Regenerative is a new farming buzzword. What does “regenerative” mean to our farmers?

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February 16, 2024

*Originally published on 10/18/19. Updated on 2/16/24.

We've been farming regeneratively since before "regenerative" was a buzzword. Did you know General Mills is hopping on the bandwagon?

When you hear the term “regenerative farming” you may have a specific vision in mind. Maybe you think about Joel Salatin’s animal rotations or biodynamic growing principles or planting micro-clover in your lawn.

The truth is that the word “regenerative” means something different to every grower.

The definition of regeneration is the renewal or restoration of a biological system after injury or a normal process. Whether organic or conventional, the process of growing food changes the soil. That’s a fact. But, how you practice regeneration and make sure the soil stays healthy varies.

There are many ways to regenerate your land, and it really depends on so many factors. First, you need to consider the quality of the soil, what you’re growing, the weather, and especially the soil history. Second, you need to consider your goal - remediating chemical residues, just enough regeneration get a good enough yield, creating a vibrant biodiversity, etc. Third, you need to consider your budget and what tests or supplementation or practices you can afford.

Aaron, the owner of Miller's Bio Farm, says that “There’s nothing that builds soil like a cow.”

Our farmers' fields are mostly maintained and regenerated by the cows grazing and pooping. That manure is the secret to healthy fields. Manure, manure, and more manure. Our farmers' Amish forefathers have known that simple truth for many generations, from at least the time they lived in Switzerland.

Since soil is complex, in addition to cows, our farmers use the Albrecht method of soil management to ensure the best quality pastures.

The Albrecht method is an area of soil science that takes into account the soil biology and creating the most ideal environment for plants to grow with the highest yield and highest nutrient content (those two go hand in hand).

Our farmers hire a soil specialist, who takes soil samples and has a variety of specific tests run. Each pasture is tested separately. The soil specialist then analyzes the results and makes recommendations to the farmer to add specific minerals to his fields.

The farmer adds all organic (non-synthetic) minerals. It's typical to add calcium on some pastures, sulfur and boron almost everywhere, sometimes zinc and copper, and even a random mineral like molybdenum some years.

It’s important that there’s no deficiency or excess of minerals. It’s a delicate balance that must be maintained to get proper yield and nutrition.

Our farmers know that pastures are really what they're growing. It all starts there. They're grass farmers. And, they've seen big results from meticulously maintaining their fields. They pay close attention and let it rest as needed.

Our farmers have fatter and healthier animals that shock state ag representatives and veterinarians when they learn they are fed 100% grass.

With healthier animals, you get stellar manure (AKA liquid gold). In fact, a couple of years ago, Aaron gave a neighboring farm doing things conventionally some of his excess manure. Even though the farm was about a mile away, you could visibly see the difference. Our nutrient-dense manure grew plants feet higher than those fertilized with conventional manure. Wow!

Aaron has seen cows go from lame to not lame when their feed is improved.

For example, he had a challenge when he switched his herd to 100% grass. Some of his cows developed osteoporosis and calcium deficiency. After he added minerals to his fields and had better forage, the cows got better. A nutrient-dense diet is so powerful.

The opposite of regeneration is neglect and deconstruction. Farmer addiction to glyphosate and NPK are real.

Money hungry companies capitalize on the deep rooted issue of farmers not being adequately compensated for their hard work. Oh here - if you just plant these GMO seeds and use this chemical fertilizer and spray this glyphosate-based herbicide, your yield will grow 200%. Sounds like a dream right? Well, it’s actually a nightmare.

Plants grown in soil contaminated with glyphosate cannot absorb as many minerals. This results in an abundance of low quality food. This mineral deficiency passes to the animals that eat the forage and their manure that’s used to fertilize. It’s a downward spiral of soil infertility that negatively affects the health of the plants, animals, and humans.

The same can be said for the NPK method of growing. Sure, nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium are super important when growing plants. However, that’s not all that’s needed. The soil’s biodiversity is so complex.

Soil is complex and even one year of misuse can take a decade to rebuild.

When a farmer is given land that is under-nourished, it takes about 10 years to rebuild that soil back to good health with crops and manure.

In the 1950s in Quarryville, there was a saying that a crow needed to pack its lunch to fly over. However, after decades of manure and many farms following organic growing practices, it now provides a nice lunch for a crow.

Our farmers want to not only keep it that way but improve the land the best they can.

To our farmers, regeneration means maintaining their fields by animals grazing and pooping and closely monitoring their mineral content.

