Jan 19, 2023
Dr. Erin Silva is an Associate Professor and State Extension Specialist in Organic and Sustainable Cropping Systems in the Department of Plant Pathology as well as the Director for the Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences at UW-Madison.
After completing a Ph.D....
Dec 20, 2022
Fred Provenza, Professor Emeritus of Behavioral Ecology at Utah State University, is the co-founder of BEHAVE (Behavioral Education for Human, Animal, Vegetation and Ecosystem Management), an international research and outreach program that seeks to understand the principles of animal behavior. For the past 30 years,...
Mar 17, 2022
Kelly Mulville, a veteran agricultural consultant, is the Vineyard Director at Paicines Ranch in San Benito County, California. For more than 25 years, Kelly has been obtaining impressive results by merging his experience in viticulture with his understanding of Allan Savory’s holistic grazing management techniques....
Feb 24, 2022
Joe Lewis is an internationally renowned scientist recognized for his work in entomology and agricultural studies. His discoveries in the behavioral and chemical interactions of parasitoids, insect herbivores, and plants have played a critical role in our understanding of ecological growing. He is also the author of A...
Dec 30, 2021
Adam Chappell is a regenerative grower and cover crop advocate from Cotton Plant, Arkansas. Adam started growing with his dad and brother on their 7,500 acre property in 2005, but by 2009 pigweed issues alone had nearly pushed them into bankruptcy. Knowing there had to be a better way, Adam began educating himself about...
Nov 24, 2021
Rick Clark is a fifth-generation farmer from Warren County, Indiana. Driven by a desire to work alongside mother nature, Rick has been implementing regenerative practices on his farm for almost a decade. Rick’s commitment to soil health has allowed him to grow his operation to 7000 organic, no-till acres, in part by...
Sep 30, 2021
Tim Parton is a regenerative agriculture advocate and Farm Manager at Brewood Park Farm in the United Kingdom. Tim has been implementing regenerative practices on his 300-hectare estate for over 15 years. He has received several accolades for his work, such as being named the Arable Innovator of the Year by British...
Aug 6, 2021
James Johnson is a fourth-generation farmer in New Mexico and the Vice President of Carzalia Valley Produce. When James finally took over the family farm in the early 2000s the outlook of his operation seemed grim. After many years of trial and error with various practices, James found the Advancing Eco Agriculture team...
Jul 23, 2021
Dale Strickler is an agronomist at Green Cover Seed and prominent author primarily focused on soil health. Dale grew up on a family farm outside Colony, KS, and received both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in agronomy from Kansas State University. Dale has been an advocate for the use of cover crops for over...
Jul 7, 2021
John Fagan is the Chairman & Chief Scientist at the Health Research Institute, also known as HRI Labs, in Fairfield, Iowa. HRI provides testing services that focus on the nutritional value and biofunctionality of food sources. HRI’s research and collaboration efforts continue to help grow the global regenerative...
Jun 25, 2021
Nicole Masters is an internationally recognized agroecologist from New Zealand. Fortified by her studies in ecology and plant physiology, Nicole currently serves as the Director of Integrity Soils, a collection of regenerative agriculture coaches that assist growers around the globe. Nicole is also the author of “For...
Jun 9, 2021
Harriet Mella is an independent Austrian researcher known for her work uncovering the unexplained phenomena of plant growth and development. Informed by her background in microbiology, mycology, and biochemistry, Harriet has a unique capacity to describe little-known connections between emerging biological research and...
May 27, 2021
Steven Bierlink is an apple grower located in Quincy, WA. When Steven returned to work on his family operation after graduating with a business degree, he was driven to meet the many challenges their orchard faced. Looking for solutions to bitter pit, cork spot, and lenticel rot, Steven sought out the management...
May 4, 2021
Jason Hobson is one of the initial Regenerative Agriculture Consultants at AEA, working alongside John Kempf in the early years and becoming the Chief Executive Officer in 2015. Jason joined AEA in 2011 and quickly became the lead consultant for larger scale operations, building relationships with distributors and other...
Apr 23, 2021
Alvin Peachey is an Amish organic dairy farmer from central Pennsylvania. Over the course of more than a decade, Alvin has grown his operation to 90 100% grass-fed cows on 92 acres, implementing regenerative practices that flips the script of the status quo for dairy farmers.
