A new report that was published this week states that regenerative farming can "return price-setting power" to farmers, if the Irish public gets on board.

The report from the European Alliance for Regenerative Agriculture (EARA) explores ways to boost the practice of regenerative farming in Ireland, which EARA said can reduce risks and input costs for farmers.

The report, titled Regenerating Systemic Risk: A Case Study for Ireland also explores how different stakeholders, including the Irish public, can assist the sector in moving towards a regenerative model.

The report says that Ireland's general population can "close the loop" by shortening the distance between farms and plates.

It says that direct sales, produce box schemes, farmers' markets and community-supported agriculture would "return price-setting power to the farmer, keeping value within the local economy".

Local distribution

According to EARA's report, this is already happening, with much of Ireland's organic vegetable output distributed through local communities.

"Demand for provenance-led, grass-fed and organic produce is growing on health and sustainability grounds, and every purchase of Irish-grown regenerative produce over an imported equivalent strengthens the domestic grower base," the report states.

It adds that the potential for community investment models are currently underused, and that these would allow citizens to fund diversified production and benefit from regenerative land management.

Apart from the public, banks can also have a role to play, with the report saying that preferential loans could let individuals or groups of farmers invest in machinery, or let local and regional processers provide a route to market for diversified crops.

Processors and retailers could also assist in making regenerative agriculture more viable by agreeing forward contracts for locally adapted Irish crops, while further support could be allocated to storage, freezing, washing, grading, and milling capacity.

The report states the insurers can have a role to play by underwriting any yield reductions during a farmers initial phase of transition to regenerative farming.

Co-operatives, meanwhile, could cover the cost of premiums for their suppliers who are transitioning to regenerative.

Th report says: "Each actor lowers the risk carried by the others, while the farmer remains central, obtaining the security necessary for change.

"Coordination at the local, regional and national levels enables private capital to finance a resilient agricultural sector," the report adds.