How Much of American Farming Is Regenerative?

Very little. That is the honest answer, and it is the reason I care where our beef comes from.

What regenerative means

A regenerative farm or ranch is managed so the land gets better over time instead of wearing out. The practices vary by climate, but the principles are the same everywhere:

• Keep the soil covered
• Disturb it as little as possible
• Keep living roots in the ground
• Grow a mix of plants, not one crop
• Bring animals back onto the land and move them on a plan

On a cattle ranch, that last one does most of the work. The herd grazes a section, fertilizes it, and moves on. The grass recovers and grows back deeper. Done right, the soil holds more water and more life each year.

How we got here

There are about 1.9 million farms in the United States today. In 1935 there were 6.8 million. Over those decades farming got bigger, more specialized, and more dependent on chemical fertilizer, pesticides, and single crops planted fence to fence.

We have seen where that road can lead. In the 1930s, farmers plowed up millions of acres of native grassland on the Great Plains and planted wheat fence to fence. When drought came, there were no roots left to hold the ground, and the topsoil blew away. We call it the Dust Bowl. It was a direct lesson in what happens when soil is treated as something to use up. Today's system grows a staggering amount of food, and it still costs something. The bill shows up in the soil, in the water, and in how animals are raised. Stand on a regenerative pasture next to a conventional field and the difference is night and day.

The number

There is no official count of regenerative farms, because there is no single legal definition. The estimate I have seen cited most often comes from a soil scientist who told Reuters that roughly 1.5 percent of U.S. cropland is farmed regeneratively.

Whatever the exact figure, it is small. Certified organic is small too. Most of what we eat comes from the other 95 percent and up.

Why that is starting to change

The industry is moving. More ranchers are switching because it can lower their costs. More buyers are asking for it. And certification programs now exist that verify regenerative ranching by measuring what is happening in the soil, instead of taking anyone's word for it.

That last part matters to me. "Regenerative" is an easy word to print on a package. I only wanted to use it if I could back it up.

Where BIVI stands

The beef in every BIVI bar comes from American ranchers on certified regenerative ranches. It costs more than the alternative. I think it is worth it, for the animal, for the land, and for what ends up in the bar.

Every bar you buy is a small vote for that 1.5 percent to get bigger. Here are the bars.