Two large studies are under way in Canterbury to test whether regenerative agricultural practices can clean up the dairy sector while still maintaining profitability. Both are using the same research methodology: two farms, side by side. One is run as a conventional dairy farm, the other as a regenerative dairy farm.
“We have two herds, two milk vats, two profit-and-loss statements, and we track the differences between the two systems,” said Align Farms chief executive Rhys Roberts.
Align is doing this on Clareview Farm near Ashburton, where one half is regenerative and the other conventional. Overall, there about 1000 cows on 300 or so hectares. It has collected, analysed and made public five years of statistics – which show Align’s regenerative farm is 19% less profitable than its conventional farm.
Ngāi Tahu Farming is running a similar trial on two farms at Eyrewell, north of the Waimakariri River. The regenerative farms is 281ha and has 790 cows at peak times. The conventional farm is 319ha, with 1026 cows at peak times.
Ngāi Tahu started after Align and does not yet have a definitive answer on profitability, said business development manager Brett Walter.
He can say that the “regen farm isn’t as profitable as the conventional farm”.
It did not help that the conventional farm was Ngāi Tahu’s top performer last year. Neither did it help that cocksfoot, a pasture grass, somewhat dominates the regenerative farm and is less nutritious for the cows, Walter said.
So, if not for profit, what is the point of regenerative dairy farming?
Both Align and Ngāi Tahu fasten onto values. Align’s founders, John Buchanan and Rob Cameron, sought a “better balance for their staff, their farm, and their environment”.
The enterprise wants a “healthier environment, healthier animals, healthier products, and healthier profits”.
Ngāi Tahu expresses something very similar, and calls it mātauranga Māori.
“It’s a holistic view of the whole farming system, and how we can evolve and develop a system that’s going to be beneficial,” said Walter – beneficial for the whenua (land), the wai (water), the biodiversity, the animals, and the staff.
Roberts agreed he is a blue-green businessman – a capitalist with deep concerns for environmental outcomes. Profits on Align’s regenerative farm are “adequate”, he said.
Sharing is in their DNA. Align updates its website regularly. Ngāi Tahu is still looking for the right platform but the commitment is there, said Walter.
Regenerative dairying explained
Regenerative farmers are primarily concerned with enhancing soil, Roberts said.
It is a “soil first” approach. “If you look after the soil … you look after the produce,” he said, referring to what cows eat.
On the regenerative half of Clareview, for example, management tries to keep “living roots” in the ground at all times. They also avoid soil disturbance, like tilling. They do not spray fields out, the fertilisers are not synthetic, and they use composts.
Canterbury dairy herds are typically fed ryegrass and clover, with some silage, hay, plantain and other foods added when needed.
At a regenerative dairy farm, cows eat eight or nine growing plants over a year. Getting the mix right is part of the experiment. It is hoped this biodiversity slows climate change, improves resilience, reduces nutrient losses, improves the soil and produces better milk.
Professor Pablo Gregorini, of Lincoln University, and colleagues studied the chemical composition of Align’s regenerative milk in a peer-reviewed study of Clareview. It found milk and yoghurt from the regeneratively farmed cows had a lower ratio of the omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids, which supports cardiovascular health and improves mental health.
The milk and yoghurt also contained higher levels of Streptococcus thermophilus, aiding digestion for lactose-intolerant individuals, improving gut motility and reducing inflammatory bowel symptoms, Gregorini said.
Other compounds were present in greater concentrations that are known to provide benefits to humans, with antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antiviral and anti-diabetic properties, he said.
But Align is not getting a premium for this better milk, observed Robyn Dynes, a farm systems specialist at the Bioeconomy Science Institute, formerly AgResearch.
Unlike organic milk, there is no certification for regenerative milk – at least yet, she said. That is why Align got into yoghurt. In 2025, it launched Re Yogurt, which claims to be New Zealand’s “first regeneratively farmed dairy brand made from whole milk from a single farm source in Canterbury”. “We are trying to unblock the benefits further up the supply chain,” said Roberts. That could offset the lower profitability of the regenerative farm.
Align plans to produce more foods, aligning with its founding vision as a pasture-to-plate company.
Align also owns five conventional dairy farms and three dairy support farms, so economically it is doing fine.
Ngāi Tahu Farming are “custodians” for 9200ha of pastoral farming land and three high country stations and also doing fine. The iwi is investing between $2.5 million and $3m in the regenerative trials, while the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) is putting $8m into the project.
A third regenerative dairying trial is under way at Massey University. It is a seven-year, $27m effort also funded by MPI.
Dynes called the regenerative trials “outstanding for New Zealand”. “We know we’ve got to keep innovating, we can’t stand still, and we’ve got to be market focused,” she said.
Will it work? We will see.