Regenerative Agriculture Podcast

This week, we present a follow-up to the interview I conducted last week, in Episode 27, with Gary Zimmer. I hope you enjoy the chance to dive deeper into some of the topics raised in the previous episode. Gary has been a key figure in the development of regenerative agriculture in America, is a sought-after speaker, and is the author of both The Biological Farmer (now available as an updated and expanded second edition), and Advancing Biological Farming. He is the founder of Midwestern BioAg, a consulting and fertility provision company headquartered in Madison Wisconsin. Gary's consulting has largely been in broad-acre crops and dairy, but the powerful information he offers can be universally transferred to any crop. Gary's analogies between ruminant digestion and soil mineralization helps us understand concepts in biological farming. This talk is sprinkled with fast-paced wisdom, anecdotes, research, and philosophy. The conversation centered on three topics which are critical to every farm: Trace Minerals Gary's preferred trace mineral nutrition sources and distribution methods A lively discussion on sap, tissue, soil and dairy ration testing Using mineral inputs when and where needed, with purpose, based on data Nitrogen Management Nitrogen management is NOT merely a numbers game Digestibility and solubility are the critical considerations in N management The use of various nitrogen stabilizers such as polymer coatings, humates and carbohydrates The use of S, Mg and Mo to stabilize nitrogen in the soil Growing crops without purchased nitrogen Removing N availability as a limiting factor by growing N Carbon A perceived N response which is actually caused by solubilizing carbon and releasing CO2 The economics of mineral balance in terms of yield bump vs. yield loss How to best think about cover crops and their use Thank you to Gary for joining us twice and hope everyone enjoys the show! Support For This Show & Helping You Grow This show is brought to you by AEA, leaders in regenerative agriculture since 2006. If you are a large-scale grower looking to increase crop revenue and quality, email hello@advancingecoag.com or call 800-495-6603 extension 344 to be connected with a dedicated AEA crop consultant. Feedback & Booking Please send your feedback, requests for topics or guests, or booking request have a Podcast episode recorded LIVE at your event -- to production@regenerativeagriculturepodcast.com. You can email John directly at John@regenerativeagriculturepodcast.com. Sign Up For Special Updates To be alerted via email when new episodes are released, and get special updates about John speaking, teaching, and podcast LIVE recordings, be sure to sign up for our email list.

Gary Zimmer's impact on modern regenerative agriculture technique and proliferation is hard to overestimate -- with an enthusiasm and zeal that are positively infectious -- we are privileged to have him as a guest on the podcast. Zimmer is the founder of Midwestern BioAg, a company which advocates similar principals to Advancing Eco Agriculture, while focusing on dry soil amendments. He farms with his family in Sauk County, Wisconsin and is the author of two seminal books on biological agriculture, which I highly recommend: The Biological Farmer (now available as an updated and expanded second edition), and Advancing Biological Farming. In this episode, Gary: Provides stories and insights from his decades-long career Clarifies the distinction between soil-correction and crop-fertilizer Reiterates the need to focus on biology in our soils and to use crop variation Warns against simply replacing fertilizer sources point-for-point when transitioning to organic production The discussion is lively, informative and short. Thus, we decided to invite Gary back for a follow up episode which will air next week, where Gary and I dive deeper into specific actionable steps growers can take to better manage nitrogen and trace mineral nutrition delivery from the soil. Hope you enjoy! John Support For This Show & Helping You Grow This show is brought to you by AEA, leaders in regenerative agriculture since 2006. If you are a large-scale grower looking to increase crop revenue and quality, email hello@advancingecoag.com or call 800-495-6603 extension 344 to be connected with a dedicated AEA crop consultant. Feedback & Booking Please send your feedback, requests for topics or guests, or booking request have a Podcast episode recorded LIVE at your event -- to production@regenerativeagriculturepodcast.com. You can email John directly at John@regenerativeagriculturepodcast.com. Sign Up For Special Updates To be alerted via email when new episodes are released, and get special updates about John speaking, teaching, and podcast LIVE recordings, be sure to sign up for our email list.

Gabe Brown, an advocate for regenerative agriculture, shares insights on driving wholesale change in agriculture, educating consumers on their role, focusing on photosynthesis and carbon cycling, and the value of soil testing. He discusses Dr. Norman's groundbreaking soil research and challenges conventional beliefs in agriculture practices.

