AgEmerge Podcast

Welcome Jerry Hatfield. Jerry is the retired Director of the USDA-ARS National Laboratory for Agriculture and the Environment in Ames, Iowa and his bio illustrates his passion and knowledge for helping growers improve their agronomic systems. Much of Jerry’s focus has been on the evaluation of farming systems and their response to water and nitrogen interactions across soils and remote sensing methods to quantify field variation. A platform for his research utilizes the genetics by environment by management concept as a framework to work with producers to demonstrate how they can increase their production efficiency, increase soil health, and develop resilience to weather and climate variation as the foundation for food security. Today he and Monte dive in to those topics and many more. Jerry worked in California at the University of California-Davis from 1975-1983 as a biometeorologist working a range of different crops, joined USDA-ARS in 1983 at the Plant Stress and Water Conservation Unit in Lubbock, TX until his transfer to Ames in 1989 to develop the research program of the National Soil Tilth Laboratory (renamed the National Laboratory for Agriculture and the Environment in 2009). His research focused on the interactions among the components of the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum and their linkage to air, water, and soil quality. His focus has been on the evaluation of farming systems and their response to water and nitrogen interactions across soils and remote sensing methods to quantify field variation. A platform for his research utilizes the genetics x environment x management concept as a framework to work with producers to demonstrate how they can increase their production efficiency, increase soil health, and develop resilience to weather and climate variation as the foundation for food security. His outreach efforts have included participation in the National Climate Assessment as the Lead Author for agriculture for the US and on the IPCC effort on greenhouse gases and climate change. Dr. Hatfield is an accomplished author with 508 refereed publications and 18 monographs and serves as the Editor for Agroecosystems, Geosciences and Environment and Technical Editor for Agriculture and Environmental Letters and ranks in the top 2% of researchers in the world. He edited several volumes including Crop Adaptation to Climate Change and Food Security and Climate Change. His numerous awards include being inducted into the USDA-ARS Hall of Fame for his research impact the Hugh Hammond Bennett award and the Soil Science Society of America Distinguished Service Award in 2022 along with being a Fellow in the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America and serving as President of the American Society of Agronomy in 2007. He received his PhD from Iowa State University in 1975 in the area of agricultural climatology, MS in agronomy from the University of Kentucky in 1972, and a BS in agronomy from Kansas State University in 1971. Got questions you want answered? Send them our way and we’ll do our best to research and find answers. Know someone you think would be great on the AgEmerge stage or podcast? Send your questions or suggestions to kim@asn.farm we’d love to hear from you. View a sample of Jerry's work: https://www.ars.usda.gov/midwest-area/ames/nlae/people/jerry-hatfield/

Russ Conser is the CEO of Blue Nest Beef - an e-commerce startup bringing 100% grass-fed beef from Audubon-certified bird friendly land direct to consumer doorsteps nationwide. Theirs is a story of farmers and consumers co-creating a new and better food system that enhances the health of both people and planet. This conversation really gets us excited not only about what is currently happening but what is on the horizon for improving soil and human health. Isn’t it amazing all the pieces and people that are working together to build such a great legacy. Russ Conser is CEO of Blue Nest Beef - an e-commerce startup bringing 100% grass-fed beef from Audubon-certified bird friendly land direct to consumer doorsteps nationwide. Blue Nest Beef spotlights birds as treasurer and measure in a bigger story of farmers and consumers co-creating a new and better food system that enhances the health of both people and planet. Russ is originally a mechanical engineer who spent 30 years at Shell and is now a regenerative agriculture entrepreneur and scientist. Having spent the 1st half of that career in big oil finding and extracting dead carbon from the deep earth, he spent the 2nd half investing in scientists and innovators developing novel energy technologies ultimately leading Shell’s innovative “GameChanger” program. Russ retired from Shell in 2013 and has since been focused on the science and business of putting living carbon back into the shallow Earth by working to scale up proven regenerative agriculture practices. He is currently President of The Grassfed Exchange - a non-profit regenerative agriculture educational foundation focused on farmer-to-farmer knowledge exchange. https://bluenestbeef.com/ https://www.instagram.com/bluenestbeef/ https://www.facebook.com/BlueNestBeef/ https://twitter.com/BlueNestBeef Got questions you want answered? Send them our way and we’ll do our best to research and find answers. Know someone you think would be great on the AgEmerge stage or podcast? Send your questions or suggestions to kim@asn.farm we’d love to hear from you.

