenhouses
- Hydroponics or aquaponics for winter greens
- Windbreaks and shelterbelts
- Andean terraces and native tubers at altitude
Coastal & islands
salt, storms, limited land- Seaweed and shellfish farming
- Seaweed as fertilizer and mulch
- Mangrove and dune restoration
- Salt-tolerant crops, biosaline agriculture
- Compact aquaponics for food security
Test your soil with a spade and a jar
You don't need a lab to see progress. These low-cost tests, used by extension services worldwide, reveal structure, biology and water behavior. Repeat them in the same spot, at the same season, each year.
Spade test
Dig a block 30 cm deep. Look for crumbly aggregates, dark topsoil, deep roots and live worms. Platy layers or right-angle roots signal compaction.
Slake test
Drop a dry clod into a clear jar of water. Healthy soil holds together for minutes; degraded soil collapses into mud in seconds.
Infiltration ring
Push a 15 cm ring into soil, pour in 2.5 cm of water and time how long it takes to soak in. Under 3 minutes is good; over 30 means water is running off.
Earthworm count
Count worms in a 30 × 30 × 30 cm block after rain. Ten or more is a healthy sign in temperate soils.
Soil your undies
Bury a pair of 100% cotton briefs 5 cm deep for two months. The more they are eaten, the more active your soil biology.
Brix reading
Squeeze leaf sap onto a refractometer. Higher sugar readings tend to track plant health and pest resistance.
Lab follow-up
Once a year, add a lab test: organic matter, CEC, and a biological test such as Haney, PLFA or aggregate stability.
Soil health scorecard
Filled with example readings. Move the sliders to match your plot.
Landmark projects to learn from
Regeneration works at every scale. These projects are widely documented, visited by practitioners, and useful as models when designing your own.
Start where you stand
Project ideas matched to who you are and what you control. Each list starts with the easiest first step.
Turn a yard into a sponge
- Stop tilling; sheet mulch with cardboard and wood chips
- Start a compost pile or bokashi bucket
- Plant a native pollinator strip
- Direct roof water into a rain garden
- Try a Kratky jar for kitchen herbs
Transition one field first
- Pick your worst field as a trial, keep a control strip
- Seed a 6+ species cover crop mix
- Add temporary electric fence for planned grazing
- Run the field kit tests yearly
- Apply for NRCS or national conservation cost-share
Grow a living lab
- Build a small aquaponics unit for biology class
- Compost cafeteria waste on site
- Plant a food forest on unused lawn
- Run a slake test science fair
- Buy from regenerative local farms
Close the local loop
- Curbside food scrap collection to compost
- Community gardens on vacant lots
- Compost requirement on park and road projects
- Rooftop hydroponic farms on public buildings
- Agrivoltaic pilots on municipal land
Fund projects that outlast the grant
- Pair with a club abroad for a global grant under Rotary's Environment area of focus
- Partner with ESRAG and WASRAG for technical design
- Fund farmer field schools rather than one-off inputs
- Back FMNR, water harvesting or school aquaponics
- Measure outcomes: hectares restored, yields, water, income
Put capital into soil
- Source from certified Regenerative Organic or Land to Market farms
- Fund supplier transitions with multi-year contracts
- Look at farmland funds with soil outcome targets
- Treat carbon credits with caution; favor measured, durable outcomes
- Co-locate solar with grazing or crops
Reward outcomes
- Pay for measured soil, water and biodiversity gains
- Fund extension and peer-to-peer farmer networks
- Protect land tenure so farmers can invest long term
- Update zoning to allow agrivoltaics and urban farms
- Support national soil monitoring
Global directory of organizations
Who can help, country by country: training, research, finance, certification, networks and field programs. Search by country, focus or name.
| Organization | Country | Region | Focus |
|---|
Compiled September 2026. Organizations change; confirm programs and contacts on each website before reaching out.
Books, films and free tools
A reading shelf that covers the science, the practice and the stories, plus free tools for mapping and measuring your land.
Books
- Dirt to Soil, Gabe BrownA North Dakota rancher's journey to five principles
- Growing a Revolution, David R. MontgomeryFarms on four continents rebuilding soil
- Teaming with Microbes, Lowenfels & LewisThe soil food web for growers
- Call of the Reed Warbler, Charles MassyRegenerative farming in Australia
- Holistic Management, Allan SavoryDecision making and planned grazing
- Restoration Agriculture, Mark ShepardPerennial polycultures at farm scale
- The One-Straw Revolution, Masanobu FukuokaNatural farming philosophy
- Permaculture: A Designers' Manual, Bill MollisonThe foundational design text
- Farming While Black, Leah PennimanPractical guide rooted in African diasporic wisdom
- The Market Gardener, Jean-Martin FortierSmall-scale, no-till vegetable production
- Braiding Sweetgrass, Robin Wall KimmererIndigenous knowledge and reciprocity with land
Films
- Kiss the Ground (2020)Soil as a climate solution
- Common Ground (2023)Follow-up on farmers, policy and health
- The Biggest Little Farm (2018)Seven years building a diverse farm in California
- Inhabit (2015)A permaculture perspective
- Sacred Cow (2020)The case for well-managed livestock
- The Man Who Stopped the Desert (2010)Yacouba Sawadogo and zai pits
Courses & training
- ATTRAFree sustainable agriculture publications
- SARE Learning CenterFree books including Managing Cover Crops Profitably
- Soil Food Web SchoolOnline soil biology courses
- FAO Farmer Field SchoolsGroup learning model used in 90+ countries
Free tools & data
- Web Soil SurveyUS soil maps and properties
- SoilGridsGlobal soil property maps at 250 m
- COMET-FarmFarm carbon and greenhouse gas estimator
- Cool Farm ToolFarm-level climate and biodiversity metrics
- Global Forest WatchTree cover change maps
- FAO Soils PortalStandards, maps and guidelines
- AgriSolar ClearinghouseAgrivoltaics research and case studies
- OpenTEAMOpen-source farm data tools
The language of the land
Terms you'll meet across this guide and in the field.