In this thought provoking and practical...
Mar 31, 2021
Jesse Frost is the Co-Owner of Rough Draft Farmstead in central Kentucky and host of the No-Till Market Garden Podcast. Jesse’s rich background in researching and experimenting with no-till practices lead to his first book, “The Living Soil Handbook: The No-Till Grower’s Guide to Ecological Market Gardening,”...
Mar 18, 2021
Jon Stika is an agronomist and former soil health instructor with the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). Officially retiring in 2015, Jon now spends his time as environmental consultant for those looking to gain insight on the biological systems of agriculture. Jon is also the author of “A Soil...
Mar 12, 2021
Jay Fuhrer is a Conservationist & veteran Soil Health Specialist from the Natural Resources Conservation Services, located out of Bismarck, North Dakota. With over 4 decades of experience, Jay’s work has been critical to the widespread implementation of regenerative agriculture across the globe. Of his many...
Feb 25, 2021
Ben Taylor-Davies is a farmer and regenerative agriculture consultant from the United Kingdom. Ben was a conventional agronomist until his wife persuaded him to apply for an award through the Nuffield Farming Scholarship Trust which enables farmers to travel and learn agricultural methods from around the globe. This...
Jan 29, 2021
Cannon Michael is a 6th generation family farmer in California’s Central Valley. When Cannon first started working at the Bowles Farming Company, it was a broad-acre row crop operation, focused on cotton, barley, and alfalfa. After 15 years of overhauling the farm’s management practices, Bowles now incorporates both...
Dec 8, 2020
Jay Hill is a conventional farmer and agricultural visionary from the American Southwest. Jay is a new breed of American farmer, focused on reinvigorating the industry through a new perspective on what is possible for large-scale growers. Through his social media presence and weekly podcast, Jay is calling on farmers...
Nov 3, 2020
Dr. Dwayne Beck is well known for being one of the pioneers of no-till agriculture in central South Dakota and across the High Plains. For more than three decades, Dr. Beck has been creating comprehensive systems for both irrigated and dryland crop production throughout the region, educating growers on the power of crop...
Oct 6, 2020
Rick Haney is a renowned researcher at the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the creator of the Haney Soil Analysis, an innovative extraction procedure to assess overall soil health and plant mineral availability. Today, John sits down with Rick to hear his story and discuss a future of agriculture centered around...
Sep 15, 2020
Bob Quinn is a 30-plus year veteran of Regenerative Organic practices and founder of Kamut International, an organization devoted to high quality Khorasan wheat and sustainable agricultural practices.
After receiving his PhD in plant biochemistry from UC-Davis, Bob returned home to work on his family’s wheat and...
Sep 2, 2020
In our latest episode, John sits down with one of Australia’s most recognized thought leaders in Regenerative Agriculture, Dr. Terry McCosker. Over the course of three decades, Terry has worked with about 10,000 Australian farmers—a staggering 10% of all farmland on the continent—coaching them through an...
Aug 11, 2020
In our latest episode of the Regenerative Agriculture Podcast, John interviews plant pathology veteran & agricultural visionary, Dr. Robert Linderman, discussing the benefits of mycorrhizal fungi and other bio-control agents that protect crops from soil-borne pathogens.
After receiving his Ph.D. in Plant Pathology from...
Aug 4, 2020
In this episode of the Regenerative Agriculture Podcast, John interviews Loran Steinlage of Flolo Farms in Iowa. They discuss his experience in relay cropping, interseeding, cover crops, and controlled traffic farming. Loran grows grain crops for seed, has implemented youth programs on the farm, and has experimented...
Jul 14, 2020
In this episode of the Regenerative Agriculture Podcast, John interviews Professor Richard Mulvaney from the University of Illinois. Dr. Mulvaney is a prolific soil fertility scientist and researcher with many published papers relating to nitrogen and potassium uptake in crops. His work with Dr. Saeed Khan led to the...
Jun 29, 2020
In this episode of the Regenerative Agriculture Podcast, John interviews Dr. David Johnson, a New Mexico State University research scientist, Adjunct Professor for the College of Agriculture at Chico State, and Faculty Affiliate for the Center for Regenerative Agriculture. His research clearly outlines the importance of...