Dan Miller is the Founder and CEO of Steward. Steward is a private lender providing regenerative farmers, ranchers, fishermen, and producers the capital they need to expand and sustain their businesses. And through Steward’s innovative online platform, qualified lenders have the opportunity to join in their mission and help fund the growth of regenerative agriculture by purchasing loan participations. Ask Dan what inspired him to create Steward, and he'll tell you about early mornings spent crabbing with his father on the Chesapeake Bay. This was the experience that rooted him to the land, but it was a meeting with a well-known chef in Dan's hometown, Washington D.C., that would plant the idea of Steward in his mind. This chef spoke of the difficulties facing the independent farmers that supplied his restaurant: the more specialized the farms were, the harder it was to get a loan. Dan felt that instead of forcing farmers to fit within a box, it should be the other way around. So he committed himself to creating a system that empowers each unique farmer to steward their land sustainably, with consumers—the people with the most to gain from sustainable farming—having the opportunity to join in their success. After graduating from the Wharton School with a B.S. and M.B.A., Dan co-founded a pioneering investment crowdfunding business called Fundrise. In 2010, it was the first and largest real estate crowdfunding platform in the United States, and has since raised more than $500 million. It's this experience, combined with a passion for agriculture, ecology, and local food that led Dan to launching Steward in 2017. https://gosteward.com/ https://www.instagram.com/steward/ https://www.facebook.com/GoSteward https://www.linkedin.com/company/go-steward/ https://twitter.com/GoSteward Got questions you want answered? Send them our way and we’ll do our best to research and find answers. Know someone you think would be great on the AgEmerge stage or podcast? Email: kim@asn.farm

Hear from Monte Bottens, CEO of Ag Solutions Network and Bottens Family Farm, as he talks with Alex Michaels of the Ecdysis Foundation about the 1,000 Farms Initiative. To learn more about the 1,000 Farms Initiative, visit: https://www.ecdysis.bio/featured-project https://www.ecdysis.bio/_files/ugd/49b043_3048549b00a2416c9650d4d21005bcc0.pdf Ecdysis Foundation started in 2016 behind the wheel of a rental car on a cross country road trip home to South Dakota. Dr. Lundgren had just been suspended from his federal position for presenting his research on the hopes of regenerative agriculture and problems of pesticide risks to farmers and the National Academy of Sciences. Driving through the endless miles where society had traded corn and soybeans for degraded rural communities, it was clear that something was deeply wrong with how science was being applied. Something had to change. The vision that evolved became a new model of agricultural science. And the only way to implement these changes was to get out of the current scientific matrix. ​Scientists have to become farmers to increase the relevance and credibility of their research. Scientists also have become part of the farming community. Funding models have to change to remove conflicts of interest from science, and farmers needed to be intimately involved in producing scientific research. The metrics that scientists assess their success by have to be re-envisioned to incorporate outcomes that farmers care about. And scientists need to be able to communicate their science to the end users Alex earned her Bsc Biology at USD and is pursuing her Msc Wildlife and Fisheries Science at SDSU. Alex is a master's student at South Dakota State University, researching regenerative agriculture, pollinators and birds in North Dakota and southern Manitoba, Canada. She joined Ecdysis in 2019.