In this episode, I explore the characteristics shared by farm managers whose operations are exceptionally successful, and consistently outperform similar farms in the region. In my experience as a field consultant and working with AEA's growers, I've observed a set of distinctive managerial patterns in the more successful growing operations. These traits bring outstanding results when farmers apply them over time. Listen to this episode for insights on these characteristics, and how they make growers more successful on their operations. This podcast episode was originally recorded an exclusive webinar and received such fantastic feedback, I wanted to share it with you. Because this was a webinar, the audio quality is a somewhat lower than usual. The concepts I cover include: Focusing personal energy on increasing revenue, while delegating responsibility for decreasing costs to managers Developing an intimate understanding of the agronomic science needed to increase revenue Focusing on developing manageable data, measuring, and documenting which techniques work or don't Making decisions based on data, particularly economic data Having an intuitive heart connection to your crops Click here sign up for our email list and get updates when new episodes are available. Support For This Show & Helping You Grow This show is brought to you by AEA, leaders in regenerative agriculture since 2006. If you are a large-scale grower looking to increase crop revenue and quality, email hello@advancingecoag.com or call 800-495-6603 extension 344 to be connected with a dedicated AEA crop consultant. Related Resources Extraordinary farm managers do more of these things, than others: Focus their time and energy on increasing revenue (spend 80% of own finance related planning time) Delegate decreasing costs to accountants, advisors, and/or other staff (spend 20% of own finance related planning time) Develop an intimate knowledge of the science needed to increase revenue Put a big focus on developing data sets, measuring, and documenting the techniques that work and don't work Are decisive and make decisions based on data, particularly economic data Plan for the long-term Expect perfect implementation and execution from themselves and staff Have close relationships with staff, bordering on family Spend time learning new information (reading books, attending events, listening to educational media) Are open-minded to exploring new information Think big, start small, and scale fast Have an intuitive heart connection to their crops Feedback & Booking Please send your feedback, requests for topics or guests, or booking request have a Podcast episode recorded LIVE at your event -- to production@regenerativeagriculturepodcast.com. You can email John directly at John@regenerativeagriculturepodcast.com. Sign Up For Special Updates To be alerted via email when new episodes are released, and get special updates about John speaking, teaching, and podcast LIVE recordings, be sure to sign up for our email list.

Peter McCoy speaks for the fungi. His mission is to increase awareness, appreciation and the practical use of all manner of mushroom and mycelia. Peter is a co-founder of the grassroots advocacy group, Radical Mycology. He is also the author of a book by the same name which I've found to be the most thorough, current, and inspiring mycological reference available. For those of you new to the wonderful world of Fungi and regenerative agriculture, mycology is the study of fungi (mushrooms, lichens, molds, etc.) and is a fundamental element of building soil health and profitable regenerative systems. Peter is in high demand -- appearing in publications, speaking, and recently starting the world's first mycology school (Mycologos), dedicated to the practical arts and science of working with fungi and, after much fanfare, being successfully funded on Kickstarter. Peter is well-versed in fungal impacts on agriculture systems on which this podcast episode focuses. His advocacy also covers ecological restoration, medical research, manufacturing, human nutrition, and more. Actionable Information Within This Episode: Why fungi should be considered a primary component in agricultural systems. Types of fungi to know in farming and how to encourage them. Utilizing fungal roles in the carbon cycle, soil aggregation, stability, and porosity. Calcium syncing and phosphorous harvesting. Myco-remediation techniques for neutralizing toxins. Drought, heat and disease resilience and tolerance. Support For This Show & Helping You Grow This show is brought to you by AEA, leaders in regenerative agriculture since 2006. If you are a large-scale grower looking to increase crop revenue and quality, email hello@advancingecoag.com or call 800-495-6603 extension 344 to be connected with a dedicated AEA crop consultant. Related Resources Animation: Mycorrhizal Fungi in Action Regenerative Agriculture Podcast: Eliminating the need for synthetic fertilizer with Kris Nichols Good Life Revival Podcast: Permaculture, Rewilding, and Homesteading with Peter McCoy Webinar: John Kempf on How Crops Benefit From Robust Soil Microbial Populations Webinar: John Kempf on Changing Agronomy With Biology Webinar: Capturing Residue to Build Soil Organic Matter Organization: Open Source Ecology (Peter McCoy, Advisor) Wikipedia: Mycology Feedback & Booking Please send your feedback, requests for topics or guests, or booking request have a Podcast episode recorded LIVE at your event -- to production@regenerativeagriculturepodcast.com. You can email John directly at John@regenerativeagriculturepodcast.com. Sign Up For Special Updates To be alerted via email when new episodes are released, and get special updates about John speaking, teaching, and podcast LIVE recordings, be sure to sign up for our email list.

