Regenerative Agriculture Lab

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Regenerative agriculture can (and should) look different on every farm and ranch. More and more people, inside and outside the food system, are starting to see its value and ask how it can grow. It has the potential to help tackle some big challenges – storing carbon, supporting healthy soil and ecosystems, strengthening agricultural businesses and creating jobs along the way.

At the same time, there are still barriers that make it hard to scale regenerative agriculture. There’s work to do to understand what’s needed to make these practices easier for more producers to adopt and grow.

The Regenerative Agriculture Lab (RAL) is using social innovation methodology to create a collaborative platform for those along the agri-food value chain (e.g. farmers, researchers, food retailers) to incubate, test and explore ideas, initiatives, policies and programs that can accelerate the adoption of regenerative agriculture in Alberta.

Using The Social Innovation Lab Model to Advance Change

A social innovation is any initiative (product, process, program, project or platform) that challenges and, over time, contributes to changing the defining routines, resource and authority flows or beliefs of complex systems. (Waterloo Institute for Social Innovation and Resilience). 

In the context of RAL, we are working with producers, industry leaders, food distributors, academics and policymakers to define the problems, map the systems and gain a deep understanding of the dynamics that hold Alberta’s agricultural system in place. RAL aims to advance regenerative agriculture in Alberta, while keeping its integrity in place. The question that brings everyone involved in RAL to the table, is:

How might we grow Alberta’s regenerative agriculture system in a way that preserves its integrity while maximizing the positive social, environmental and economic impacts for communities?

Building Blocks for A Successful Transition to Regenerative Agriculture

As we’ve built RAL up since 2018, participants have identified five strategic initiatives to help us advance towards answering our convening question: Biodiversity, Amplify, Steward Ownership, the 4R’s (Fertilizer Management) and Roots & Rangelands. We have also identified some core values of the lab that guide our work in order to facilitate a shift in practices.

  1. Communities of support: Producers are more likely to explore regenerative practices when they’re supported by peers and trusted experts. As adoption grows, a positive social norm emerges that encourages others to follow.

  2. Knowledge and data are important: Access to practical knowledge and credible data helps farmers see the benefits of regenerative agriculture and plan changes with confidence.

  3. Sound economics is key: Reducing financial risk and offering transition supports makes regenerative farming more investable for producers. When practices improve profitability, resilience AND environmental outcomes producers are more likely to adopt them.

Five Initiatives Aimed at Propelling Change

Biodiversity

This initiative is aimed at promoting biodiversity through polyculture adoption and education across Alberta. To date, they have launched a “Polycultures Rock” campaign, which includes collating data, photos and promoting the results of the 2024 and 2025 polyculture trials.

This initiative is now supporting two new field trials: one exploring the viability of growing winter wheat with cover crops—as an intercrop and under grazing pressure—and another focused on incorporating cover crops into commodity rotations across Alberta.

Read one of our trial participants stories here: https://rr2cs.ca/seeding-change-polycultures-at-work-at-muddy-creek-ranch/

Amplify

This initiative aims to improve access to regionally specific information and peer-to-peer support for regenerative agriculture practices. The Amplify group seeks to enable producers to access education, reduce risk and create community through knowledge sharing, digital tools, resources and collaborative networks.

 

A sub-project that has spun out from the Amplify group is the Resource Hub (currently under development). The Resource Hub will be an online platform focused on connecting Alberta farmers and ranchers with peer-to-peer support, information, advisors, events and stories of inspiration. Stay tuned for more information coming in summer 2026!

The 4R's - Right Source at the Right Rate, Right Time, Right Place ®

This is one of our more recently developed initiatives, which focuses on fertilizer usage and aims to increase producer uptake of 4R stewardship. Increased adoption of 4R’s will reduce nitrous oxide emissions, increase nitrogen use efficiency and optimize yields. The group intends to leverage the Alberta TIER carbon offset system to provide growers with financial support to cover costs of soil sampling and agronomic support. The 4R’s group is currently surveying producers for a possible corn silage pilot.

Steward Ownership

Steward Ownership is an innovative land financing model that brings together regenerative producers, conservation organizations and impact investors in a shared ownership structure. By centering producers while integrating conservation goals and patient capital, this model supports land access, succession planning and ecological stewardship. It’s a collaborative approach that prioritizes long-term resilience over short-term returns—enabling farms and ranches to grow with integrity. This model has already been piloted successfully on a ranch in southern Alberta.

You can read the pilot here: https://rr2cs.ca/stewarding-the-land-building-the-future-the-story-of-timber-ridge-ranch/

Roots & Rangelands

Roots and Rangelands works to accelerate the adoption and preservation of perennial forage systems by demonstrating their financial viability and promoting their ecological, social and financial benefits. They are hoping to achieve this through case studies, webinars, financial valuation and looking at marginal lands projects.

Do any of these initiatives look interesting to you?

We are currently looking for more people to join each initiative, so this could be your opportunity to join this unique and evolving social lab. If you believe you have the knowledge, experience and time to help progress one of our initiatives, we’d love to hear from you.
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