Our guest speaker at our monthly meeting in February 2026 was Michael Fingland from Pachamama Regen, speaking on Regenerative Agriculture and Biochar. Michael began his talk by highlighting the connection between healthy soil, healthy food and healthy people. His company believes that healthy soil is the foundation of a healthy life and their regenerative organic products restore soil health and support gut health. In other words, healthy soil = healthy gut.
He believes that the use of chemicals has degraded the health of soils around the world and this in turn has reduced people's health. Hence, the connection between poor soil and poor gut health. He said that, sadly, organic farming is struggling around the world because it does not give the yield that is returned from the conventional farming methods.
Pachamama Regen, creates regenerative products that restore soil health and enhance gut health to accelerate the transition to Regenerative Organic Agriculture.
Michael touched briefly on the Carbon cycle, in which plants take in CO2 because the plant is after Carbon and
then the plant releases the 02 because it does not need it. This is how plants provide us with the oxygen we
breathe.
While biochar is making headlines today, it's far from new. Indigenous farmers in the Amazon created terra
preta (literally "black earth") by mixing charcoal with food scraps and organic waste. These soils remain fertile
centuries later, long after surrounding soils have been exhausted. This ancient wisdom is the backbone of modern regenerative farming. Pachamama Regen embraces this principle using biochar to restore soil health while respecting the cycles of nature.
Biochar vs Charcoal: The Key Differences
Although they share a similar production process, their purpose, production, and application couldn't be
more different. Let's break it down:
1. Purpose
• Biochar: Made for soil health, carbon sequestration, and sustainable agriculture.
• Charcoal: Made for fuel, heating, and cooking.
2. Production
• Biochar: Primarily uses feedstocks like crop residues, manure, and wood chips. Production focuses on
creating stable carbon that resists decomposition.
• Charcoal: Usually wood-based, optimised for high-carbon content and efficient burning.
3. Application
• Biochar: Applied to soils to boost fertility, water retention, and microbial life.
• Charcoal: Burned in stoves, grills, and kilns- not intended for farming.
About 100 years ago, the carbon level in the soil was about 7%, now it is down to about 1%. Soils need Carbon to support soil microbes. Regenerative (Regen) Agriculture is about building life in the soil, and this can give farmers a 95% reduction in pesticide usage.
The principles of regenerative agriculture
• Minimise soil disturbance. Minimising physical and chemical disturbance to the soil prevents damage
to the micro-flora and fauna that form the soil ecosystem.
• Keep the soil covered
• Maintain living roots in the soil.
• Maximise plant diversity
• Reintroduce livestock
Regenerative farmers can decrease their diesel use, have lower labour costs i.e. 7% - 2% and reduce their
chemical costs. It takes about 3 years for a conventional farm to transition to an organic farm and the use of biochar is helping this transition.
Biochar is a special type of charcoal infused with microbes. It is a carbon-rich material produced by heating
organic matter - such as agricultural waste, wood chips, or manure - in a low-oxygen environment.
To make their biochar, Michael burns macadamia shells, although anything made from Carbon can be made
into Biochar - even bamboo. Macadamia shells are abundant, as Bundaberg produces about 60% of the
macadamia crop in Queensland. The temperature for making Biochar can reach up to 700 degrees C.
Biochar of a 20c piece size is okay to get microbes, but smaller pieces of charcoal have more surface area on
them and thus have more microbes on their surface.
Michael believes that using biochar compost in your garden can give up to 30% more plant growth, use up
to 50% less water, super-charge soil health and increase in plant yield.
Biochar acts like a sponge: soaking up water, holding nutrients, and providing a cozy home for beneficial
microbes. The result? Stronger plants, healthier soil, and a farming system that's both productive and
sustainable.
Regen AG Benefits
• Soil health, carbon by 200%t, nutrient/water retention, 90%t reduction in inorganic inputs, greater yield
and profitability
• Increase in diversity in bacteria, mycorrhizal fungi, protozoa, nematodes and earthworms
• Turns arid/average soil into highly fertile soil
• Prevents soil erosion
• It sequesters carbon into soil
• It's carbon negative!
• Reduces water usage by up to 50%
• Reduces fertiliser/chemicals by up to 100%
• Improves cation exchange capacity
• Improves yield by 30% to 50%
• Reduces diesel and labour
• Strengthens plants against disease
• Greater nutrient density and shelf life
