Farming Practices Good for the Environment and the Farmer's Pocket

Feb 02, 2022

New research conducted as part of the EU-funded LIFT project has shown that ecological practices are the way forward for Europe's farmers. Carried out at LIFT project partner Scotland's Rural College (SRUC), United Kingdom, it suggests that such practices help farmers increase their profits and meet sustainable agricultural goals.

The research involved the economic assessment of four different ecological management practices maintained on livestock farms in Scotland. Data was collected from 31 livestock farms as part of a survey of Scottish farmers held in early 2020.

The economic impact of the different ecological practices was then analyzed using a farm-level economic model called ScotFarm. The model is based on the assumption that all farm activities are interlinked and serve to maximize the farm's profit.

Proposed measures: the pros and the cons

As reported in a news item posted on the "FarmingUK" website, the study sought to gain insight on whether economically feasible management practices would result in better uptake by farmers. They discovered that two potentially easy-to-adopt measures, namely converting some farmland into an ecological area and reducing farm inputs, could result in up to a 7 % increase in farm profits. However, ecological approaches such as setting aside farmland to plant trees and switching to an organic farming system require capital investment, making it challenging for livestock farmers without any financial support.

"The Scottish government has put forward a long-term Climate Change Plan to achieve a cleaner, greener and healthier Scotland by 2032," stated Dr. Shailesh Shrestha of SRUC in the same news item. "Adaptation of agro-ecological management practices by farmers is a potential approach to support these plans. However, a critical issue is the economic impact of adoption of these practices. Our research provided a snapshot of the economic impacts of a number of ecological management practices and economic challenges farmers face in adopting those practices on farms. However, a better understanding of the economic feasibility of these agro-ecological management practices would be very useful in maximizing the uptake of these management practices by the Scottish farming community."

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Video: From Conventional to Regenerative: Will Groeneveld’s Journey Back to the Land

"You realize you've got a pretty finite number of years to do this. If you ever want to try something new, you better do it."

That mindset helped Will Groeneveld take a bold turn on his Alberta grain farm. A lifelong farmer, Will had never heard of regenerative agriculture until 2018, when he attended a seminar by Kevin Elmy that shifted his worldview. What began as curiosity quickly turned into a deep exploration of how biology—not just chemistry—shapes the health of our soils, crops and ecosystems.

In this video, Will candidly reflects on his family’s farming history, how the operation evolved from a traditional mixed farm to grain-only, and how the desire to improve the land pushed him to invite livestock back into the rotation—without owning a single cow.

Today, through creative partnerships and a commitment to the five principles of regenerative agriculture, Will is reintroducing diversity, building soil health and extending living roots in the ground for as much of the year as possible. Whether it’s through intercropping, zero tillage (which he’s practiced since the 1980s) or managing forage for visiting cattle, Will’s approach is a testament to continuous learning and a willingness to challenge old norms.

Will is a participant in the Regenerative Agriculture Lab (RAL), a social innovation process bringing together producers, researchers, retailers and others to co-create a resilient regenerative agriculture system in Alberta. His story highlights both the potential and humility required to farm with nature, not against it.