Understanding Regenerative Farming and Greenwashing pitfalls

Regenerative farming has gained considerable traction within the agri-food sector as a way of reducing the environmental and social harm associated with conventional production practices. Yet, there is a concern that the term and practice may be both poorly understood and effectively measured and implemented. This is giving rise to increasing unease about greenwashing from both industry and regulators. 

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), the UK’s independent advertising regulator, has been alive to this issue for some time. In April 2024, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) published research into environmental claims in food and drink advertising - Consumer Understanding of Environmental Claims in Food & Drink Advertising (see our earlier article here). The research identified some evidence of the emerging trend towards “regenerative farming” claims and committed to engaging with industry and other partners to better understand regenerative farming and thereafter produce guidance to assist businesses to make claims that are more likely to be compliant with the advertising rules. That guidance was published on 7 November 2024. 

This article explores what regenerative farming is and how the ASA has approached the concept, in order to share insights into how agri-food businesses can avoid greenwashing.

What is Regenerative Farming?

Regenerative farming (or regenerative agriculture or simply ‘regen’) does not have an agreed definition and is regarded as a broad church (see more on this in an article by Burges Salmon Partner, Kevin Kennedy). Accordingly, the term has varying interpretations. Broadly speaking, regenerative agriculture reimagines farming in line with natural systems, with a focus on replenishing, restoring, and reusing key resources. Regenerative agricultural can involve practices such as the protection of soil, reducing use of synthetics and environmentally damaging pesticides, prioritising livestock grazing and diminishing over-cultivation. Some people view regenerative farming as a philosophical approach to farming which extends beyond the farming itself and aims to support the wider communities across the supply chain also. 

The ASA has identified that regenerative farming typically involves some mix of the following farming practices:

• Limiting soil disturbance
• Maintaining year-round soil cover
• Promoting biodiversity and crop rotations
• Keeping living roots in the soil
• Integrating livestock and arable systems

Importantly, regenerative farming is as much about the outcomes achieved as it is about the actions taken.  As explained by the ASA “Critically, these outcomes go beyond agricultural productivity alone and encompass consideration of other natural resources and public goods such as biodiversity and water quality.”[1]

There has been a growing uptake of regenerative agricultural practices globally. The global regenerative agriculture market size was estimated at USD 924.0 million in 2022 and is expected to grow at a growth rate of 15.7% from 2023 to 2030[2]. This is being driven largely by the rising awareness regarding environmental impacts of conventional farming techniques and the increasing demand for sustainable food production systems. 

In addition, there has been an increasing focus from both the private and public sector on financially incentivising farmers to make the transition. This is particularly evident in the UK.  

Farming in England is undergoing a significant transformation as it moves away from the agricultural policy it inherited from its membership of the EU. The traditional area-based subsidies that have long supported the agricultural sector will be phased out by 2028, making way for new schemes that prioritize sustainable and nature-friendly land use. The new UK government has made clear that its priorities for the agricultural sector are food security, sustainable farming and environmental restoration[3]. 

Similarly in the EU, reforms to the common agricultural policy (CAP) came into force in 2023, with the bloc’s Farm to Fork strategy aiming to reduce fertiliser use by 20% and halve chemical pesticides and soil nutrient loss. This transition represents a paradigm shift in the way farmers and land managers are incentivised and rewarded.

Greenwashing dangers

As the concept of regenerative farming is enthusiastically embraced by governments and the corporate agri-food sector in particular, a number of dangers lie in wait. 

As noted above, there is no universally agreed definition of ‘regenerative agriculture’. The danger is that the absence of a clear definition is contributing to widespread misunderstanding amongst consumers about what environmental claims about regenerative farming actually mean. 

Whilst the ASA has applauded the emergence of apparently more environmentally friendly farming methods, it has raised concerns about the absence of an agreed definition and consequently the possibility for the term to be used in a wide-ranging and open-ended way as a descriptor, likely with various possible interpretations, and with the potential to imbue a range of perceived environmental attributes or benefits across a particular brand or product, which could (when coupled with the relatively low consumer awareness and understanding presently) result in greenwashing. 