Dr. Allen Williams a 6th generation family farmer and founding partner of Understanding Ag, the Soil Health Academy, and Regenified. Allen and his colleagues specialize in whole farm and ranch planning based on the concept of regenerative agriculture. They’ve worked in all 50 U.S. States and with farmers in dozens of countries globally. Today we discuss not only what changes can be made in operations but also what changes we have to make internally. Allen says the very first thing we have to do is transform our minds before we can start transforming practices because if we don't understand what we’re doing and why we’re doing it, we’ll be hard pressed to see success. Allen has consulted with more than 4,000 farmers and ranchers in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and 30+ other countries, on individual operations ranging from a few acres to over 2 million acres. He is a “recovering academic”, having served 15 years on the faculty at Louisiana Tech University and Mississippi State University. He holds a B.S. and M.S. in Animal Science from Clemson University and a Ph.D. in Genetics and Physiology from LSU. He has authored more than 400 scientific and popular press articles, and is an invited speaker at regional, national, and international conferences and symposia. Allen and his colleagues specialize in whole farm & ranch planning based on the concept of regenerative agriculture. They have worked in all 50 U.S. States and with farmers in dozens of countries globally. In the U.S. they are currently working across 32 million acres in regenerative transition. Allen has been featured in the Carbon Nation film series, Carbon Cowboys, on the Dr. Oz show, ABC Food Forecast News, in A Regenerative Secret, The Farmer’s Footprint film series and the Sacred Cow film series. https://understandingag.com/ https://regenified.com/ https://soilhealthacademy.org/ Got questions you want answered? Send them our way and we’ll do our best to research and find answers. Know someone you think would be great on the AgEmerge stage or podcast? Send your questions or suggestions to kim@asn.farm we’d love to hear from you.

Have you heard about Dr. John Tooker? Here's your chance. Dr. Tooker isa Professor and Extension Specialist in the Department of Entomology at Pennsylvania State University. Hear about his research studying relationships among plants, invertebrate herbivores, and natural enemies to understand the factors regulatingpopulations of herbivorous insects and slugs. Dr. Tooker shares how his team helpsfarmers observe what is happening in and around their fieldswhile pausing to explore all the possible factors affecting their system. In addition, the long-term goal of his research is to exploit ecological interactions for sustainable insect pest management. Follow Dr. Tooker's work: Researcher Biographyand Contact:http://ento.psu.edu/directory/jft11 John Tooker Lab: http://ento.psu.edu/research/labs/john-tooker Penn State Dept. of Entomology Twitter: https://mobile.twitter.com/psu_entomology Got questions you want answered? Send them our way and we’ll do our best to research and find answers. Know someone you think would be great on the AgEmerge stage or podcast? Send your questions or suggestions to kim@asn.farm we’d love to hear from you.

Dr. Fatma Kaplan, CEO of Pheronym, talks about her experience at the 2021 AgEmerge Summer Summit. Join us for this year's! Engage with experts in thought provoking discussion as we share years of experience, both the successes and failures, in a full transparency farm tour. But we can't be all work and no play...To wrap up the event, we'll enjoy a unique evening together in the pasture for dinner and live music at the 4th annual Concert with the Cows! https://www.agsolutionsnetwork.com/agemerge-summer-summit Cover Cropping: The Basics of Getting Started Relay Cropping: Harvesting Rye and Soybeans in the Same Year Interseeded Cover Cropping: Making it Work POWER2GRO Product Trials: Side by Side and Variable Rate Regenerative Ag in Action: Failures to Successes Livestock Integration: Stacking Enterprises Direct Marketing to Consumers: Communicating with the Public Decades of Soil Health Experience

Dr. Fatma Kaplan, CEO or Pheronym, talks about her time on the farm with the 2021 AgEmerge Summer Summit. Engage with experts in thought provoking discussion as we share years of experience, both the successes and failures, in a full transparency farm tour. But we can't be all work and no play...To wrap up the event, we'll enjoy a unique evening together in the pasture for dinner and live music at the 4th annual Concert with the Cows! Register: https://www.agsolutionsnetwork.com/agemerge-summer-summit - Cover Cropping: The Basics of Getting Started - Relay Cropping: Harvesting Rye and Soybeans in the Same Year - Interseeded Cover Cropping: Making it Work - POWER2GRO Product Trials: Side by Side and Variable Rate - Regenerative Ag in Action: Failures to Successes - Livestock Integration: Stacking Enterprises - Direct Marketing to Consumers: Communicating with the Public - Decades of Soil Health Experience

