The Global Farmer Network is using the expertise of its diverse and global farmer membership to identify a set of core principles and determine a statement defining regenerative agriculture with a farmers' perspective. Observations show that the term is being broadly defined without farmer input, leading to farmers being asked to adopt certain practices labeled as ‘regenerative.’
Eight farmers with diverse farming-backgrounds gathered on April 15-17, 2025, at Chesapeake Farms in Maryland for Phase One, a workshop to develop a farmer-determined statement of regenerative agriculture, supported by core principles and case studies. The farmers developing the statement:
- Knud Bay-Smidt, Denmark
- Shekhar Bhadsavle, India
- Antonio Cabrera, Brazil
- Judith de Vor, Netherlands
- Jorge Lopez Menendez, West Africa/Argentina
- Dave Okech, Kenya
- Jennie Schmidt, USA
- Sarah Singla, France
Phase Two will involve sharing the statement and principles with the GFN membership, partners, and key networks, collecting farmer signatures globally, and introducing the statement at global events.
For more information and to learn more about the statement, contact Mary Boote, GFN CEO, mboote@globalfarmernetwork.org.
