Insights
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Soil organic matter and the water cycle
Organic matter plays an essential part in ensuring effective water cycling.
In this article Kyle Richardville, from our mentoring team, explains some of the actions you can take to build resilience in the face of extreme weather.
“Soil scientists use the term effective rainfall for the water that actually ends up supporting plant growth: everything that fell, minus what evaporated, ran off, or leached below the root zone.
So when a neighbour asks how much rain you got after a big storm, the ideal answer is ‘all of it’.
Grounded Live: Building a farm business that lasts
In the first of our autumn and winter recordings for Grounded Live we partnered with Planning for Profit to discuss what it takes to run a profitable, resilient farm business.
Hosts Stuart Johnson and Kyle Richardville were joined by Sam Charlton, who set up Planning for Profit in the UK, adapting it from the internationally respected Ranching for Profit course in the United States.
The five-day programme works with farmers to take a practical look at understanding economic and financial management to support them to make better decisions and help build a business that works for them. The course takes a unique approach to business leadership and management with a clear focus on the people side of farming.
Summer drought and parasite risk: The Mitigating Role of Regenerative Practices
Drought conditions, as experienced across the UK during 2026, force a shift in pasture dynamics which creates a high-risk environment for grazing ruminants.
In this article, Lahra Harcourt-Brown, large animal vet and consultant from Ruminant Revival, in Hexham, explores the impacts of drought conditions on parasite risk, and how regenerative practices can mitigate these challenges.
Meet your mentor: Livestock farmer Silas Hedley-Lawrence
“When I found regenerative agriculture I realised that through soil we could have it all; increased biodiversity, reduced inputs, more crops and healthier, better livestock. I could see the potential for the impact and scale it could achieve.
“I think the appealing thing about Regenerate Outcomes is that there is really no risk for the farmer. You’re going to get that mentoring and soil carbon baselining done at no extra cost.
“We’ve had a huge amount of training so we can be really versatile and get into your world and help you move the needle in the right direction. I don’t think there’s anyone offering anything nearly as comprehensive at the moment.”
How diversifying into soil carbon can play a part in profitable enterprise stacking on your farm
Farmers are increasingly looking to diversify their operation to get the maximum return possible from each hectare of land.
Many are exploring the concept of enterprise stacking, which can involve using the same land to produce food, deliver environmental payments, attract private finance and improve resilience.
Earlier this month, Regenerate Outcomes Account Director Jake McNaughton joined a panel for the Farmers Weekly Transition webinar on Profitable Stacking.
Regenerate Outcomes collaborates with Woolkeepers
Regenerate Outcomes is proud to announce a new collaboration with Woolkeepers, a pioneering initiative committed to transforming the future for British wool growers by championing responsible, ethical farming and offering farmers fair, stable pricing beyond the volatility of traditional auction markets.
This partnership marks an important step in advancing a more resilient and transparent future for British agriculture, combining Regenerate Outcomes’ farmer-led approach to soil health with Woolkeepers’ growing community of over 1,000 farmers committed to responsible land stewardship.
Answering your questions on soil carbon credits
Farmers are in the unique position of being able to remove carbon from the atmosphere by building soil organic matter.
This represents an opportunity to generate revenue by selling carbon credits.
In this article, our Chief Scientific Officer, Matt Jordon, answers some of the common questions farmers have about the carbon market.
How regenerative practices can help cut fertiliser and diesel costs
“The old saying goes that ‘turnover is vanity, profit is sanity’ and this is just as true in farming as any other business. With so many farmers living on such tight margins, a sudden spike in overheads can soon begin to whittle away profits, with all the headaches and stress that brings.
“For those who are heavily dependent on bought-in inputs, such as fertiliser and diesel, global events that are out of your control can suddenly mean the difference between being in the red or the black.
“The good news is that it is possible to reduce this dependence by adopting regenerative principles to improve soil health.”
Meet your mentor: Dairy farmer Andrew Rees
“I like the fact that the mentoring Regenerate Outcomes are offering is based on farmers helping farmers, whereas the UK agriculture advice industry is very much led by suppliers.
“Those who sell you feed will tell you how much you need feed and those who sell fertiliser will tell you you need fertiliser. “It’s good to bring some independence back to that and empower farmers to make decisions for themselves.
“A lot of farmers just run on prescriptions but it’s good to bring back the profession of agriculture and enable them to make decisions for themselves.”
Grounded ‘Live’: Debunking the myths about regenerative farming
In the final recording for Grounded ‘Live’, Kyle Richardville and Stuart Johnson, from our mentoring team, discussed some of the myths and misconceptions about regenerative practices with two farmers who have adopted them in their system.
They were joined by James Johnson, from Mallard Grange, near Ripon, and Matt Griffin, farm manager at Neidpath Farms, in the Scottish Borders.
Together they discussed the process of change, resilience, profit, fencing, water infrastructure, managing relationships and much more.
Grounded ‘Live’: Is no-till enough?
No-till is one of the key principles of regenerative agriculture in an arable context. However, minimising ploughing is rarely enough to build soil health, resilience and carbon on its own.
In our latest recording for Grounded ‘Live’, soil microbiologist Kyle Richardville and beef, sheep and arable farmer Stuart Johnson, from our mentoring team, were joined by an expert panel to discuss regenerative techniques and practices in arable.