Eric Jackson and Dr. Stephan van Vliet both join the AgEmerge Podcast for Episode 088. Eric currently serves as the Board Chair of the Bionutrient Food Association, on the BoD of Victory Hemp Foods and an advisor to Homeplate Foods, Water Asset Management, Other Half Processing and The Yield Lab. He is a Strategic Advisor to the Applied Ecological Institute and he also serves on the Steering Council for the Forever Green Partnership based out of the University of Minnesota. And since we last spoke with Dr. van Vliet, he has joined the Center for Human Nutrition Studies at Utah State University, Stephan is Is a nutrition scientist with metabolomics expertise. Listen in as Eric and Stephan talk with Monte about how they are working together to explore nutrient density and food production from the soil up. Eric stated it best when he said it became apparent to him that there is a path forward if we want to create a food system that gives an opportunity for growers to participate in the value that they create through their production practices around quality. Eric currently serves as the Board Chair of the Bionutrient Food Association, on the BoD of Victory Hemp Foods and an advisor to Homeplate Foods, Water Asset Management, Other Half Processing and The Yield Lab. He is a Strategic Advisor to the Applied Ecological Institute and he also serves on the Steering Council for the Forever Green Partnership based out of the University of Minnesota. As an entrepreneur, Eric was the founding CEO of Pipeline Foods and a co-founder of Conservis, which was acquired by a joint venture established by Rabobank and TELUS Agriculture. He also co-founded CP Holdings as a member of the Chicago Climate Exchange, developing carbon sequestration projects across the Northern Plains of the USA. In the corporate world, Eric started his career with The Pillsbury Company. He then joined International Proteins Corporation and led a MBO of the group. As CEO and Board Chair of IPC, he led the sale of the company to Scoular, where he joined their BoD and was corporate SVP and General Manager until his departure in 2007. Stephan Is a nutrition scientist with metabolomics expertise in the Center for Human Nutrition Studies at Utah State University. Dr. Stephan van Vliet earned his PhD in Kinesiology as an ESPEN Fellow from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and received training at the Washington University in St Louis School of Medicine and Duke University School of Medicine. Dr. van Vliet’s research is performed at the nexus of agricultural and human health. He routinely collaborates with farmers, ecologists, and agricultural scientists to study critical linkages between agricultural production methods, the nutrient density of food, and human health. His work has been published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Scientific Reports, the Journal of Nutrition, and the Journal of Physiology. Dr. van Vliet: https://stephanvanvliet.com/recent-research-projects/ https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsufs.2020.555426/full Bionutrient Food Association: https://bionutrient.org/ https://www.facebook.com/Bionutrient/ https://www.instagram.com/bionutrientfoodassociation/ https://www.youtube.com/bionutrient https://twitter.com/bionutrientfood https://www.linkedin.com/company/bionutrient Got questions you want answered? Send them our way and we’ll do our best to research and find answers. Know someone you think would be great on the AgEmerge stage or podcast? Send your questions or suggestions to kim@asn.farm we’d love to hear from you.

There are always new observations to make and new things to learn from what we did the previous year. Join us for AgEmerge Summer Summit to think outside the box and explore new solutions. Wrap up the learning with a Concert with the Cows, hosted by Grateful Graze, to see what soil health really translates to. Register here: https://bit.ly/3ONvyX9