Dr. Silvia Abel-Caines is a Veterinarian with a Ph.D. in Ruminant Nutrition, who is currently working as the Staff Ruminant Nutritionist for Organic Valley. She has researched neonatal immunity and colostrum supplementation in dairy calves and has also performed research on improving the fatty acid profile of milk through nutrition. Combining the knowledge from her experience with ruminants and her technical training and research, Dr. Silvia Abel-Caines provides grazing insights and key information on maximizing dairy production by managing all aspects of cow health. On this episode of the podcast, Silvia and I talk about The roles of key trace minerals in plant health and performance The science behind immunity with nutrition How the lack of key mineral access leads to plants being largely comprised of nitrogen Animal behavior and the feeding sequence How farmers can change what ruminants graze for by what they are fed prior to letting them out to pasture Support For This Show & Helping You Grow This show is brought to you by AEA, leaders in regenerative agriculture since 2006. If you are a large-scale grower looking to increase crop revenue and quality, email hello@advancingecoag.com or call 800-495-6603 extension 344 to be connected with a dedicated AEA crop consultant. Resources The Farm as EcoSystem by Jerry Brunetti Grass, the Forgiveness of Nature by Charles Walters Management-Intensive Grazing by Jim Gerrish The Albrecht Papers The Art and Science of Grazing by Sarah Flack Soil, Grass, and Cancer by André Voisin Feedback & Booking Please send your feedback, requests for topics or guests, or booking request have a Podcast episode recorded LIVE at your event -- to production@regenerativeagriculturepodcast.com. You can email John directly at John@regenerativeagriculturepodcast.com. Sign Up For Special Updates To be alerted via email when new episodes are released, and get special updates about John speaking, teaching, and podcast LIVE recordings, be sure to sign up for our email list.

In this episode, John discusses specific methods for the management of nitrogen and phosphorous for maximum benefit while reducing leaching, runoff, and pollution. Learn how to address nitrogen and phosphorus from both organic and conventional approaches. This episode contains effective, actionable information geared towards responsible and regenerative fertilizer management. This episode is sourced from a previously recorded AEA webinar and contains specific AEA product recommendations -- which means, you can also tap into visual versions of this information, here: Recorded Webinar presentation (video) Webinar Slide deck Preventing Nitrogen and Phosphorous Leaching - Episode Highlights Key Points: Plant nutrients should be available without being water soluble Nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers can be stabilized to prevent them from leaching We can maintain and increase yields while reducing nutrient runoff when the right technology is used Phosphorus exists in the soil in four states: Plant available inorganic, orthophosphate (1 lb per acre) Microbially complexed, organic, unavailable (50 lb per acre) Adsorbed to soil particles, unavailable (150 lb per acre) Mineral, (includes precipitated), unavailable (up to 9000 lb per acre) Phosphorus can be lost to water by: Loss of soluble inorganic P shortly after applying Loss of small soil particles with adsorbed P (majority) Plant available inorganics: Become rapidly complexed Adsorption Precipitation Binds with Fe, Al, Mn in acidic soils, and Ca in alkaline soils Best availability at ph 6-7 Microbial Complexed Microbial processes mineralize and release orthophosphate, Can tap into adsorbed P and mineral P Optimal soil temperature of 65-105º F To prevent phosphorus leaching Accelerate the mineralization process to release more P from unavailable reserves Mychorrizal fungi and phosphorus solubilizing bacteria (BioCoat Gold) Apply P that is available but not soluble Add stable humic substances which have a high anion exchange capacity, can hold P without leaching (HumaCarb) Microbial stabilized nitrogen, added carbon, sulfur, molybdenum Rejuvenate and ATS Support For This Show & Helping You Grow This show is brought to you by AEA, leaders in regenerative agriculture since 2006. If you are a large-scale grower looking to increase crop revenue and quality, email hello@advancingecoag.com or call 800-495-6603 extension 344 to be connected with a dedicated AEA crop consultant. Resources http://nmsp.cals.cornell.edu/publications/factsheets/factsheet12.pdf https://www.sciencelearn.org.nz/resources/961-the-phosphorus-cycle https://www.extension.umn.edu/agriculture/nutrient-management/phosphorus/the-nature-of-phosphorus/docs/the-nature-of-phosphorus.pdf http://www.cropnutrition.com/availability-of-phosphorus-fertilizer http://soilquality.org.au/factsheets/phosphorus http://blog.nutri-tech.com.au/the-phosphate-equation/ Feedback & Booking Please send your feedback, requests for topics or guests, or booking request have a Podcast episode recorded LIVE at your event -- to production@regenerativeagriculturepodcast.com. You can email John directly at John@regenerativeagriculturepodcast.com. Sign Up For Special Updates To be alerted via email when new episodes are released, and get special updates about John speaking, teaching, and podcast LIVE recordings, be sure to sign up for our email list.

