What is Regenerative Agriculture?          

Regenerative Agriculture is an outcome-based approach to advancing productivity, profitability, and environmental health in a way that enhances food security, reinvigorates rural and urban communities, and restores the natural systems that life depends on. This approach can also improve soil health and biodiversity. The actions you take can benefit much more than you or your farm; they can benefit the environment and your community. Implementing regenerative practices can help producers efficiently use their resources and increase profitability while fostering a solid relationship with the environment.

Dr. Heaton’s lab is working to connect science with practice to incorporate perennial biomass crops into temperate cropping systems. She does this through the lens of regenerative agriculture, using combined field-modeling approaches to identify tactics that improve environmental and social outcomes in the US Midwest. An international expert, Dr. Heaton and her team help growers use the giant grass Miscanthus for various bioproducts and ecosystem services.