Jun 16, 2020
In this episode of the Regenerative Agriculture Podcast, John interviews Zach Bush MD, an educator and a triple board-certified physician who specializes in internal medicine, endocrinology, and hospice care. Zach brings his understanding of the systemic challenges in pharmaceuticals and farming to non-profits such as
May 26, 2020
In this episode of the Regenerative Agriculture Podcast, John interviews Joel Salatin, a well-known lecturer and author and the co-owner of Polyface Farms in Swoope, Virginia. Polyface Farms is a “diversified, grass-based, beyond organic, direct marketing farm”. Joel is well-known for his highly engaging public...
May 11, 2020
In this episode of the Regenerative Agriculture Podcast, John interviews Dr. Rattan Lal, an acclaimed soil scientist, researcher, and author. Dr. Lal has published hundreds of journal articles on soil ecosystems, effects of tillage, global food security, sequestering carbon in the soil, and more. In the early 1990s, Dr....
Apr 28, 2020
In this episode of the Regenerative Agriculture Podcast, John Kempf interviews Ray Archuleta, an outspoken proponent of healthy soil systems and the founder of Understanding Ag and the Soil Health Academy. Ray has spent decades working in conservation agriculture and, in this episode, he describes his journey from...
Apr 13, 2020
In this episode of the Regenerative Agriculture Podcast, John interviews Dr. Arden Andersen, who holds a Ph.D. in Agriculture and Biophysics. In this conversation on biophysics, John and Dr. Andersen explore topics such as the role of calcium, soil compaction, pest pressure, and more from the perspective of biophysics...
Mar 31, 2020
In this episode of the Regenerative Agriculture Podcast, John Kempf interviews Dr. Jill Clapperton, a plant physiologist with an intuitive understanding of the workings of the rhizosphere and an abundance of metaphors that clearly explain these mechanisms. Dr. Clapperton worked as the Rhizosphere Ecologist at AgriFood...
Mar 17, 2020
In this episode of the Regenerative Agriculture Podcast, John interviews Dr. Norman Uphoff, who was the director of the Cornell International Institute for Food, Agriculture and Development from 1990 to 2005, and is currently Professor Emeritus of Government and International Agriculture at Cornell University.
In this...
Feb 24, 2020
In this episode of The Regenerative Agriculture Podcast, John interviews Jason Mauck, an Indiana corn, soybean, wheat, and hog producer who thinks outside the borders of convention and who has pioneered a number of innovative practices.
Jason describes the guiding force behind his experiments and innovation as the...
Feb 11, 2020
In this episode of the Regenerative Agriculture Podcast, John interviews French agronomist, Olivier Husson, whose pioneering work on soil pH and redox potential provides a groundbreaking look at what goes on within the soil.
Olivier has focused a large part of his research on the study of reduction-oxidation (redox) in...
Jan 28, 2020
In this episode of the Regenerative Agriculture Podcast, John Kempf interviews Claudia Carter, Executive Director of the California Wheat Commission. Originally from Ecuador, Claudia leads research around the marketability of California wheat and helps to develop and maintain domestic and international markets for this...
Jan 15, 2020
In this episode of the Regenerative Agriculture Podcast, John Kempf interviews plant pathologist Dr. James White of Rutgers University, whose work provides a new perspective on plant pathology, susceptibility to soil-borne pathogens, and plant absorption of nutrients. Dr. White explains how endophytes, non-pathogenic...
Dec 16, 2019
In this podcast interview, host John Kempf and Canadian farmer Derek Axten discuss Derek’s path to profitable farming practices. This journey started in 2007 when Derek made a trip to Dakota Lakes Research Farm where he witnessed soil health and water infiltration levels beyond which he knew were possible. In...
Nov 5, 2019
Before we present our newest episode, we have a request for you. As we complete our second season of the Regenerative Agriculture Podcast, we have a supporting base of over 5,000 listeners who engage with our episodes shortly after we post them. We now ask for your feedback on the podcast, whether there are topics...
Oct 15, 2019
In this episode of The Regenerative Agriculture Podcast, John Kempf interviews Walter Jehne, an Australian soil microbiologist and the Director of Healthy Soils Australia. Walter has written and taught extensively about the earth’s soil carbon sponge and hydrology as they relate to climate change.
