Bad Rap or Bad Mindset?

Oh oh.

I thought cover crops were a great strategy!

Here’s a story about when regenerative practices, applied with a chemical mindset, actually making things worse!

Sometimes regenerative approaches get a bad rap because they yield poor results when applied with a chemical mindset. Here is one glaring example of how the wrong holistic approach can make proven regenerative approaches fail.

Cover crops are among the most biologically beneficial practices a grower can adopt, yet their widespread adoption can increase glyphosate use and extra tilling. Why?

Because once a cover crop has done its work of fixing nitrogen, suppressing weeds, building soil carbon with its roots, and feeding the microbial community, it is generally terminated before the next cash crop goes in. And for many growers, the path they know is to spray it with herbicide and till it under.  

Business as usual.
Because the mindset was still chemical, the attempted regenerative practice not only cost the grower more time and effort in the end but also led to the higher use of detrimental practices than would have occurred had the cover crop not been applied. This is how proven beneficial regenerative practices get a bad wrap, not because they don't work, but because misguided advice and a chemical mindset were used to apply them.

​So what is the solution?

​Understanding that regeneration is a paradigm shift, not a one-for-one replacement of “bad chemicals” with “good chemicals,” is critical. The best first step is understanding the role of biology in the soil. This intricate soil food web can literally produce a self-sustaining living ecosystem from inert mineral materials. Simple practices enhance it and restore it, while others destroy it.

Only if you start here will you be able to generate, understand, and successfully apply a truly regenerative plan for your land and growing goals.  

—direct from www.soilfoodweb.com newsletter May 29, 2026