Imagine soil like a sponge, crawling with worms, beetles dragging dung down from the surface and a riot of vegetation on top.

It’s not everyone’s idea of paradise, but it’s like heaven for Kaukapakapa farmer Stephen Newman.

Newman, a founder of the Kaipara Regenerative Farming Group and a member of farmer-led network Quorum Sense, told Country Life he used to farm very conventionally, until “the penny dropped” a few years ago, when he watched a programme about regenerative farming.

Since then, he has experimented with different regenerative methods on his 10-hectare block north of Auckland city.

Trials included sowing cover crops, introducing stock for a short period of time to feed on long cover, rearing dung beetles to help transfer the nutrients in animal faeces further down the layers of soil and composting.

He started the Kaipara Regenerative Farming Group about three years ago to help farmers improve soil health, enrich biodiversity, increase water retention, and reduce reliance on fertilisers and pesticides.

“Everything we do with the regenerative approach is all about soil biology, creating that life in the ground.”