Alan Lewis is the Vice President of Advocacy & Governmental Affairs at Natural Grocers. Alan navigates government affairs and food and agriculture policy for Natural Grocers, a Colorado based health food chain founded in 1955 with over 170 stores in 20 states. At the federal, state and local level, Alan engages on food, agriculture, nutrition, rural economic development, food safety, trade and health issues. He is active in several trade and advocacy organizations and is a fearless writer, speaker and activist. Alan shares how his personal family story plays deeply into why he is so passionate about the work he’s doing. Alan talks with Monte about how Natural Grocers is a part of a broad coalition of thousands of independent food retailers who are trying to change the food system by changing the supply chain. Join us as we explore this important topic. Got questions you want answered? Send them our way and we’ll do our best to research and find answers. Know someone you think would be great on the AgEmerge stage or podcast? Send your questions or suggestions to kim@asn.farm we’d love to hear from you. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdBPUfDtnD6qDMramNjM1Rg https://twitter.com/naturalgrocers https://www.pinterest.com/naturalgrocers/ https://www.instagram.com/naturalgrocers/ https://www.facebook.com/NaturalGrocers/

Erin Martin is the founder of Conscious Aging Solutions connecting others with preventative and conscious approaches to longevity. Erin is a Gerontologist, and is passionate about studying the process of aging. And her story gets even more exciting because of her life experiences and a kind of a-ha moment during a trip to a blue-zone area that enforced her desire to uncover how food plays such a significant role in our aging process. Erin is certified in Regenerative Soil Advocacy through Kiss the Ground and is passionate about soil health while and sharing that food is medicine. Erin is also the President of the Tulsa Urban Ag Coalition and the director of Oklahoma’s FreshRx Food is Medicine program. Erin Martin’s passion for helping others started at fifteen when she started working in a retirement community. Today, Erin holds a Masters degree in Gerontology from the University of Southern California, the first and #1 Gerontology school in the world. In 2017, Erin founded Conscious Aging Solutions to connect others with preventative and conscious approaches to longevity. She is certified in Regenerative Soil Advocacy through Kiss the Ground and is passionate about spreading the gospel of food is medicine and the link to soil health. Erin is the President of the Tulsa Urban Ag Coalition and the director of Oklahoma’s FreshRx Food is Medicine program. https://consciousagingsolutions.com/ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiHPwXqkUcr0HR4gakqxGPQ https://www.facebook.com/consciousagingsolutions https://www.instagram.com/consciousagingsolutions/ Got questions you want answered? Send them our way and we’ll do our best to research and find answers. Know someone you think would be great on the AgEmerge stage or podcast? Send your questions or suggestions to kim@asn.farm we’d love to hear from you.

Welcome Clint Brauer, CEO and Founder of Greenfield Robotics. Clint has a great story. He grew up farming in south central Kansas and went to K State where he got into technology. After graduating from college and spending a decade plus in media and technology, in Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York, Clint decided to return to his roots in Kansas, launching MG Honor Farms on the family farmstead. Clint began adopting regenerative ag principles but was frustrated with the limitations of current tools and technology for regenerative farming and the dream of organic no-till, so he decided to launch a company where he could use his technology experience to solve the scaling issues of regenerative broadacre systems. Clint and his team are doing some exciting work and he and Monte explore that today. Clint grew up in Kansas and learned as a child how to train dairy cattle, grow vegetables and farm broadacre crops. After college, he began his career with W3-Design, an early web design agency in Los Angeles, where he managed their top clients. Clint then worked for Universal Music where he helped with the data asset management project for digital distribution of music. In 2003, Clint joined Sony and his role quickly expanded to VP of Marketing, CRM and Operations of Sony Connect, an early cutting-edge video service which blazed a path for mainstream services like Netflix and Hulu. Clint’s team created one of the first true 360 degree views of customers across ecommerce, email, offline and online campaigns and the call centers. This involved integration of early stage SaaS companies Omniture, RightNow, PostFuture, Pivotlink and an internal ecommerce system. Clint also drove the division toward SEO as a customer acquisition strategy over traditional media deals. His team then successfully launched the Sony eReader and software across North America, both online and at retail, and also worked with book publishers to substantially decrease the cost of ebook conversion. After a decade plus in media and technology, Clint returned to his roots in Kansas, launching MG Honor Farms on the family farmstead. Clint has grown and marketed over 100+ crops without chemicals outdoors, in traditional greenhouses as well as hydroponic greenhouses. Clint has also advised over 10 farms with their marketing, helping them secure distribution into 35+ grocery stores such as all Kansas City-area Whole Foods and Hy-Vee’s as well as 25+ restaurants and 4 school systems. In 2015 Clint started Canidae Farms, a regenerative farm network for Canidae Pet Foods (canidae.com/farms), which he continues to operate. In this role he is working with farms to adopt regenerative agriculture practices in return for higher margins. Canidae was acquired by L Catterton in 2018 and the program is now expanding again in 2020 with partner farms in Kansas and Nebraska. Frustrated with the limitations of current tools and technology for regenerative farming, Clint decided to launch a company to solve the scaling issues of regenerative broadacre systems. He recruited Carl Sutter and Steven Gentner, two talented engineers he met decades ago at W3-design, to co-found Greenfield Robotics. The company has been working for several years on its small, autonomous robots for weed control, and is currently in customer pilots. https://www.greenfieldrobotics.com/ https://www.facebook.com/greenfieldrobotics/ https://twitter.com/GreenfieldBots https://www.instagram.com/greenfieldrobotics/ linkedin.com/company/greenfield-robotics/ Got questions you want answered? Send them our way and we’ll do our best to research and find answers. Know someone you think would be great on the AgEmerge stage or podcast? Send your questions or suggestions to kim@asn.farm we’d love to hear from you.

