New Zealand could and should be a world super power in regenerative agriculture by ensuring its pasture management  approaches are focused on promoting healthy, ecologically and environmentally sound farming practices. Āta’s mission is to help New Zealand’s farmers make this opportunity a reality.

Healthy pasture absorbs and stores carbon, promotes biodiversity, provides the platform to create highly nutritious plant and animal food. Being a custodian of a healthy landscape positions a farmer to take advantage of shifts in consumer behaviour which are driving disruptive new global food trends.

Regenerative agriculture is really a way of thinking. In many ways, it represents a back to the future approach. Regenerative approaches seek balance unlike industrial systems, which have traditionally been established to maximise the extraction of return from a resource.

Effective regenerative practice in contrast takes a holistic approach aiming to better manage the integration of social, economic and environmental complexity. It is a viable option capable of solving many of the challenges facing New Zealand’s farmers today.

Āta is a regenerative consultancy which has been set up to champion the movement reconnecting people and producers with their land. Currently Āta is managing a pilot project responsible for transitioning a well known Rotorua beef and sheep farm using the Āta principals to demonstrate in practice how the development of healthy soils can positively impact farm enterprises allowing them to become more sustainable and profitable.

The agricultural industry is considered to be one of the world’s biggest impacts on climate change, which in so many ways is counter intuitive to the very notion of farming, which is about nurturing the growth of plants and animals. Generating three centimetres of topsoil takes 1,000 years, and if current rates of degradation continue all of the world’s top soil could be gone within 60 years.

What shape is the soil and pasture on your farm in? Āta can help you assess the situation and provide you with regenerative options to ensure your farming enterprises are secure, resilient and producing world class food well into the future.