Regenerative agriculture (RegenAg) delivers a triple win for farmers, food producers and society at large. However, farmers face a reduction in profits in the first few years of transition, creating a significant hurdle. Our research shows that there can be limited initial losses, but that farmers’ assumptions and fears about greater losses create an additional barrier.
Farmers’ perspectives: With expenses ranging from education and planning to increased testing and machine investment, it can take farmers up to four years to achieve profits above the conventional level when transitioning to RegenAg. They are mostly on their own throughout this process.
Agri-ecosystem view: Farm economics can be uplifted and de-risked during transition via targeted offerings by value chain players that directly address pain points. Examples include tailored equipment financing or rental schemes, RegenAg price premiums and revenue diversification such as renewable energy production.
To speed up the transition towards RegenAg at scale, targeted measures and collaborative efforts are required from farmers, food value chain players, and regulators.