A conversation with Darren J Doherty, co-founder of Regrarians, in the space of regeneration and regenerating for over 35 years, about the role of technology, AI, and large language models in training farmers and agronomists. We touch on how expensive and too-short workshops are hurting everyone, and why a hybrid model, grounded on the land and in person, combined with much longer online engagement, might be one way to move forward.

We also explore what it means to reinvent yourself after spending years deeply immersed in a project, only to resurface and realise the regenerative world has shifted. Suddenly, you need to work harder to get attention, to find work, and to fill your courses. And yet, there’s so much value in being able to draw on decades of experience and the thousands upon thousands of farmers and land stewards you’ve worked with through times of transition.

We ask why larger corporations haven’t reached out to tap into this expertise: why aren’t they calling about training their farmers or agronomists? It seems we may be exiting the phase of dogmatic pioneers, the era when it had to be permaculture, or holistic management, or keyline design, and entering something more pragmatic. A moment where the focus is shifting toward whatever actually works: on your land, in your human context, and within your market.

SOCIAL ALGORITHMS & CHANGES OVER 35 YEARS

Social media algorithms have reshaped information dissemination in regenerative agriculture, contrasting past autonomy with current trends.

“I suppose the big thing that’s happened in the last 20 years has been the development of social media and the algorithms that put stuff in front of us, whereas that wasn’t there before. You made your own algorithm; if you like, you chose who you would be interested in and so on.” Darren J. Doherty

WHY BIODYNAMICS HASN’T BEEN CO-OPTED

Biodynamics remains resistant to corporate greenwashing compared to terms like “regenerative” or “organic”.

“I thought that the only brand that hasn’t really been co-opted is biodynamics. […] It’s probably because it’s still a bit esoteric. It has that sort of base to it. You can’t take away the anthroposophic basis of Steiner’s lectures and his body of work.” Darren J. Doherty

USE OF TECHNOLOGY, AI AND LLMS

Leveraging algorithms for land planning and AI tools like Zoom summaries is useful as they can help distilling complex data.

“We are using algorithms to develop certain maps. […] our own designed algorithms to question a place so that we have a question, a map, a high-resolution map base, and then provide us with some sort of thematic understanding of that place.” Darren J. Doherty

LACK OF CORPORATE TRAINING ENQUIRIES

Large corporations haven’t approached him to train farmers or agronomists, despite industry demand.

“I haven’t had any approaches from any, perhaps because I’m a farm planner, and that’s a very generalist role. […] I think they looked at my black and white website and decided against it.” Darren J. Doherty

OTHER POINTS DISCUSSED

Koen and Darren also talked about:

• how to be an early adopter in technology
• what Darren with 35 years experience has seen change and what excites him
• how he uses technology and what he thinks of AI and LLMs
• why the current generation is less dogmatic and more pragmatic why we needed the dogmatic pioneers but we now need to shift to pragmatism

LINKS:

• Regrarians
• Regrarians Open Consultancy (ROC) Europe 2025
• Darren Doherty on the evolution of the Regrarians regenerative farm design framework

LINKED INTERVIEWS:

• Matteo Mazzola – Walking the land of Iside Farm with a regenerative farmer
• Ethan Soloviev – AI, good food at Davos, food as medicine and regen taking off

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The above references an opinion and is for information and educational purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.