Progress Needs a Baseline
Regenerative claims are more useful when compared with a starting condition. A baseline can include photographs, ground cover, bare soil, plant composition, infiltration, erosion, forage production, input use, and animal performance.
Soil-Surface Indicators
We watch litter, living cover, aggregation, crusting, runoff pathways, ponding, hoof impact, erosion, and rooting. These observations help identify where water enters, leaves, or fails to support plants.
Plant and Forage Indicators
Recovery time, residual height, desirable-species vigor, seasonal diversity, production, and grazing distribution show how pasture responds. More species is not automatically better if the added plants are toxic, invasive, or unproductive. Cover crops in both winter and summer are a huge help to add more species, add more forage, and add more carbon to your soil, but are planting and rainfall timing dependent.
Animal and Management Indicators
Body condition, growth, reproduction, health, behavior, water use, hay needs, labor, and input costs reveal whether ecological practices remain practical and humane.
Opinions: Soil Tests, Soil Amendments, and Organic Fertilizers
There are some ultra hardcore regenerative farmers out there that have said we're not a real regenerative operation because we use soil tests and use Dexter cattle. 🤨Listen. I'm a scientist first (really, actually... have the lambskin to prove it, but no, it's not needed to do farming this way). I LOVE data and am an intensely curious mind. Soil tests are data and provide a meaningful record for advocating for regenerative management. If you want to see regenerative agriculture succeed, YOU NEED PROOF. Data is proof. Photos are proof. Tests on soil samples AND meat samples are proof. Customer trust is the payout for providing proof (and having meat that tastes better than anyone else's!) If you have a use for a tool, and it doesn't disrupt the regenerative management system in a devastating way or makes regenerative management pointless -- use it, especially if it has a quantifiable way to pay you back! That includes soil amendments and organic fertilizers where needed. It's not like a soil test requires digging up the entire pasture by the ton to get a meaningful sample. Take your wisdom where you find it. As to the Dexters... I simply didn't want Angus or any other cattle breed. Dexters are personal preference. I like them.
Repeat the Same Measures
Use fixed locations, similar seasons, recorded rainfall, and consistent methods. Read our soil-health guide and regenerative farming guide.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can one soil test prove regeneration?
No. A soil test is one data point and should be interpreted with location, sampling method, season, management, and field observations.
What is the easiest measurement to start with?
Repeatable fixed-point photographs and estimates of living cover, litter, and bare soil are accessible starting tools.
Should every metric improve every year?
Not necessarily. Weather, sampling, stocking, disturbance, and natural variability affect results, so trends and context matter.
Do you publish guaranteed environmental outcomes?
No. We describe practices and measurements honestly without promising outcomes that climate and biological systems make uncertain.