EARA’s Landmark Research Project: World's Largest Pioneering Regenerative Agriculture Research Study
Farmer-Led Research Shows the Realities of Producing More and Better with Less: Place-Based Innovation for the Economy, the Society and the Environment.
European farmers can produce significantly more food for less by transition to regenerative agriculture, compared to average conventional practices, a new landmark study launched today by the European Alliance for Regenerative Agriculture (EARA) shows. This proof-of-concept study is funded by EIT Food – the world’s largest agrifood innovation network.
The study benchmarks 78 regenerating farms in 14 countries covering over 7,000 hectares against their neighbouring and national average conventional farmers, demonstrating that Europe’s food security is not in fact dependent on high-input chemical agriculture, but instead on a symbiotic and innovative relationship with nature. The myth that only the status quo of conventional, synthetic input-heavy agriculture can feed Europe “and the world”, is just that, a myth. Reliance on conventional agricultural practices and methods puts Europe “and the world” at risk due to ever more fragile yields, rising input quantities and costs, increasing economic pressure on farmers and severe exposure to losses to the whole agri-food system due to climate instability.
Already for 2025 the European Commission estimates the realistic loss in agricultural revenue and thus food security to be EUR 60 billion for Europe. By 2050 that loss is forecasted to grow to EUR >90 billion.
EARA’s landmark study was undertaken by 11 researchers supported by several top institutions around the world and led by EARA’s pioneering farmers. It shows that climate resilience, food security, improved economic returns for farmers and for the food supply chain as a whole, are not only possible through regenerating forms of agriculture, but achievable, while also supplying the crucial foundations of climate adaptation for the whole of the European society (with regard to flood, heat and drought mitigation).
Pioneers of regenerating forms of agriculture who are stemming from Agroecology, Agroforestry, Conservation Agriculture, Organic Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, Market Gardening, Holistic Planned Grazing and other practices, all exceed in input reduction, biological improvements and yield resilience, while achieving regenerative outcomes in their particular context. By regenerative outcomes we mean the continuous improvement of all decisive productivity factors.
The farmers were identified and invited to this study as leaders of Europe’s Regenerating Movement. The participating farmers are members of EARA, as well as other pioneering farmer associations such as CNA and ECAF; in consultation with private sector pioneers like Unilever and Soil Capital; or regional initiatives such as the Iberian Association of Regenerative Agriculture, Baltic Sea Action Group (BSAG), Greenotec or WeAreTheRegeneration.
“The Green Revolution can be put to the dustbin of history. The 4th agricultural revolution is here, led by farmers joining forces with Nature, relearning ancient wisdom and holistic worldviews, combined with newest science and autonomy-enhancing technology.”
“Together with the farmer-led association EARA we have conducted a study that embraces a new look towards agroecosystems, searching for innovative ways to stimulate rural areas and secure food security and climate adaptation by focusing on soil regeneration and biodiversity boosting.”
“The EARA study shows that Regenerative Agriculture, correctly implemented, is more than a buzzword and fashion. Instead, it is a pathway towards an agriculture, which can feed the world and be at the same time sustainable in all three dimensions - social, environmental and economic. And this can also be verified in a transparent way, as the study further shows.”
Result Figures
The study introduces a new Regenerating Full Productivity Index (RFP), developed by pioneering farmers, researchers and agronomists, to describe all decisive productivity factors for regenerating forms of agriculture. RFP is a multidimensional and easily measurable index that is operable from international governance to field level.
This study informs how a future Common Agriculture Policy and agricultural policies that reward farmers’ results-based agroecological performance rather than practices, can be designed and efficiently operationalized. Please see EARA’s CAP reform policy proposal here. At the same time, it provides the urgently necessary data to inform crucial financial instruments, such as operational risk transition insurances for farmers.
Between 2020 and 2023, pioneering regenerating farmers achieved, on average, just 1% lower yields in terms of kilocalories and proteins, while using 62% less synthetic nitrogen fertiliser and 76% less pesticides (g/active substance) per hectare.
In comparison to average farmers in Europe importing >30% of livestock feed from outside the EU, the assessed pioneers achieved their yields using no feed from outside their bioregion.
From 2018 to 2024, these pioneers achieved over 15% higher photosynthesis, soil cover, and plant diversity on their fields compared to neighbouring fields, marking a significant advantage.
Critically, for climate mitigation, their fields recorded average surface temperatures over 0.3°C cooler during summer months than surrounding agroecosystems.
Over the past 7 years, the pioneers achieved a 17.2% increase in total soil cover and a 17.1% increase in total photosynthesis compared to conventional farmers.
In total, from 2020 to 2023, they delivered 27% higher Regenerating Full Productivity (RFP) than the average European farmer, with gains ranging from 24% to 38% across the 14 countries studied.