Walter provides...
Sep 17, 2019
In this episode of the Regenerative Agriculture Podcast, John interviews French agronomist, Pierre Weill, who created a feed company in 1992 in French Brittany with the intention of producing health-oriented animal nutrition. He then went on to co-found a nonprofit association called Bleu-Blanc-Cœur, which connects all...
Aug 27, 2019
John Kempf and Vernon Peterson take the stage for a live-recorded conversation at the inaugural Acres U.S.A. Healthy Soil Summit, held at the University of California Davis Conference Center on August 21, 2019, for this Regenerative Agriculture Podcast episode.
Vernon’s experiences from 30 years of growing tree fruit...
Jul 17, 2019
Record rainfall has resulted in an unprecedented number of unplanted acres in 2019. Farmers must now consider how best to manage these fields for the remainder of the season. In an otherwise fallow year, cover cropping options abound during a unique summer planting window.
In this episode of the Regenerative Agriculture...
Jun 11, 2019
In this episode of the Regenerative Agriculture Podcast, John interviews Dr. Jerry Hatfield, Ph.D., a plant physiologist who runs the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS) National Laboratory for Agriculture and the Environment in Ames, Iowa. Jerry has done extensive research on the interactions between soils,...
May 15, 2019
In this episode, John interviews David Montgomery, Professor of Geomorphology at the University of Washington. John and David discuss soil regeneration at length, pulling from David’s experience developing new topsoil in dead, stony ground and his deep dive into the science behind it.
David came to the field...
Apr 16, 2019
Mike Omeg is a 3rd generation cherry grower who has spent the last few decades farming 350 acres of cherries in The Dalles, Oregon. Mike is an innovator with the vision for new approaches and the analytical mind to measure results. He’s tested myriad techniques in his quest for the best and most profitable methods of...
Mar 12, 2019
Pascal Fafard is a consultant and crop advisor in Quebec, Canada, working primarily with fruit and vegetable growers.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in agronomy and has been supporting and mentoring fruit and vegetable growers for more than 25 years. While working in IPM, nutrition and vitality advising, and the typical...
Feb 16, 2019
Hi Friends!
Welcome to Season 2 of The Regenerative Agriculture Podcast!
Thank you for listening, spreading the word, and helping to make this show such a hit, while expanding our community in the fast-growing regenerative agriculture movement.
It is my honor to be part of this community along with you as we launch...
Dec 7, 2018
John Kempf and Ed Curry take the stage in Louisville, KY at the ACRES Conference 2018 — a hotbed for regenerative agriculture practitioners for the last 30 years — to record the Regenerative Agriculture Podcast’s first ever LIVE show.
The Acres Conference isn’t just another trade show or conference; this is a...
Nov 30, 2018
"It's a very exciting time to be in agriculture, and a really great time to be a farmer, I think, and a great time to be an entrepreneur." ~Pam Marrone
Pam is the founder and CEO of Marrone Bio Innovations, a leader in bio-pesticide research and manufacturing. She is a Ph.D. entomologist, turned entrepreneur. Pam is...
Nov 26, 2018
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,...
Nov 9, 2018
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...
Nov 2, 2018
Gabe Brown is a clear, collected, and inspired voice for regenerative agriculture, having implemented and seen great changes on his family's ranch in North Dakota over time. In fact, Gabe’s A-Horizon (topsoil) is 27 in, and the soils on surrounding farms only have 4-6 in of topsoil!
Gabe is the author of the recently...
Oct 25, 2018
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...
Oct 17, 2018
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,...
Aug 31, 2018
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...
Aug 10, 2018
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...
Jul 31, 2018
Jul 27, 2018
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...
Jul 20, 2018
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...
Jul 16, 2018
Soil analysis should be used as a milestone to monitor progress towards growing healthy crops; they should not be used as a goal. Every nutrient and soil amendment application needs to produce a strong crop response, not just a soil analysis response. When we apply this understanding properly it means that we will not...
Jul 13, 2018
Greg Pennyroyal is the Viticulture and Enology Coordinator at Wilson Creek Winery & Vineyards in Temecula, California. He is also the Professor of Viticulture for Mt. San Jacinto Community College. Greg has worked in many industries including medicinal organic herb production, traditional eastern medicine, and botanical...
