MAS Seeds is advancing regenerative agriculture to help farmers build healthier soils, stronger crops and more stable harvests. Through reduced tillage, cover crops, diversified rotations and field-tested innovations such as MAS4COVER, MAS Seeds supports resilience in changing climates while reducing reliance on inputs.
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Healthy Soils, Resilient Harvests: Regeneration in Action
Regenerative agriculture is quickly moving from a “nice-to-have” to a practical answer to today’s biggest farming challenges: extreme weather, soil fatigue and the pressure to produce more with fewer inputs. At MAS Seeds, our ambition is clear: support farmers with varieties and seed production approaches that strengthen resilience, protect soil health and keep performance stable in a changing climate.
Two voices within our company illustrate how these commitments are being translated into real-world solutions.
Soil first: Where Regenerative Seed Production Begins
For us, regenerative agriculture begins where every crop cycle starts: in the soil.
For Camille Paquier, Agroecology transition manager for seed production, regenerative agriculture starts with the agronomic foundations of the fields where our seeds are produced.
Reduced tillage and permanent cover crops now play a central role, protecting soil structure while stimulating biological activity in the soil. In many cases, multi-species cover crop mixtures are introduced before maize or sunflower seed production, maintaining soil cover and stimulating soil life between cropping cycles.
Diversified rotations are another key lever. By including legumes, producers can naturally contribute nitrogen while improving soil fertility. Our teams also run field-scale trials to optimise nitrogen use, comparing reduced fertilisation programmes and split applications adapted to specific hybrids.
Ensuring seed quality in changing climates also means testing these practices in real production environments. We work with growers through a network of 13 pilot farms where agronomic innovations are evaluated directly in the field. Here, teams test cover crops, nitrogen strategies, stimulation of soil life and reduction of soil tillage to better understand their impact on seed production performance.
One practice is proving particularly impactful: agronomic cover crops designed to produce large amounts of biomass and keep soils well protected. While many producers are not yet accustomed to working with such covers, they can significantly improve soil structure, moisture retention and production stability.
“The transition requires a real shift in field management, but the benefits for soil structure and production stability are clear.”
Turning Soil Health into Farmer Value
But regenerative agriculture for us goes beyond field practices.
For Thibault Leclerc, Product Manager for cover crops and forage mixtures, the objective is to translate these agronomic principles into practical value for farmers. At MAS Seeds we see regenerative agriculture as a system built on resilient seeds and three key principles: limiting soil disturbance, keeping soils covered and maintaining a positive humic balance to build organic matter.
When these elements work together, farmers see tangible results. Healthier soils improve water retention and nutrient availability, helping crops better withstand drought while reducing reliance on external inputs. Over time, this contributes to more stable yields and stronger economic sustainability.
“Greater resilience and more stable yields largely come from soil regeneration.”
Healthier soils help farmers reduce dependency on inputs while strengthening long-term performance.
To support this transition, we combine partnerships, measurable commitments and field-proven solutions. MAS Seeds works with partners such as Biosphères to help define practical frameworks for regenerative agriculture and aims to reach 100 percent of seed production under regenerative specifications in France by 2028.
Innovations such as MAS4COVER cover crop mixtures, developed within our R&D network, are designed to maximise biomass production in maize and sunflower rotations. For us, these cover crops are not a cost but an investment in long-term soil performance.
For MAS Seeds, regenerative agriculture is not a trend. It is how we help farmers build stronger soils, more resilient crops and more reliable harvests in a changing climate.
Regenerative Agriculture in Three Principles
Regenerative agriculture is about improving the farm system over time, starting with healthier soils and stronger resilience to climate stress, working hand in hand with resilient crop varieties.
While every farm is different, three principles provide a solid foundation:
- Keep soil covered to reduce erosion, protect moisture and support soil life
- Reduce disturbance to preserve soil structure and fertility
- To increase or maintain organic matter and soil fertility
The goal is practical: more resilient crops, better soil function and farming systems that perform under pressure.
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