A practical, structured overview of the key steps in transitioning to regenerative agriculture.
This guide distils core insights across mindset, soil health, crop and livestock management, pest control, and on-farm experimentation.
Useful for: farmers and advisers seeking a grounded, manageable way to begin the shift from conventional to regenerative systems.
Tips: Use one section at a time to guide actions and avoid overwhelm. Each section has further resources within this toolbox.
1. Mindset and Mind: Success depends on adopting a regenerative mindset—open, observant, and willing to change. Technical knowledge matters, but your outlook is your greatest asset, and besides no one method works everywehre – there is no “right” way to begin
2. Soil Tests for Nutrient Cycling and Soil Health: Use a combination of lab and in-field tests to understand your soil’s nutrient availability, stored potential, and biological functionality. This forms the baseline for all other decisions.
3. Taking Stock: Identify harmful practices that are limiting soil health, and highlight regenerative ones you can begin. Assess what’s helping and what’s holding you back.
4. Cover Crops and Companion Crops: Cover and companion cropping are core regenerative tools for building soil health. Choose species and mixes based on goals like nutrient cycling, ground cover, or forage.
5. Rotations: Rotating crops and livestock supports nutrient cycling and disease prevention. Plan multi-year rotations but remain flexible as conditions evolve.
6. Diversifying Crops and Landrace Populations: Modern high-input seeds can undermine soil biology and often require non-regenerative inputs. If possible, seek out alternative and heritage varieties better suited to low-input systems.
7. Livestock: Especially when well-managed, livestock boost soil biology and system diversity. Consider phased integration/ have someone else graze theirs if too big a step, if starting from an arable system.
8. Biostimulants and Inoculants: Biological inputs can support soil life, especially during the transition period. DIY is often more reliable and cost-effective than bought products.
9. Dealing with Pests, Weeds and Diseases: As soil and plant health improves, pest and disease pressure often declines. This requires a mindset shift, but treat weeds and pests as signals—not just enemies—and reduce chemical reliance gradually.
10. Agroforestry and Permanent Ecosystems: Integrating trees, hedgerows, and water systems boosts biodiversity and long-term resilience. Design for ecology, shade, windbreaks, and potential income streams.
11. Testing and Scaling: Trial ideas on a small scale (you will get things wrong sometimes), observe results, and expand what works. Keep clear records to guide decisions. Only ever do as much as you can afford – regeneration takes time and is an investment and profitability will drop before picking back up.
12. Getting Important People on Side – Involve key people early—family, staff, advisers—and join farmer networks for shared learning and motivation.
13. Observe, Learn, Iterate – Keep a notebook on you and note what works, what doesn’t, and why. Stay flexible, reflect often, and adjust your approach as your system evolves.