Regenerative Agriculture Podcast

Lloyd Murdock grew up in Oklahoma, earned his PhD in soils at Virginia Tech, and found his way to the University of Kentucky while stationed at nearby Fort Knox. He has spent more than four decades there as Extension Soils Specialist, and is now Professor Emeritus at the UK Research and Education Center in Princeton, Kentucky. Lloyd helped make no-till wheat standard practice in Kentucky. He also contributed research behind the soil penetrometer and developed an algorithm for variable-rate nitrogen in wheat. For the past decade or more, he has focused on breaking down fragipan soils with annual ryegrass. He still consults with farmers. In this episode, John and Lloyd discuss: Why fragipans leave many eastern U.S. crops growing on just two feet of soil above a concrete-like layer. How annual ryegrass roots break down the fragipan at 3/4 of an inch to 2 1/2 inches per year. A farmer who broke through more than a foot of fragipan with only four ryegrass crops in seven years. How most roots stall above 300 psi of soil resistance, and why annual ryegrass can push through. Why subsoiling only pays when more than 30% of a field has significant compaction. How Kentucky's state average wheat yield climbed from the 40s to 70 bushels by doing small things right. Why many farmers fear annual ryegrass, and how drones make fall seeding into standing crops easier. How chlorophyll sensors and a high-nitrogen reference strip help fine-tune wheat nitrogen rates. Additional Resources To read the University of Kentucky's guide to fragipan remediation with annual ryegrass, please visit: https://publications.mgcafe.uky.edu/agr-250 To learn more about Lloyd's fragipan research, please visit: https://news.mgcafe.uky.edu/article/researchers-believe-fragipan-breakthrough-horizon To read about Dave Fischer's annual ryegrass system at Fischer Farms, please visit: https://www.agproud.com/articles/46700-beef-on-rye-at-fischer-farms Learn more about AEA: https://www.advancingecoag.com About John Kempf John Kempf is the founder of Advancing Eco Agriculture (AEA). A top expert in biological and regenerative farming, John founded AEA in 2006 to help fellow farmers by providing the education, tools, and strategies that will have a global effect on the food supply and those who grow it. Through intense study and the knowledge gleaned from many industry leaders, John is building a comprehensive systems-based approach to plant nutrition – a system solidly based on the sciences of plant physiology, mineral nutrition, and soil microbiology. Support For This Show & Helping You Grow Since 2006, AEA has been on a mission to help growers become more resilient, efficient, and profitable with regenerative agriculture. AEA works directly with growers to apply its unique line of liquid mineral crop nutrition products and biological inoculants. Informed by cutting-edge plant and soil data-gathering techniques, AEA's science-based programs empower farm operations to meet the crop quality markers that matter the most. AEA has created real and lasting change on millions of acres with its products and data-driven services by working hand-in-hand with growers to produce healthier soil, stronger crops, and higher profits. Beyond working on the ground with growers, AEA leads in regenerative agriculture media and education, producing and distributing the popular and highly-regarded Regenerative Agriculture Podcast, inspiring webinars, and other educational content that serve as go-to resources for growers worldwide. Learn more about AEA's regenerative programs and products: https://www.advancingecoag.com

Wendy Mariko Johnson farms in Floyd County, Iowa, near Charles City. She grew up on an Iowa farm, left at 18 in the 1990s for an 18-year career in the Los Angeles fashion industry, and returned in 2010 with her husband Johnny Rafkin. Having watched farms close across Iowa in the 1980s, she came back determined to follow the three things that carried her parents through that era: diversification, low cost of production, and little to no debt. Today Wendy runs two businesses from the same land. Jóia Food & Fiber Farm carries 160 ewes, 25 cows and their calves, plus hogs, chickens, and ducks across roughly 130 certified organic acres, alongside 15 acres of Kernza and more than 6,000 trees planted over the past decade. Jóia Sleep turns the farm's wool into comforters, mattress toppers, and pillows. She also co-manages Center View Farms, her family's thousand-acre commodity operation, and serves as vice president of the Perennial Promise Growers Cooperative, co-founder of 99 Counties, and chair of Iowa's USDA Farm Service Agency state committee. Her current question is how to take what she has proven on 130 acres and extend it