Looking to see a wow factor? Imagine a field with 4 years of cover crops and livestock integration. Now imagine being able to plant soybeans with no disturbance. Come see for yourself: https://www.agsolutionsnetwork.com/agemerge-summer-summit #SoilHealth #CropHealth #LivestockHealth #HumanHealth Summit Speakers: Nofence with Meghan Filbert Pat Miletich and Human Health Monte Bottens, Founder, CEO ASN, Grateful Graze, AgEmerge Cameron Mills, Farmer, Mentor and Business Owner Dr. Joel Gruver, Soil Health Researcher

Dr. Fatma Kaplan is the co-founder, CEO and CSO of Pheronym. Not only is she an entrepreneur and accomplished scientist with experience in biology and chemistry, she has a passion for understanding the intricacies and behaviors of both parasitic and beneficial nematodes. Monte and Fatma explore everything from nematodes in agriculture to nematodes in space, yes space! Dr. Kaplan conducted the first agricultural biocontrol experiment in Space at the International Space Station in 2020. Dr. Kaplan has a Ph.D. in Plant Molecular and Cellular Biology and postdoctoral training in Natural Product Chemistry with a focus on isolating biologically active compounds. She discovered the first sex pheromone of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans and published in Nature in 2008. Then she discovered pheromones regulate other behaviors in both parasitic and beneficial nematodes. Dr. Kaplan conducted the first agricultural biocontrol experiment in Space at the International Space Station in 2020. She has very high impact publications and her dissertation was cited in textbooks within 5 years of publication. Dr. Kaplan worked as a scientist at NASA, the National Magnetic Field Laboratory and the US Department of Agriculture – Agricultural Research Service. Dr. Kaplan co-founded Pheronym to bring nematode pheromone technology to the market. Dr. Kaplan believes that nematode pheromone technology will provide effective, non-toxic pest control for farmers and gardeners. https://www.pheronym.com/ https://www.ars.usda.gov/news-events/news/research-news/2019/starship-nematode/ https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0022201119300503 Got questions you want answered? Send them our way and we’ll do our best to research and find answers. Know someone you think would be great on the AgEmerge stage or podcast? Send your questions or suggestions to kim@asn.farm we’d love to hear from you.