At the same time, there is scepticism about businesses’ commitment to regenerative farming. A report by FAIRR report found that, among the 79 agrifood companies examined, 50 boasted about their dedication to regenerative agriculture, yet only 18 had set concrete targets, while just four offered financial support to farmers making the transition. This lays bare the potential for the misleading use of sustainability claims in the regenerative agriculture sphere. 

A greater risk perhaps arises from the reliance being placed on what many consider to be uncertain evidence and science in this space. To provide a couple of examples. It is far from certain that the increases in sequestered carbon often claimed to result from regenerative practices is achievable (i.e. through reduced tillage). What is more, whilst the qualitative benefits of cover crops are fairly well understood, what is less clear is the scale of the improvements. 

Professor Lynn Dicks, a conservation scientist at the University of Cambridge explains that “Companies are therefore attempting to monetise something that may or may not be happening.” 

Mitigating the Risk 

We expect the agri-food industry to find itself increasingly under scrutiny for its regenerative farming claims in the coming months and years. To support businesses to avoid misleading consumers when communicating their regenerative farming initiatives, the ASA has issued guidance on compliance ‘dos and don’ts’: 

• Ensure transparency by providing clarity around terminology & statistics – ensure claims around regenerative farming suitably clarify the basis for those claims; always bearing in mind how it may be perceived/understood by the average consumer.  For example, when communicating, businesses should clarify what farming tools, protocols or practices form the basis of the claim. Where claims include references to outcomes, it may be necessary to support consumers’ understanding of them by explaining how they are measured or benchmarked.

• Avoid absolute claims - Absolute claims, such as “regenerative”, “nature-friendly” or “sustainable” within a food production context can only be used when they are supported by a very high level of substantiation. Likewise, advertisers should avoid making any promises or guarantees around ‘regeneration’ or ‘restoration’. It is far better to communicate about the journey your business is on rather than the final destination.

• Avoid cherry-picking – exaggerating the extent or nature of any regenerative farming initiatives or practices that farmers/agri-businesses have in place can result in misleading consumers. Equally, the ASA has noted that care must be taken when general ‘regenerative’ claims are made where, for instance, a business/farm is only employing one or two of the farming practices outlined above. 

Example: an advertiser that claims to be ‘regenerative’ on the basis of simply purchasing carbon or biodiversity credits alone, is very likely to be giving a misleading impression.

• Evidence/Substantiation – like all environmental claims, claims about regenerative farming should be capable of objective substantiation. Claims are likely to be much more capable of objective substantiation, where they are based on actual outcomes, rather than on future projections. The ASA has therefore encouraged advertisers to speak about what they have done and are doing now, rather than what they plan to achieve in the future.

• Whole lifecycle - ‘regenerative’ claims that fail to consider relevant environmental impacts beyond the farm gate, neglect to consider the whole lifecycle of a product or fail to acknowledge the ‘whole system’ approach in which the regenerative farming movement is rooted have a strong potential to mislead.

• Avoid misleading comparisons with other farming methods – there are fundamental differences between regenerative farming on the one hand and organic farming, for example, on the other. For that reason, the ASA has cautioned against conflating the two approaches. 

For further information on how regulators in the UK are regulating environmental claims and addressing greenwashing, please see our various articles on the topic How 'Green' are you? 'Greenwashing' claims scrutinised by regulators (burges-salmon.com), CMA to continue scrutinising companies for green claims (burges-salmon.com) and Setting the standard: CMA concludes probe into fashion retailers 'Green' claims, Victoria Barnes (burges-salmon.com) or listen to our podcast.

If you want to hear more about how we can help you in these areas, please get in touch with Victoria Barnes, or click here to find out more about our environment team or our food and farming team. 

[1]Sowing the seeds of compliance: communicate your regenerative farming initiatives with confidence - ASA | CAP

[2]Regenerative Agriculture Market Size & Share Report, 2030 (grandviewresearch.com)

[3]Budget 2024: maintaining momentum – Farming.

“Businesses must adopt clear frameworks for regenerative agriculture, with specific goals, detailed practices and scientific methods to measure impacts” - World Economic Forum