But here’s the catch: there’s no universally accepted definition of “regenerative agriculture”. That ambiguity leaves the term wide open for use - and abuse - by major polluters like Fonterra.
In fact, Fonterra has crafted its own definition: “outcome-based farming approach that protects and continuously improves soil health, biodiversity, climate, animal and water outcomes while supporting resilient intergenerational farming businesses”. A yummy-sounding word-salad. But does it mean anything?
Not really. Because Fonterra is New Zealand’s worst climate polluter. By branding its current dairy farming practices as “regenerative,” the company is simply repackaging polluting methods as sustainable. Fonterra says that “many regenerative agricultural practices are inherent to the way we farm” because New Zealand dairy cows are mostly pasture-based.
But what they don’t tell you is what it takes to grow that pasture. The New Zealand dairy industry uses:
Synthetic nitrogen fertilisers are a particular problem. They decrease soil biodiversity and productivity and are a major contributor to climate change and pollute freshwater and drinking water. Since New Zealand’s dairy boom began 30 years ago, the use of synthetic nitrogen fertiliser has skyrocketed — up 629%.
And no, Fonterra’s cows don’t just eat grass. According to its own standards, up to 20% of a dairy cow’s diet can be made up of palm kernel, a product of the palm oil industry that drives deforestation and threatens endangered wildlife such as orangutans in Southeast Asia. New Zealand is the world’s largest importer of this rainforest-destroying feed, bringing in over 1.5 million tonnes in 2024.
It doesn’t stop there. In winter, when the grass doesn’t grow well, Fonterra feeds many of its cows fodder crops like kale and beets, instead of grass. This practice is called intensive winter grazing because a large number of cows are restricted to small sections of crop paddocks at a time, where they stay until the groundcover has been fully grazed. The practice quickly churns the ground to mud, leaving cows wading knee-deep in mud, and even giving birth to calves in mud.
Regenerative? Sustainable? Not even close.
Fonterra’s use of the term “regenerative agriculture” is a textbook case of milkwashing - greenwashing, dairy-style.