Welcome back everyone to this ongoing series on regenerative agriculture. Last week we kicked off with an interview with Joel Salatin and in this session I’ve got another great interview with one of the most influential regen ag practitioners in Europe. There are a lot of inspiring voices in the regenerative agriculture community, but few have done such a thorough job of documenting and publishing every step of the development of a small profitable farm the way Richard Perkins has done with Ridgedale Permaculture. Especially now that I’ve decided to put down roots in Europe, I’ve been looking for examples of profitable small farming models for inspiration for my own project here, and between Richard’s youtube channel and two books, Making Small Farms Work and the new volume titled Regenerative Agriculture, there are few better resources to guide you step by step through all the design considerations, from landscape analysis, business planning, crunching numbers and creative paths to market. 

Though I spoke to Richard for the first time back in season 1, I invited him back for this episode to talk about some of the massive changes that are coming about from the COVID health crisis and how he’s seen it affect small farms around Europe. We explore topics like farm enterprise analysis, suggestions for direct to consumer marketing and collaboration, and Richard also talks about his observations over the years of transformation of his small farm in northern Sweden, not only from a land health perspective, but also things he’s noticed about his teaching and mentorship strategy as well as the characteristics he thinks are essential for succeeding in farming.

Resources:

https://www.youtube.com/user/mrintegralpermanence

https://www.facebook.com/ridgedalepermaculture/

https://www.regenerativeagriculture.co/