5 ON YOUR SIDE: Regenerative agriculture

As the concept of regenerative agriculture has been popularized in recent years, states, the federal government, and big corporations have begun investing money into it. But how exactly the term is defined is a key question, and one that varies from one organization to another.

Minnesota farmers Grant and Dawn Breitkreutz run Stoney Creek Farm along the bluff of the Minnesota River near Redwood Falls, Minnesota.  Over the past 20 years, they have converted a conventional crop and cow/calf operation into a multi-enterprise regenerative family business.  Their crops have changed from a corn and soybean rotation to at least a three-crop rotation, with cover crops incorporated whenever and wherever possible in their 100% no-till cropping system. Cattle are grazed across nearly every acre throughout the year.

The Breitkreutzs say the ric...