Nature's Archive #73: From Dirt to Life: How Regenerative Agriculture Rebuilds Biodiversity with Gabe Brown
I’ve been really lucky to have some amazing guests on Nature’s Archive. Guests who open my eyes, and hopefully yours as well, to new ways of seeing nature. Today’s guest opens our eyes to agricultural practices that work in harmony with our ecosystems.
Why is this important? Well, by some estimates, as much as 44% of the land in the United States is used for some form of agriculture. And the principles of regenerative agriculture serve as a great primer for understanding important aspects of soil health and the carbon and nitrogen cycles.
We discuss the impacts of soil disturbance on soil biology, the importance of fungi and microorganisms, nitrogen fixing, and much more.
Our guest and guide today is Gabe Brown, author of Dirt to Soil: One Family’s Journey into Regenerative Agriculture, which by the way has 1500 Amazon reviews, and not one below 3 stars. Gabe has been called a pioneer of the soil health movement, and his personal story of migrating his 5000 acre property to regenerative practices is both inspiring and a great education tool.
Today we discuss Gabe’s story, and dig into the 6 principles of soil health, and how they drive four ecosystem processes.
Gabe’s also working to spread regenerative farming to more people, and he’s working to make it easier for consumers to locate and purchase foods grown with regenerative practices. You can even apply these practices in your own garden.
You can find more about Gabe and his work at UnderstandingAg.com and soilhealthacademy.org. And you can find UnderstandingAg on Twitter.
FULL SHOW NOTES
LINKS
Related Podcast Episodes
Dr. Elaine Ingham - The Soil Food Web
Tom Biebighauser - Wetlands
People and Organizations
Regenified
Soil Health Academy
Understand Ag
Books and Other Things
Note: links to books are affiliate links
Dirt to Soil: One Family’s Journey into Regenerative Agriculture by Gabe Brown
Thanks to Michelle Balderston for editing assistance.
Thanks to Jess Hasenplaugh for production assistance this episode
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Music: Spellbound by Brian Holtz Music
License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license
Artist site: https://brianholtzmusic.com
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Check past Nature's Archive episodes for amazing guests like Doug Tallamy, Elaine Ingham, and Rae Wynn-Grant, covering topics from bird migration to fungi to frogs and bats!