Regenerative Agriculture and our River, May 21 at 6 pm at the Florida Springs Welcome Center

Keeping our aquifer healthy means reducing fertilizer use and being more efficient with our water use. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection has identified the many sources of these Nitrates-N. Row crops, hay, beef and dairy are some of the biggest contributors of Nitrates-N. (Draft Santa Fe River Basin Management Action Plan.)

Agricultural Best Management Practices, BMP’s, are going to be put to the test in these coming years in order to reduce fertilizer use , apply more efficient watering methods, rotational grazing, and cover crops. (Agricultural Best Management Practices.)

Lauren Jorgensen, will be presenting Regenerative Agriculture on May 21st at 6 pm at the Florida Springs Welcome Center, 18645 High Springs Main Street, High Springs, FL 32643, beginning at 6 pm during our Annual Members Meeting. All are welcome to attend.

Regenerative Agriculture applies many BMP’s as well as more innovative methods that revive the soil, reduce runoff and dependency on synthetic fertilizer , and restore the water cycle, all while improving the sustainability of our family farms. Florida’s farmland is the only remaining buffer between Florida’s natural resources and urban sprawl, lets help our farmers succeed.

Lauren Jorgensen is a regenerative rancher from Live Oak, Florida. She is a graduate from Cornell Law School and served 30 years as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Miami and West Palm Beach. She worked for nine years in the nation’s first Environmental Crimes Section, where she prosecuted cases involving cruise ships dumping oil and plastics, toxic waste near the Everglades, and Endangered Species smuggling. A longtime Sierra Club member, she champions the Kiss the Ground movement to promote regenerative farming and address environmental issues like soil degradation and water pollution. Lauren also serves as an Ambassador to Florida’s Right to Clean Water and Executive Committee Member of the Florida Chapter of the Sierra Club. 

Lauren will present her work as a regenerative farmer on Starlight Farm, her 108-acre regenerative farm that raises a small herd of grass fed and finished beef cattle. They practice adaptive multipaddock grazing, plant seasonal cover crops and never till, apply chemical fertilizers or pesticides to our land. Their cows receive no grain, antibiotics or hormones, and live a happy life out in the sunshine of North Florida, with ample shade from century old Live Oak trees.

For further exploration:

The Economics of Regenerative Agriculture, Reaping the Rewards of Healthy Soil, USDA Agricultural Research Service, https://www.ars.usda.gov/oc/utm/the-economics-of-regenerative-agriculture.

Kiss the Ground, © 2025 Kiss the Ground Movie / Big Picture Ranch All Rights Reserved. https://kissthegroundmovie.com/

Regenerative Agriculture 101, Natrural Resource Defense Council, https://www.nrdc.org/stories/regenerative-agriculture-101#what-is

OSFR President Joanne Tremblay
joanne.tremblay@oursantaferiver.org
“Giving Our River A Voice”