Growing Hemp with Regenerative Agriculture

You’ve probably hear the term “regenerative agriculture” or “regenerative farming” but what exactly does it mean? And why raise hemp using these methods?

Regenerative agriculture is a holistic approach to farming that seeks to restore, build, and nurture healthy soil, promote biodiversity, sustain healthy ecosystems, and foster an equitable and sustainable economy. It’s about taking good care of natural systems that sustain life and passing these vibrant systems on to future generations.

No-Till Farming

In practice, growing hemp with regenerative agriculture can take many forms. One key method is “no-till” farming, which just means raising crops without disturbing the topsoil by plowing. Soil, of course, isn’t just “dirt”–healthy soil is a complex ecosystem teeming with life. Traditional plowing disrupts and damages this ecosystem.

Rather than plowing, we leave the soil intact and instead add layers of natural materials on top, such as compost. These organic materials decompose and feed the life within the soil. We also use natural mulch to preserve soil moisture, reducing the need for irrigation and providing habitat for soil life. We sometimes use a broadfork to gently loosen soil before planting but this doesn’t disturb the soil layers like tilling does.

soil life beneath mulch — Here’s what’s going on underneath the organic mulch layer over the root zone of one of our hemp plants. Those bright white strands are *mycelium fungi,* which secrete digestive enzymes that break down rich organic matter into nutrients that feed both the fungi and the roots of the hemp plant just below the soil surface. You can see some alfalfa meal that was applied as a top dressing (the light green colored material near the hemp stalk) as well as compost, including some bits of eggshell–great source of calcium!

Using Organic Materials for Mulch

If you grab a handful of soil on a regenerative farm, the soil is black, aromatic, and filled with life. When you pull back the mulch layer you’ll see a wide range of fungi, spiders, worms–even the occasional toad! It’s an extraordinarily hospitable environment that creates ideal conditions for the hemp plant to take up nutrients and thrive.

handful of living soil with worms — Healthy soil is teeming with life, like this earthworm, as well as countless microorganisms that you can’t see with the naked eye.

frog beneath hemp plant — A regenerative farm seeks to create a healthy ecosystem that sustain a diverse web of interconnected life–like this toad scrounging around beneath a young hemp plant!

The Benefits of Compost

Another key regenerative practice is composting. Compost recycles “waste” and returns it to the soil where it can nurture and enhance the soil ecosystem. Good compost builds humus, adds nutrients, retains ground moisture, and aerates soil. Instead of bringing fertilizers from outside the farm we can recycle materials on-site. Food scraps, leaves, unused portions of hemp plants, duck manure, straw, and assorted weeds all go into the compost.

wooden compost bins — Making compost isn’t hard to do and is a crucial component of regenerative agriculture. Household food scraps, unused portions of hemp plants, leaves, and the straw from our duck house all contribute to make “black gold” humus that’s added as a top dressing to the hemp plants and used to make compost tea.

worms in compost bin — A healthy compost pile is filled with worms busy digesting the organic material and helping to aerate the pile.

Tea Time

We also make compost tea by “steeping” compost in aerated water, sometimes adding additional amendments like alfalfa meal and molasses, and then applying the tea to the hemp. This particular practice really feeds the soil microorganisms which in turn feed the roots of the hemp plants.

Cover crops are another important component of regenerative agriculture. We rotate the hemp every year between three different fields. In between we plant alfalfa or other cover crops to prevent erosion and enrich the soil (the alfalfa can be mown and used as mulch or fertilizer.

alfalfa cover crop — We often use alfalfa as a cover crop in areas where the hemp was grown in previous years, before rotating back into hemp. Alfalfa fixes nitrogen in the soil, sustains a healthy root zone, keeps the rich topsoil from eroding, and can be mown and used for mulch or fertilizer.

hemp rootball left in ground — The rootballs of harvested hemp plants stay in the ground and slowly decompose, enriching the soil and holding it in place. We work on a 3-year rotation, so after two years of a cover crop (that’s alfalfa in this photo) a new hemp crop will be planted.

Addressing Climate Change

One of the most interesting and potentially important benefits of regenerative agriculture is the soil’s potential to sequester carbon. Some research suggests that regenerative farming is one of the most powerful tools we have to alleviate climate change. When farmers plow soil, the tilling releases significant amounts of carbon into the atmosphere. Practicing regenerative agriculture can dramatically lower carbon dioxide emissions while simultaneously removing excess carbon dioxide already in the atmosphere.

Benefits of Growing Hemp with Regenerative Agriculture

Regenerative agriculture is a powerful approach to farming that addresses some of the most pressing problems we face. We continue to learn more about regenerative farming every year from scientists, other farmers, and traditional indigenous cultures. With each passing season we try to expand and refine our regenerative farming methods.

As a final note, regenerative farming enhances the quality of the hemp flowers we harvest. It’s really a winning formula across the board.