It all comes from the ground up! After all, healthy soil makes healthy plants, which make healthy animals, which make healthy humans, which make a healthy planet.

What are your views on regenerative farming? Is this something you demand when shopping for food?

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From farm to fork: Understanding the value of sustainable pork

Raising Pork the Old-Fashioned Way: Miller's Bio Farm's Commitment to Quality At Miller's Bio Farm, we're not trying to reinvent the wheel, we're bringing back the farming practices that sustained communities for generations. As an Amish farm, we understand that good stewardship of the land and animals isn't just about business; it's about honoring creation and providing wholesome food for families. When you buy pork from us, you're getting more than just meat. You're getting the result of careful, intentional farming that puts the well-being of our animals, our land, and your family first. Let's be honest: most grocery store pork comes wrapped in pretty words like "natural" and "humanely raised," but these labels often don't mean much. It's easy to put nice words on a package, much harder to actually do the work of raising animals properly. We'd like to show you how we do things differently here at Miller's Bio Farm. What Makes Our Pork Different Good pork starts with good practices. For us, that means healthy soil, happy animals, responsible harvesting, and thoughtful management of everything that happens on our farm. Here's what that looks like in practice: Pasture-Raised the Way Nature Intended Pigs aren't meant to spend their lives standing on concrete in windowless buildings. They're curious, intelligent animals that need fresh air, sunshine, and room to express their natural behaviors, rooting in the dirt, foraging for food, and socializing with other pigs. On our farm, hogs live outdoors on pasture in the woods where they can do exactly that. We move them regularly to fresh ground, which keeps them healthy and gives the land time to rest and regenerate. This practice, sometimes called rotational grazing is farming wisdom that's been passed down for centuries. When pigs root and forage on fresh pasture, they're naturally fertilizing the soil and helping plants grow back stronger. The land becomes more fertile season after season, storing carbon and building topsoil instead of depleting it. No chemical fertilizers needed, just pigs doing what pigs do best. This kind of farming takes more work than confining animals in one place, but it produces better results for everyone involved: healthier pigs, healthier land, and better tasting pork. Raising Animals with Respect Our approach to animal care reflects our values as an Amish farming community. We believe animals deserve to be treated with dignity and respect throughout their lives. Processing with Care When harvest time comes, we work with a small processor who shares our commitment to humane treatment. Our animals are handled calmly and respectfully, with immediate stunning to ensure they feel no distress. This isn't just the right thing to do, it also affects meat quality. Animals that are stressed at slaughter produce tougher, less flavorful meat. Properly handled animals yield tender, delicious pork that you can taste the difference in. Studies also confirm what traditional farmers have long known: animals raised on pasture produce meat with better nutritional profiles, including higher omega-3 fatty acids and more vitamins. Wholesome Feed, No Shortcuts We raise heritage breed pigs, traditional breeds known for their hardiness and flavor. These animals thrive on pasture with supplemental non-GMO grain, and they don't need antibiotics or growth hormones to stay healthy. In industrial pork production, antibiotics are mixed into feed daily to prevent disease in overcrowded conditions. This practice is creating drug-resistant bacteria that threaten public health, a problem we don't contribute to. Our pigs build strong immune systems naturally through good nutrition, clean living conditions, and low-stress environments. It's the way farming worked for centuries before shortcuts became the norm. Caring for God's Creation As stewards of the land, we take seriously our responsibility to leave it better than we found it. That's not just good farming, it's part of our calling. Building Soil, Not Destroying It Industrial agriculture depletes soil through intensive tilling, chemical dependence, and continuous monoculture cropping. This approach might boost short-term production, but it's not sustainable. We farm differently. Our rotational grazing actually improves soil health year after year. As pigs move across pasture, they naturally incorporate organic matter into the ground. Rest periods allow plants to regrow with deeper roots, which prevents erosion and captures carbon from the atmosphere. The result is living, fertile soil teeming with beneficial microorganisms soil that produces nutritious forage without synthetic inputs. Handling Waste Responsibly Large scale pig operations often store waste in enormous lagoons that leak pollutants into water supplies and release harmful gases into the air. These systems create environmental and health problems for surrounding communities. Our approach couldn't be more different. Because our pigs are spread across pasture and woodlands in manageable groups, their manure distributes naturally as valuable fertilizer rather than concentrating into a waste problem. When winter weather requires us to bring pigs into shelter, we bed them deeply with straw or wood shavings. This creates a composting effect that safely breaks down manure without environmental contamination. We also plant diverse pasture species specifically chosen to absorb nutrients and maintain ecological balance. Not all pigs like to go in the open shelter in the winter time and that's perfectly fine with us! The Real Story Behind Your Pork Chop Many people wonder which type of meat is most environmentally friendly. The truth is, it's not so much about whether you're eating pork, beef, or chicken, it's about how that animal was raised. Take beef as an example. You've probably heard that cattle are terrible for the environment. That criticism applies to feedlot operations where thousands of cattle are confined in small spaces and fed grain-heavy diets. But cattle raised properly on well managed pasture actually improve the land and sequester carbon. The animal itself isn't the problem; the farming method is. The same principle applies to pork. Factory farmed pork has serious environmental and ethical problems. Pasture raised pork from a regenerative farm like ours is a completely different product. One challenge specific to pork is that pigs need grain as part of their diet, they can't survive on grass alone like cattle can. This means sustainable pork production requires access to sustainably grown grain, ideally non-GMO corn and soybeans from farmers practicing regenerative agriculture. On our farm, we're committed to sourcing feed from responsible growers who share our values of soil health, biodiversity, and chemical free farming. What You're Really Buying When you purchase pork from Miller's Bio Farm, you're not just buying bacon or pork chops. You're supporting a way of farming that's been proven over generations, one that respects animals, regenerates land, and produces genuinely nutritious food. We're proud to raise pork the right way, even though it's more work. Because at the end of the day, that's what good stewardship looks like. And that's something worth bringing home to your table. Check out our: ✔️Corn & Soy Free ✔️ Vaccine, Drug, GMO-Free ✔️Heritage Breeds ✔️Woodland Raised PORK COLLECTION HERE: https://millersbiofarm.com/sto...

