Books are one of the best ways to gather more information about a topic. I find it amazing that you can effectively access the knowledge of some of the brightest minds and a whole life-time of work for less than $30! So here is a list of my must read books for regenerative agriculture.
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Strickler’s Guide to restoring your soil is one of the best practical books I’ve read for implementing regenerative agriculture practices. The book goes through every principle and practices needed to restore any soil. A highly recommended read and guidebook and anyone serious in restoring their soils. The book is well written and has a number of illustrations and diagrams to help explain these regenerative concepts.
An excellent read with a combination of story telling and practical understanding of regenerative concepts. Masters has done an excellent job of sharing her story as well as recommendations developed throughout her consultancy.
Growing a revolution is a great overview of the “regenerative movement”, including the destruction of soil and the story up until today and a look at the future. I would highly recommend this book if this is your introduction to regenerative agriculture, especially from an American context.
Similar to “Growing a Revolution”, the call of the reed warbler is an excellent overview of regenerative agriculture but in an Australian context. Excellent story telling and explanations of the core ecosystem services.
Another excellent book by Strickler for pasture management. This book will take you through all aspects of ensuring you regenerate your livestock enterprise and improve livestock profitability.
A humorous and insightful explanation of livestock and pasture management by an experienced rancher/grazier. This book had very practical applications in determining stocking rates and assisting in financial and business decisions.
The classic “Dirt To Soil” by Gabe Brown, this is a good overview of regenerative agriculture especially from a story telling point of view and from a general principles perspective.
One of my personal favourite technical reads drawing in lots of scientific literature discussing the impact of plant nutrition on diseases. This is an insightful read for anyone wanting to reduce pesticide use by improving plant health using nutrition to improve plant resistance to diseases.
This is another excellent technical read with an abundance of information of plant nutrition, beyond the basic NPK. This pairs nicely with Mineral nutrition and plant disease (if the budget allows), and across the two books you’ll be an expert in all things plant nutrition. In addition to mineral nutrition, the book discusses the importance of soil microbes and their affect on nutrient availability.
Another (very) technical read from the God father of soil science. This is a great overview of Albrecht’s ideas and has a number of insightful concepts. At times, it can be difficult to read and some ideas have been updated/developed but the overall concepts remain the same.
Francis Chaboussou was one of the first who developed the idea that sick plants attract pests and disease and that healthy plants due to proper nutrition prevent disease and insect attacks. This book is actually FREE and I would highly recommend this to everyone interested in biological systems. Personally I printed the book out to have a physical copy but you could also make do with a pdf.
So there you go, that’s our top 10 must read regenerative agriculture books. There are many other excellent regenerative agriculture books out there that we’ll have to write up a longer list but this is an excellent start.
