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Beef Shorthorns in regenerative farming systems By Fraser Hugill The term 'Regenerative Farming' is very fashionable at the moment, illustrated by the fact that more than 5000 farmers and regenerative agriculture enthusiasts attended Groundswell the regenerative farming event in June where I helped staff the Beef Shorthorn stand.
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hat is Regenerative Farming? Conduct an internet search and you will get various different definitions. My take on regenerative farming is that it is simply farming that enhances rather than depletes your farm’s natural resources, be that soils, water or biodiversity. As a Yorkshire man I also see it as a set of principles that will hopefully enhance rather than deplete my financial resources. When talking about regenerative agriculture it is important to understand the five key principles regenerative farmers follow; • Don’t disturb the soil. • Keep the soil surface covered. • Keep living roots in the soil. • Grow a diverse range of crops. • Bring grazing animals back to the land.
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Gabe Brown, one of the pioneers of the regenerative farming movement from America, added a sixth important principle and that was ‘Context’. Regenerative farming is about what works for you on your farm with your unique set of circumstances. This is much the same for Shorthorns, the right animal is the one that fits your system and as a breed we are blessed with 200 years of breeding providing a range of genetics to fit almost any farm system. Spending time on the Beef Shorthorn stand at Groundswell was a fantastic opportunity to talk to farmers that currently had no cattle, but were recognising the need to get grazing animals back into their farm systems and to talk about how a Beef Shorthorn could be just as useful to repair the soil as a direct drill. Unsurprisingly conversations led to “Why Beef Shorthorns for a regenerative farming system?” which was fortunately an easy question to answer.
B eef Shorthorn C attl e S oc i ety J o ur n al 2 0 2 3
