Regenerative and conservation agricultural practices are grounded on minimal soil disturbance, permanent soil cover, crop rotations and diversification, and the sustainable integration of livestock.

Examples include:

• Spontaneous groundcovers
• Sown cover crops/groundcovers
• Mulching (woody or herbaceous residues)
• Organic amendments
• Minimum tillage in organic farming
• Mechanical control of cover crops/groundcovers
• Intercropping, mixed cropping
• Enhanced diversity of crop rotations
• Multifunctional field margins/buffer zones
• Adapted crop rotation for enhancing self-sufficiency in animal feed
• Permanent grassland 

TRAILS4SOIL is an EU-funded research project investigating the performance of 21 Regenerative and Conservation agricultural practices across diverse farms in Europe.

Regenerative and conservation agricultural practices provide a number of benefits for farms. For example, they:

• Improve soil structure. By minimal soil disturbance, soil’s load-bearing capacity is strengthened, reducing compaction and enhancing water infiltration.
• Improve soil fertility. The use of cover crops and crop rotation increases organic matter input, improves soi fertility and its ability to retain nutrients.
• Reduce soil erosion. The organic matter boost from Regenerative and conservation agricultural practices contributes to the soil’s overall resilience, allowing it to better withstand the impacts of erosion, protecting the topsoil and enhancing soil life.
• Improve water retention is another key advantage of A continuous pore structure in the soil, supported by omitting soil tillage and permanent soil cover, helps maintain soil moisture levels and reduces the need for irrigation. This is particularly valuable in regions facing drought conditions, as it enhances the farm’s ability to adapt to climate stresses.
• Reduced input costs for farmers. Regenerative and conservation agricultural practices minimise the need for machinery, synthetic fertilisers, pesticides, and herbicides, significantly lowering the overall cost of production.
• Reduce need for chemical pest control. Regenerative and conservation agricultural practices foster diverse plant communities that encourage a thriving ecosystem of beneficial insects and soil organisms, which contribute to natural pest and weed control and reduce reliance on chemical inputs. Reduced power requirements for operating and connecting tillage equipment, along with shorter working hours, facilitate a better work-life balance.

Regenerative agriculture aligns closely with the principles of conservation agriculture but goes further by explicitly incorporating livestock management. When implemented effectively, both regenerative agriculture and conservation agriculture enhance soil health, augment productivity, and promote environmental sustainability, culminating in more resilient and productive agricultural systems.

These complementary methods highlight the shift in agricultural narratives, away from the intensive tillage, pesticide use, and mineral fertilisers of the past towards a more resource-efficient input and sustainable land use.

Olive groves, vineyards, citrus, and almond orchards, among other systems are increasingly affected by soil degradation, erosion, and loss of organic matter, aggravated by intensive management and prolonged droughts.

Conservation Agriculture and Regenerative practices, including cover crops, organic amendments, and minimum soil disturbance, can significantly return health to the soil, enhance water retention, and improve climate resilience in permanent cropping systems without compromising productivity.

Regenerative agriculture and conservation agriculture have the potential to address several challenges in organic farming. Organic farming promotes soil-friendly management by avoiding synthetic inputs, recycling organic matter, and supporting biological activity.

But intensive mechanical weed control can lead to soil compaction, erosion, and loss of organic matter, while the timing and availability of organic fertilisers can limit nutrient efficiency. In some cases, soil organic carbon levels tend to decline over time, especially under frequent tillage and limited use of cover crops.

TRAILS4SOIL is an EU-funded research project that aims to address these challenges by testing and co-developing regenerative practices, such as reduced tillage, permanent soil cover, diverse crop rotations, and the use of organic fertilizers and biostimulants, to strengthen soil structure, biological activity, and nutrient cycling within organic systems.

Current ways of managing agricultural land, such as intensive tillage, limited crop diversity, lack of soil cover, and the separation of livestock from arable farming, result in soils that are less able to adapt to climate stressors, such as droughts or heavy rainfall. For example, they are often more prone to erosion and less able to absorb rainwater. This leads to poor resilience and economically unprofitable arable farming.

Regenerative agriculture and conservation agriculture provide sustainable soil management practices that restore soil health and increase the resilience of farms under a changing climate.

Regenerative agriculture and conservation agricultural practices have the potential to undo damage to black soils—cernozioms, phaeozems, and other mollic soils—caused by intensive farming practices.

Black soils are some of the most fertile and productive soils in Europe and are vital for regional and global food security. However, they are increasingly threatened by degradation processes such as erosion, loss of organic matter, compaction, and declining biodiversity due to intensive conventional practices.

Regenerative agriculture and conservation agricultural practices can help conserve these soils to maintain their ecosystem services, including carbon sequestration, water retention, and nutrient cycling, which are crucial for both agricultural sustainability and climate resilience.

Crop-livestock integration can play a key role in achieving a higher level of sustainability in regenerative agriculture and conservation agricultural practices.

By adding livestock into regenerative and conservation farming system, farmers can not only improve soil health but shorten supply chains and close nutrient and energy cycles, preferably at the farm or at least at the local level. For example, they can improve the efficiency of animal manure use and integrate crop rotations with feed needs of farms.

These changes can also lead to positive effects on farm economics which, in turn, can support wider rural development.