The conversation covered everything including equipment, cover cropping, yield versus profit and advice for beginning to make changes on your own farm.
Grounded ‘Live’: Machinery and equipment in regenerative agriculture
In January’s recording for Grounded ‘Live’ we brought together a panel of Regenerate Outcomes member farmers to discuss machinery and equipment used to implement regenerative practices.
Kyle Richardville and Stuart Johnson, from our mentoring team, were joined by Verity Megginson, who farms arable and sheep in East Yorkshire, cattle, sheep and arable farmer Tom Fairfax, from Northumberland, and Rhy Jones, who manages an arable farm near Cambridge.
The conversation covered everything from electric fencing, solar energisers and water infrastructure to pumps, tree guards, direct drillers, bale unwinders and more.
Grounded ‘Live’: The regenerative transition
In the latest episode of Grounded ‘Live’, our panel discussed experiences, successes and lessons learned from making the transition to using regenerative practices.
Hosts Kyle Richardville and Stuart Johnson, from our mentoring team, were joined by Regenerate Outcomes members Graham Rutherford and Llian and Sian Jones, as well as Amy Hughes of Empower Ag.
Together they shared their stories of making changes to reduce inputs and improve soil health.
Grounded ‘Live’: Healthier soil, healthier animals?
In the latest recording for Grounded ‘Live’ hosts Stuart Johnson and Kyle Richardville, from our mentoring team, spoke with farm vet Lee-Anne Oliver and Northumberland farmer Shaun Maw about the link between soil health and animal performance.
Lee-Anne, who is based in Hexham, recently founded consultancy Ruminant Revival, which focuses on reducing chemical and pharmaceutical inputs for livestock.
Lee-Anne says: “We are rapidly facing a big problem, in the veterinary and agriculture industry, that these products are difficult to get hold of, they cost a lot of money, resistance is growing to a lot of them and the consumers do not want them in their food.”
How can healthy soil build resilience to extreme weather?
“Soil wasn’t something I worried about for most of my farming life.
“After experimenting with strip tillage about 13 years ago, I began to see it as the primary resource on any farm, and both the fundamental cause - and ultimate solution - to so many of the issues we face.
“Looking after your soil means looking after your bottom line, your crops and livestock, and ultimately yourself.
“As farmers, we can’t afford to see our primary resource washed or blown away. By improving soil health, we start to see real gains in resilience, profitability and time management.”
Grounded ‘Live’: Why you need a soil carbon baseline now
In the first episode of our Grounded ‘Live’ sessions, we brought together an expert panel to discuss soil carbon baselines and everything you need to know about generating income from your soil.
Regular Grounded hosts Kyle Richardville and farmer Stuart Johnson, from our mentoring team, were joined by Regenerate Outcomes Chief Scientific Officer Matt Jordon and Director Tom Dillon.
In addition, they were also joined by Luke Baldwin, CEO of Nature Broking, and Wiltshire farmer George Hosier, who is also a member of our mentoring team.
Working alongside University of Oxford to study earthworms in regenerative farming
Regenerate Outcomes is working alongside the University of Oxford to support a study to identify the effects of adaptive multi-paddock grazing (AMP) on soil biodiversity.
PhD student Max Hadoke has taken samples from plots on 12 farms which are part of Regenerate Outcomes to compare earthworm populations in set-stocked and AMP grazed fields.
His studies are being funded through the Natural Environment Research Council by a doctoral training partnership in Oxford.
Regenerate Outcomes have committed three years of funding as his Collaborative Award in Science and Engineering partner.
Gaining maximum value from soil carbon for farmers
Regenerate Outcomes is committed to maximising value for farmers by building soil health.
As well as improving crop and livestock performance, reducing inputs, cutting costs and growing profits, this value also comes from providing high integrity soil carbon baselining and measurement.
The more robust the baselining and measurement process, the higher the value of the carbon credits you can generate.
This is why we work with Agricarbon, who combine thorough physical soil sampling with state-of-the-art laboratory analysis to meet the internationally recognised Verified Carbon Standard.
Join us for Grounded ‘Live’ this autumn and winter
This autumn and winter, Regenerate Outcomes is excited to invite you to Grounded 'Live', a series of live, online discussions bringing farmers together to dig deeper into regenerative agriculture.
Join 2023 Soil Farmer of the Year Stuart Johnson and soil microbiologist Kyle Richardville - from our mentoring team - as they invite guests to share their knowledge and advice.
For the first time, you’ll be able to hear Stuart and Kyle’s conversations live and ask questions as they speak with their guests.
How to maximise the benefits of outwintering cattle
Outwintering cattle can have major benefits for farm finances, livestock health, time management and soil productivity.
This includes a significant reduction in supplementary feed and straw and associated machinery costs.
However, as 2023 Soil Farmer of the Year Stuart Johnson from our mentoring team writes, farmers must ‘earn the right’ to enjoy full value from the practice.
“Although outwintering can save money in the short term, these savings can be wiped out if the ground is damaged.
“Anyone can outwinter feeding silage and sacrificing fields, the art is doing it in a way that doesn’t necessitate copious amounts of fodder making, along with all the time and costs associated with repairing and reseeding fields.”