Sometimes growers apply fertilizers to crops that don't respond to the applications like they're expecting. When plant health and vigor is in a decline, and nutrient applications don't move the needle, how can we reclaim the situation? Through our consulting experience, we have learned that when nutrient applications bring little response and plants are going downhill, applying the right biology will reverse the direction of a declining crop with a speed and effectiveness that is almost magical. I discuss the three steps we take to flip directions in short order. Enjoy! Support For This Show & Helping You Grow This show is brought to you by AEA, leaders in regenerative agriculture since 2006. If you are a large-scale grower looking to increase crop revenue and quality, email hello@advancingecoag.com or call 800-495-6603 extension 344 to be connected with a dedicated AEA crop consultant. Feedback & Booking Please send your feedback, requests for topics or guests, or booking request have a Podcast episode recorded LIVE at your event -- to production@regenerativeagriculturepodcast.com. You can email John directly at John@regenerativeagriculturepodcast.com. Sign Up For Special Updates To be alerted via email when new episodes are released, and get special updates about John speaking, teaching, and podcast LIVE recordings, be sure to sign up for our email list.

Sarah Singla is a farmer, agronomist, and educator from Southern France. Her family farm has been in no-till production since 1980. When she took the reigns in 2010 she additionally pursued a wonderfully complex diversified cover-cropping, mixed species, multi-income-stream approach that is highly thought-out, yet fluid. Sarah has visited growers the world over in direct communication about their production systems. Her experience is broad, yet she consistently finds the most successful producers reducing erosion, increasing soil microbiology and working with nature. She has since become a champion of regenerative agriculture. In this episode, you will find particularly useful information on cover/crop/animal/bee systems in grain-based production. Sarah expands on her compelling vision for the regenerative future in agriculture with multiple examples and options to fit any farm. We discuss: How learning and education for farmers is linked to farm profitability Goal-based thinking in agriculture - what it is and how it works better than following any one methodology such as organic, no-till, sustainable, etc. Techniques for preventing erosion Techniques for reducing fuel consumption of tractors and equipment Improving degraded soils Fertilizer reduction Support For This Show & Helping You Grow This show is brought to you by AEA, leaders in regenerative agriculture since 2006. If you are a large-scale grower looking to increase crop revenue and quality, email hello@advancingecoag.com or call 800-495-6603 extension 344 to be connected with a dedicated AEA crop consultant. Resources Dirt, The Erosion of Civilizations, by David Montgomery Feedback & Booking Please send your feedback, requests for topics or guests, or booking request have a Podcast episode recorded LIVE at your event -- to production@regenerativeagriculturepodcast.com. You can email John directly at John@regenerativeagriculturepodcast.com. Sign Up For Special Updates To be alerted via email when new episodes are released, and get special updates about John speaking, teaching, and podcast LIVE recordings, be sure to sign up for our email list.

Jonathan Lundgren is an agroecologist, Director of the ECDYSIS Foundation, and CEO of Blue Dasher Farm. He received his Ph.D. in Entomology from the University of Illinois in 2004 and was a professional pesticide evaluator with USDA-ARS for 11 years. Jonathan's research and education programs focus on assessing the ecological risk of pest management strategies and developing long-term solutions for sustainable food systems. His ecological research focuses heavily on conserving healthy biological communities within agroecosystems by reducing disturbance and increasing biodiversity within cropland. In this episode, Jonathan and I discuss How diversity in insect populations decreases pest problems Why the term "pesticide safety" is meaningless, and the ecological implications and risk assessment of pesticides How to develop agroecosystems that reduce the need for insect management products and other agrochemicals How to design a proactive pest management system Beekeeping, varroa mites, overwintering, and other interesting aspects of bees and honey production Support For This Show & Helping You Grow This show is brought to you by AEA, leaders in regenerative agriculture since 2006. If you are a large-scale grower looking to increase crop revenue and quality, email hello@advancingecoag.com or call 800-495-6603 extension 344 to be connected with a dedicated AEA crop consultant. Resources Ploughman's Folly One Straw Revolution Mark Winston Carl Sagan Feedback & Booking Please send your feedback, requests for topics or guests, or booking request have a Podcast episode recorded LIVE at your event -- to production@regenerativeagriculturepodcast.com. You can email John directly at John@regenerativeagriculturepodcast.com. Sign Up For Special Updates To be alerted via email when new episodes are released, and get special updates about John speaking, teaching, and podcast LIVE recordings, be sure to sign up for our email list.