across a thousand. In this episode, John and Wendy discuss: What carried her parents through the 1980s farm crisis, and why it still applies How direct marketing made her a price maker instead of a price taker Why the thousand-acre corn and soybean farm is becoming obsolete How Kernza thrived through a 10-inch drought year and a 12-inch rain month Why she hires custom operators instead of owning machinery What it would take to treat agrarian labor like the skilled trades Whether the next generation wants land ownership or just land access Why she would rather be paid on practice and nutrition than on yield Four years of silvopasture planted over field tile Additional ResourcesTo listen to the podcast episode featuring Austin Unruh on integrating trees into working pastures, please visit: https://advancingecoag.com/podcast/episode-97-integrating-trees-into-working-pastures-with-austin-unruh/ To learn more about Jóia Food & Fiber Farm, please visit: https://www.joiafoodfarm.com/ To learn more about Jóia Sleep, please visit: https://www.joiasleep.com/ To learn more about 99 Counties, please visit: https://99counties.com/ To learn more about the Perennial Promise Growers' Cooperative, please visit: https://perennialpromise.com/ Learn more about AEA's regenerative programs and products: https://www.advancingecoag.com About John KempfJohn Kempf is the founder of Advancing Eco Agriculture (AEA). A top expert in biological and regenerative farming, John founded AEA in 2006 to help fellow farmers by providing the education, tools, and strategies that will have a global effect on the food supply and those who grow it. Through intense study and the knowledge gleaned from many industry leaders, John is building a comprehensive systems-based approach to plant nutrition – a system solidly based on the sciences of plant physiology, mineral nutrition, and soil microbiology. Support For This Show & Helping You GrowSince 2006, AEA has been on a mission to help growers become more resilient, efficient, and profitable with regenerative agriculture. AEA works directly with growers to apply its unique line of liquid mineral crop nutrition products and biological inoculants. Informed by cutting-edge plant and soil data-gathering techniques, AEA's science-based programs empower farm operations to meet the crop quality markers that matter the most. AEA has created real and lasting change on millions of acres with its products and data-driven services by working hand-in-hand with growers to produce healthier soil, stronger crops, and higher profits. Beyond working on the ground with growers, AEA leads in regenerative agriculture media and education, producing and distributing the popular and highly-regarded Regenerative Agriculture Podcast, inspiring webinars, and other educational content that serve as go-to resources for growers worldwide. Learn more about AEA's regenerative programs and products: https://www.advancingecoag.com

Ed Baumgartner is a corn breeder and co-founder of Bass Hybrids in Olivia, Minnesota. His family has been in the seed corn business since the late 1930s, when his great uncles began producing hybrid seed as Troy Farms. Ed studied agronomy and plant genetics and spent 21 years and five mergers inside the commercial seed industry, much of it running winter nurseries in Puerto Rico and doing trait integration work for major companies. At Bass Hybrids, Ed breeds non-GMO corn using a shuttle breeding model borrowed from Norman Borlaug, cycling material between Puerto Rico and Minnesota for three generations a year under deliberate heat, drought, and disease stress. Working in 18 identified genetic families rather than the industry's two, he has selected for native insect tolerance and broad stress resilience and found those selections also produced plants with unusually strong microbial association and markedly lower nitrogen requirements. His current work includes nitrogen rate trials across genetics, interseeded cover crop studies in three states, and a 148-acre discovery farm dedicated entirely to regenerative research. In this episode, John and Ed discuss: Why corn inbreds developed before heavy nitrogen fertilization still carry the genetics for nutrient efficiency How some Bass hybrids produce 200 bushel corn on 50 pounds of applied nitrogen, and drop to 150 bushels when nitrogen is pushed above 200 Why Y-drop nitrogen placed too close to the stalk causes a yield hit on biologically responsive genetics The plant characteristics that signal high biological receptivity, including pubescence, leathery leaves, multiple ears, and heavy pollen loads Results from interseeding nine species of cover crops at V3, where the highest yielding treatment came with nitrogen cut by 25 percent Why Bass asked its seed