Jul 10, 2018
I’ve been asked a lot recently about how to manage vegetative growth versus reproductive growth. On the mini-episode this week, I talk about which nutrients drive strong vegetative growth, and which drive strong reproductive growth and development, along with the hormonal interactions which drive plant dominance....
Jun 29, 2018
Dr. Jerry Pollack is a pioneering water researcher whose work in structured water and cell biology has been described as being some of the most important research that will be conducted in the 21st century. His research creates a completely new paradigm of cell biology and nutrient absorption. He is recognized worldwide...
Jun 26, 2018
On the mini-episode this week, I focus on why we should develop regenerative agriculture, how it is different, and why it is important. In the past 10 or 12 years, a lot of conversation has been had on sustainable agriculture. In this episode, I explore what it is that we want to sustain, why regeneration is important,...
Jun 23, 2018
Steve Diver has earned B.S. and M.S. degrees in Horticulture and has conducted research on fruit and nut production, and seasonal changes in elemental concentration in pecan fruit and leaves. He has served as the Extension Horticulture Agent in Muskogee County, Oklahoma, and has also worked as an Agriculture Specialist...
Jun 20, 2018
Jun 15, 2018
Dr. Kris Nichols has conducted innovative research on soil biology, understanding how to regenerate soil health quickly. She is the founder and principal scientist of KRIS (Knowledge for Regeneration In Soils) Systems Education & Consulting Services. Dr. Nichols has also been the Chief Scientist at Rodale Institute and...
May 30, 2018
Dr. Hatfield is the laboratory director for the USDA’s National Laboratory for Agriculture and The Environment. He has also served on the faculty of the University of California-Davis and is a Past President of the American Society of Agronomy.
In this short but very powerful episode, Jerry and I discuss the mechanics...
May 18, 2018
This week, I had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Larry Phelan, a professor at Ohio State University where he heads research programs studying the role of soil communities in plant health and susceptibility to disease and insect pests in biological farming systems. Larry also heads programs researching...
May 12, 2018
This week, I had the pleasure of interviewing a great farmer and friend of mine, Klaas Martens. Klaas has been farming for more than 30 years and has driven the adoption of sustainable farming practices through his work with numerous national organizations and advisory committees. This episode contains some really great...
May 5, 2018
This week, I had the pleasure of interviewing Steve Groff, a farmer and cover crop pioneer who has also worked with the University of Maryland on extensive cover crop research. Steve founded Cover Crop Coaching in 2016 and has spoken to audiences across North America, Europe, Australia, Japan, and many other parts of...
Apr 28, 2018
In this episode, I had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Don Huber, a leading plant pathologist and Professor Emeritus at Purdue University. We discuss how to manage soil-borne diseases by managing crop rotations, and the management needed to grow 500 hundred bushels corn.
Don shared intriguing observations on how...
Apr 21, 2018
In this episode, I interviewed Dr. Matt Kleinhenz, a professor at the Ohio State University in vegetable crop physiology who has done research in many areas of horticulture and crop sciences. We talk about high quality food production, how growers and consumers view nutrient density, how farmers can influence...
Apr 17, 2018
This week, I had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Tom Dykstra, the founder and laboratory director at Dykstra Labs, who also has advanced degrees in entomology and has worked with Dr. Phil Callahan.
In this episode, we talk about plant and insect communications, and how plants can only see and feed on plants who are...
Apr 14, 2018
In this episode, I had an awesome time interviewing Dr. Michael McNeill, who is an agronomic consultant with several degrees in soil fertility, plant physiology, and quantitative genetics. We discuss how fertility and genetics impact plant response to disease invasion, what causes the suppression of soil health,...
Apr 14, 2018
In this episode, I interviewed Gabe Brown, a rancher who is a veteran no-tiller and the owner of Brown’s Ranch in Bismarck, N.D..
We discussed Gabe’s experience farming without applying any fertilizers, the ability to feed more people with regenerative agriculture than with the current system, the economics of...
Apr 13, 2018
In this episode, I had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Robert Kremer, a microbiology scientist for the USDA who also works as a professor in plant sciences at the University of Missouri. In this episode, we discuss Robert's project with the USDA decomposing weed seeds in soil, native soil microorganisms and...
