Biodynamic Agriculture, Regenerative Farming, and Climate Change

Why we must change the way we farm to change the trajectory of climate change.
By Elizabeth Candelario | Oct 14, 2016

“A truly regenerative agriculture is one in which all the natural resources we use to produce food get renewed in the process of using them.”
—Fred Kirschenmann

Demeter’s vision is to heal the planet through agriculture. That is a bold statement, because farming worldwide is responsible for at least 15 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions—more than the transportation industry. When food distribution (seed to shelf) is included, agriculture becomes the number one man-made contributor to climate change.

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations named October 16 World Food Day with the theme: “Climate is changing. Food and agriculture must too.” The FAO calls on nations to address food and agriculture in their climate action plans, a message taken up at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP 22) in Marrakech, Morocco, in November 2016.

How Agriculture Produces Emissions

  • Plowing fields releases carbon dioxide from the soil.

  • Industrial livestock operations confine animals and feed them grain instead of grass, producing massive amounts of methane.

  • Synthetic fertilizers made with fossil fuels disrupt the natural carbon cycle in plants and soil.

  • Land-use changes—deforestation, monocropping, and the destruction of grasslands—further erode the earth’s ability to regulate heat, light, and carbon storage.

In short, too much carbon stored in the earth’s soil has been released into the atmosphere. Combined with methane and nitrous oxide, these greenhouse gases form a shield that traps heat and warms the planet.

The Answer: Regenerative Farming

The urgent question is: how do we reduce greenhouse gases while pulling carbon back into the soil? The surprising answer is farming itself.

Through photosynthesis, plants transform carbon dioxide into sugar. Some is used by the plant; the rest flows into the root system and into the soil. Soil—next to oceans—is the planet’s largest carbon sink.

There, a symbiotic exchange takes place. Microbes in healthy soil consume the carbon and return minerals to the plant, building humus, improving water storage, and producing nutrient-dense food. Synthetic fertilizers, plowing, and monocropping break this exchange and weaken soil health.

Reimagining Farming

Scientists and advocates now recognize a fundamental truth:
We cannot change the trajectory of climate change unless we change the way we farm.

The future of farming lies in its past. First conceived in the 1920s as a response to industrialized farming, Biodynamic agriculture offers a coherent set of principles and practices that treat the farm as a living, self-sufficient organism.

Key practices include:

  • No synthetic pesticides or fertilizers

  • Whole-farm certification, not just crop-by-crop

  • At least 10% of acreage dedicated to wilderness habitat (meadows, groves, waterways)

  • Low or no tillage

  • Composting and cover crops for fertility

  • Integrating livestock for grassland health

  • Encouraging biodiversity for natural pest control

  • Use of eight biodynamic preparations made from farm-sourced materials to enhance soil and photosynthesis

These practices build carbon-sequestering soil and promote resilience.

Demeter’s Role

Demeter, the world’s oldest ecological certification organization, has upheld regenerative standards for nearly 100 years. Beginning in January 2017, Demeter certification will also include soil testing for carbon sequestration.

By tracking soil health across farms, Demeter will provide data that demonstrates the regenerative power of biodynamic farming. In doing so, it joins food advocates, the FAO, and regenerative farmers worldwide in reimagining farming—not as a contributor to climate change, but as one of its most powerful remedies.