producers to apply AEA's Pinion this season in place of conventional fungicide How AEA's fertility guidance gives growers an off-ramp from high nitrogen and an on-ramp for soil biology What germinator trials revealed about fungicide-treated seed versus seed grown without fungicides Additional Resources To listen to John's first conversation with the BASS Hybrids team, please visit: https://advancingecoag.com/podcast/podcast-extra-john-kempf-bass-hybrids-on-the-future-of-corn/ To read the University of Wisconsin research on nitrogen-fixing corn in Mexico, please visit: https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.2006352 To learn more about AEA's Pinion, please visit: https://advancingecoag.com/product/pinion/ To find Charles Walters' book Eco-Farm, please visit: https://bookstore.acresusa.com/products/eco-farm?srsltid=AU7gw4XfkT_GNsryakPAWEYC5avS6GxN3ikUv9nbqaG0cJXfyZIq3Y8_ To learn more about BASS Hybrids, please visit: https://www.basshybrids.com/ About John Kempf John Kempf is the founder of Advancing Eco Agriculture (AEA). A top expert in biological and regenerative farming, John founded AEA in 2006 to help fellow farmers by providing the education, tools, and strategies that will have a global effect on the food supply and those who grow it. Through intense study and the knowledge gleaned from many industry leaders, John is building a comprehensive systems-based approach to plant nutrition – a system solidly based on the sciences of plant physiology, mineral nutrition, and soil microbiology. Support For This Show & Helping You Grow Since 2006, AEA has been on a mission to help growers become more resilient, efficient, and profitable with regenerative agriculture. AEA works directly with growers to apply its unique line of liquid mineral crop nutrition products and biological inoculants. Informed by cutting-edge plant and soil data-gathering techniques, AEA's science-based programs empower farm operations to meet the crop quality markers that matter the most. AEA has created real and lasting change on millions of acres with its products and data-driven services by working hand-in-hand with growers to produce healthier soil, stronger crops, and higher profits. Beyond working on the ground with growers, AEA leads in regenerative agriculture media and education, producing and distributing the popular and highly-regarded Regenerative Agriculture Podcast, inspiring webinars, and other educational content that serve as go-to resources for growers worldwide. Learn more about AEA's regenerative programs and products: https://www.advancingecoag.com

Alex Udermann is a fifth-generation farmer from Minnesota who operates a dairy farm alongside his brother, parents, and wife. He began his career farming full-time immediately after high school and currently manages a diverse operation that includes milk cows, steers, and row crops. Facing significant financial struggles and equity erosion in 2016, Alex transitioned the farm toward regenerative practices to ensure the operation's future survival and profitability. Today, the farm is 100% no-till and incorporates cover crops, nutrient management plans, and large-scale composting. Alex uses advanced technology like drones for interseeding and foliar feeding to mimic natural processes he cannot achieve through traditional grazing. Driven by a passion to help others avoid the costly mistakes he encountered, he serves as a mentor for the Minnesota Soil Health Coalition, where he shares his experiences with other producers through field days and educational panels. In this episode, John and Alex discuss: The financial challenges and equity erosion that forced the farm to change its management style Alex's experiences dealing with unsupportive banks and traditional agronomy managers during his transition How the farm successfully moved to no-till soybeans using a small investment in existing equipment The dramatic reduction in veterinary expenses and improvements in livestock health following soil health changes Observing massive improvements in water infiltration compared to neighboring conventional fields after heavy rains The use of drones and compost extracts to increase fungal levels and biological diversity in the soil Additional Resources To learn more about Alex and his farm, please visit: https://www.facebook.com/al.and.krissy/ To learn more about the work of the Minnesota Soil Health Coalition, please visit: https://www.mnsoilhealth.org/ About John Kempf John Kempf is the founder of Advancing Eco Agriculture (AEA). A top expert in biological and regenerative farming, John founded AEA in 2006 to help fellow farmers by providing the education, tools, and strategies that will have a global effect on the food supply and those who grow it. Through intense