Undertaken to provide data that encourage following the lead of the pioneers, the study estimates European farmers across the board could mitigate 141.3 million metric tonnes of CO₂e per year already in the first years of transition, which is about 84% of the net greenhouse gas emissions from the EU agricultural sector.
After 3-7 years of transition, Europe’s agricultural sector would quickly be nature and climate positive, while assuring food and fiber security, critical climate adaptation and nature regeneration for the whole of European society. EARA holds that the results of the leap in agricultural productivity are not only valid for Europe, but across the world.
"This study is a call to realize the following: restoring ecosystems while being productive and profitable is not a dream of some theory-lovers sitting in offices. It is what pioneer farmers are achieving on their fields throughout Europe. Let's support the dissemination of their techniques, for our common good."
Voices of the Farmers involved:
In Switzerland, EARA’s farmer Peter Fröhlich is producing 90 - 105 tonnes of sugar beets per hectare, more than his region’s average, with 78% less pesticide use and risk, with 67% less synthetic nitrogen, 33% less phosphorus and 50% less potassium fertilizer use. He is pioneering precision cover cropping and several biofertilization strategies, together with strip till in his sugar beet cultivation.
“Farmers are leading the transformation towards Regenerative Agriculture, and Science has to endorse and factualize it. I am very happy that EARA and the true innovators have exactly done this with the largest Regenerative Agriculture assessment performed ever.”
In Greece, EARA’s farmer Sheila Darmos is producing olives, oranges, limes and lemons with an average of 280% more yields per hectare using zero fertiliser and pesticide inputs and 78% less fuel than average farmers on the same crops. That is outstanding, as fertilizer and pesticide inputs for the same crops are huge in conventional farming. Sheila is pioneering organic syntropic agroforestry, thereby also reducing surface temperature in the summer, increasing water infiltration and holding capacities, and supporting biodiversity throughout the year.
“The Southern Lights farm economic and ecological performance builds up on the impact of 40 years of organic and 10 years of regenerative agroforestry practices, and thus clearly constitutes an economically and ecologically resilient pathway for farmers. With EARA we are pioneering ways to help ever more farmers to embark on similar journeys.”
“EARA’s approach of Regenerating Full Productivity, offers a breakthrough metric for finance and insurance - turning real-time ecosystem performance of agriculture into a powerful data-backed indicator. This will be a game changer for estimating agricultural investment/credit risk, ROI potential, exposure management and insurance modelling. A unique opportunity to unlock smarter, safer capital flows into regenerative farming, for the benefit of investors, insurers and farmers alike.”
Objectives and Context
This farmer-led research pioneers epistemological and methodological innovation with novel empirical ground truth, showing the successes of Europe’s pioneering farmers. Their performance is assessed by showing agricultural and ecological productivity in a new, simple and comprehensive multidimensional index, introduced as Regenerating Full Productivity (RFP). RFP’s simple and robust measurability is also assessed. This is the report about the first phase of EARA’s multi-year research program on RFP that will examine more countries and contexts in the coming years.
European agriculture, health and productivity are in decline, driven by a combination of social and economic pressures. Already fragile agricultural systems, dependent on non-EU inputs, are becoming increasingly precarious due to more frequent and intense weather events, paired with unpredictable energy markets, huge demographic challenges in the sector and geopolitical and macroeconomic uncertainty.
As an example, in 2024, production of Europe’s staple fruit, apples, reduced on average 11%[2], with the Czech Republic experiencing losses of up to 90%[3]. Cereal production also took a hit, although less dramatic, with losses estimated at approximately 7% below the 5-year average[4]. As yields decrease while consumption remains steady, the EU’s biomaterial dependencies on imports are solidified. Today, the EU is a net importer of both calories and proteins, relying on foreign producers for 11% of the calories and 26% of the proteins consumed[5].
This study seeks to address these challenges by highlighting the pathways that pioneering European farmers have developed toward building resilient and productive agricultural systems. The results of these farmers are examined to demonstrate how the outcome-based and farmer-led regeneration of diverse agroecosystems positively impacts the overall security, competitiveness, strategic autonomy and wellbeing of the EU.
“It is insightful to reflect how the agricultural sector has built a negative bias against its own innovation capacity. When we discuss the productive developmental trajectory of computer chips, we ignore the average diffused chip performance, preferring to look at the latest high-performing chips and compare them to the best chips 5, 10 or 15 years ago. If agricultural pioneers had the platform to show their high performance, we would have the same enthusiasm and thus investment into the future of agriculture as is incited by the powers of computing technology - with much higher benefits to society at large.”
“At last, we have the hard data from real farms that show that regeneration is not only working, but that it has a strong business case behind it. It is not only possible, but vital, to transition the European agri-food sector to regeneration as quickly as contexts allow, to ensure resilience in rural areas and food security alike. Thanks to the work of our pioneering farmers, the future of agriculture in Europe is truly bright, and we're here to offer a helping hand to our fellow farmers, to share our knowledge and experience to make the regenerative transition as smooth as possible.”
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