Eggnog's Medieval Magic

Well now, friends, let me tell you about eggnog - it's no yolk, this drink has been around forever! While history scholars are still whisking through different stories, most agree it sprouted from a Medieval drink called posset. Posset was hot milk curdled with wine or beer, served in a two-handled pot when folks caught the sniffles. Yup, that's right, I said sniffles. The warmth would settle your bones, the milk kept your strength up better than a day of plowing, and the alcohol and spices worked like nature's own medicine chest. Posset recipes were as varied as quilting patterns, every homestead had their own way to make it, and from this patchwork of kitchen wisdom grew a whole crop of milk based treasures, including... eggnog itself. Eggnog is a rich, chilled, sweet dairy drink that'll make you smile like you just finished morning milking. It's made with milk, cream, sugar, egg yolks, and spices, simple as that! Most folks only raise a glass during a short spell around Christmas. It was those fancy British folks in the 1700s who turned eggnog into a holiday tradition. They'd add expensive spirits and spices to milk to preserve it through winter (yep, aged eggnog, just like preserving pickles in the cellar). Eventually, eggnog crossed the ocean to the Thirteen Colonies. As times changed and food became easier to come by, common folk adopted it as a cherished holiday drink. Today, food is everywhere you look, but finding the right kind is harder than finding a needle in a haystack. Store-bought eggnog is stacked in every store, but I won't hitch my wagon to it. Store-bought eggnog is cooked up in factories to taste good and stay the same every time. But it's packed with additives, loaded with more sugar than a honey wagon, and has less than 2% egg yolks. Might as well call it milknog! And don't get me started on all that pasteurization business. If you've got the time, eggnog is easier than feeding chickens. Here's what you need: 4 egg yolks (fresh from the henhouse) ⅓ cup maple syrup (the real stuff, tapped honest) 2 cups raw milk (straight from Bessie, if you're blessed) 1 cup raw cream 1 tsp nutmeg (or whatever spices suit your fancy) 3 oz bourbon or rum (if you're of a mind to) You can mix these ingredients raw (like we do on the farm) or you can warm it up. Your barn, your rules. For a fuller eggnog, beat those yolks until they lighten like sunrise. Then fold in the rest. For a frothy eggnog that'll make you grin like a cat in the creamery, beat 4 egg whites until soft peaks form, then stir them into your finished batch. I highly recommend doing this whether you bought it from a farm stand or made it yourself. It's wonderful. So please, enjoy your eggnog this winter season. When you raise your glass, think on what you're celebrating. Toast to home remedies, good health, the wisdom of those who came before us, and honest food that comes from the land.

Regenerative is a new farming buzzword. What does “regenerative” mean to our farmers?

More from the blog

What are phytoestrogens and how can we limit them in our food sources?

From farm to fork: Understanding the value of sustainable pork

Eggnog's Medieval Magic

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Miller's Bio Farm, 523 Valley Road, Quarryville, PA 17566