study and the knowledge gleaned from many industry leaders, John is building a comprehensive systems-based approach to plant nutrition – a system solidly based on the sciences of plant physiology, mineral nutrition, and soil microbiology. Support For This Show & Helping You Grow Since 2006, AEA has been on a mission to help growers become more resilient, efficient, and profitable with regenerative agriculture. AEA works directly with growers to apply its unique line of liquid mineral crop nutrition products and biological inoculants. Informed by cutting-edge plant and soil data-gathering techniques, AEA's science-based programs empower farm operations to meet the crop quality markers that matter the most. AEA has created real and lasting change on millions of acres with its products and data-driven services by working hand-in-hand with growers to produce healthier soil, stronger crops, and higher profits. Beyond working on the ground with growers, AEA leads in regenerative agriculture media and education, producing and distributing the popular and highly-regarded Regenerative Agriculture Podcast, inspiring webinars, and other educational content that serve as go-to resources for growers worldwide. Learn more about AEA's regenerative programs and products: https://www.advancingecoag.com

David Stelzer is the founder of Azure Standard, a company born from a 1970s family health crisis that inspired a switch to organic farming. When a major processor dropped their organic grain for conventional wheat in the 1980s, David began delivering his own crops directly to co-ops in a pickup truck. This grew into a massive independent distribution network that now manages roughly 12,000 SKUs, connecting growers directly to consumers. In the field of regenerative agriculture, David focuses on vertical integration to bypass the expensive and often unethical mainstream middleman. By managing the farming, processing, and distribution in-house, he is able to pay farmers higher premiums while keeping food affordable for families. On his 5,000-acre farm, he proves that regenerative systems can match conventional yields while producing nutritionally superior food. In this episode, John and David discuss: David's childhood recovery from a life-threatening respiratory illness after his parents transitioned the family to a whole-food, organic diet. The decision to stop using mercury-treated seeds after realizing the chemical was intended for a disease that didn't exist in their region. How the loss of a major organic grain contract forced David to start his own distribution route, which eventually grew into Azure Standard. The vertical integration model that removes middlemen and brokers to pay farmers more while keeping consumer prices competitive. David's observation that their 5,000-acre organic farm maintains yields comparable to conventional neighbors without long-term losses. The astronomical demand for domestic organic and regenerative products, including frozen fruits and legumes, which currently outpaces US supply. Additional Resources To learn more about Azure Standard, please visit: https://www.azurestandard.com/about-us About John Kempf John Kempf is the founder of Advancing Eco Agriculture (AEA). A top expert in biological and regenerative farming, John founded AEA in 2006 to help fellow farmers by providing the education, tools, and strategies that will have a global effect on the food supply and those who grow it. Through intense study and the knowledge gleaned from many industry leaders, John is building a comprehensive systems-based approach to plant nutrition – a system solidly based on the sciences of plant physiology, mineral nutrition, and soil microbiology. Support For This Show & Helping You Grow Since 2006, AEA has been on a mission to help growers become more resilient, efficient, and profitable with regenerative agriculture. AEA works directly with growers to apply its unique line of liquid mineral crop nutrition products and biological inoculants. Informed by cutting-edge plant and soil data-gathering techniques, AEA's science-based programs empower farm operations to meet the crop quality markers that matter the most. AEA has created real and lasting change on millions of acres with its products and data-driven services by working hand-in-hand with growers to produce healthier soil, stronger crops, and higher profits. Beyond working on the ground with growers, AEA leads in regenerative agriculture media and education, producing and distributing the popular and highly-regarded Regenerative Agriculture Podcast, inspiring webinars, and other educational content that serve as go-to resources for growers worldwide. Learn more about AEA's regenerative programs and products: https://www.advancingecoag.com