Why Attend AgEmerge Summer Summit? Come see soil health principles in action and at scale. Get your questions answered, and engage in thought provoking discussion as we share years of experience, both the successes and failures, in a full transparency farm tour. But we can't be all work and no play...To wrap up the event, we'll enjoy a unique evening together in the pasture for dinner and live music at the 4th annual Concert with the Cows! https://www.agsolutionsnetwork.com/agemerge-summer-summit ​ -Cover Cropping: The Basics of Getting Started -Relay Cropping: Harvesting Rye and Soybeans in the Same Year -Interseeded Cover Cropping: Making it Work -POWER2GRO Product Trials: Side by Side and Variable Rate -Regenerative Ag in Action: Failures to Successes -Livestock Integration: Stacking Enterprises -Direct Marketing to Consumers: Communicating with the Public -Decades of Soil Health Experience

Paul Greive, Pasturebird’s Co-founder and VP of Sales and Marketing, located in Temecula, California. Paul shares with us Pasturebird’s awesome story and what has driven their team to reinvent American poultry production. They’ve worked to scale the production of regenerative poultry, raising over two million chickens without antibiotics or drugs. They’ve kept their focus on the land, the animal, and the consumer all while improving the soil every year. Paul says, “we use nature as our template, and move animals to fresh pasture every day.” Listen in and Monte and Paul discuss this great American story of passion, innovation, and regeneration. Paul grew up in downtown Seattle and was a college athlete with no interest in food or agriculture. His farming journey began after contracting Lyme disease from a tick bite during Marine Corps sniper training and experiencing the joint pain, brain fog, and decreased performance common with the autoimmune condition. After returning from Iraq in 2009, he and his family started eating paleo and grew frustrated with the lack of pasture raised meat available in Southern California. In 2012, they ordered 50 chicks and raised them in the backyard as a fun project. Mimicking their mentor, Joel Salatin, they raised the birds in mobile coops on pasture, moving them every single day. The birds sold out instantly, and the business started to take shape, especially when the LA Lakers and LA Dodgers players became their first wholesale accounts. Pasturebird has continued to grow into the largest pasture raised chicken operation in the world, and they’re hyper focused 2 things: 1) making true pasture raised + nutrient dense chicken more accessible and affordable, and 2) re-integrating animals and crops in a regenerative, closed loop system. The primary means for accomplishing this is Pasturebird’s Automated Range Coop (ARC), a 6,000 bird floorless mobile coop that drives itself to fresh pasture every daily using solar power. https://www.pasturebird.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulgreive/ Got questions you want answered? Send them our way and we’ll do our best to research and find answers. Know someone you think would be great on the AgEmerge stage or podcast? Send your questions or suggestions to kim@asn.farm we’d love to hear from you.

Why Attend AgEmerge Summer Summit? Come see soil health principles in action and at scale. Get your questions answered, and engage in thought provoking discussion as we share years of experience, both the successes and failures, in a full transparency farm tour. But we can't be all work and no play...To wrap up the event, we'll enjoy a unique evening together in the pasture for dinner and live music at the 4th annual Concert with the Cows! ​- Cover Cropping: The Basics of Getting Started - Relay Cropping: Harvesting Rye and Soybeans in the Same Year - Interseeded Cover Cropping: Making it Work - POWER2GRO Product Trials: Side by Side and Variable Rate - Regenerative Ag in Action: Failures to Successes - Livestock Integration: Stacking Enterprises - Direct Marketing to Consumers: Communicating with the Public - Decades of Soil Health Experience

Welcome Brad Schmidt, Manager of Agronomy at Regeneration Nation. We’ve had the pleasure of knowing Brad for several years and he was one of the speakers at our first AgEmerge event back in 2019. Brad has a passion, not only for soil health but for bringing people together to share their regenerative management experiences. Brad had the opportunity to work and learn under Dr. Dwayne Beck at the Dakota Lakes Research Farm where he experienced firsthand how these practices worked in some of the toughest soils. Listen in as Monte and Brad discuss the power of producer-based research, diversifying your operation, including why other companies are interested in these practices and working with growers that are building soil health. More about Brad: Brad grew up in Southwest Minnesota, attended college at South Dakota State University receiving a Bachelor's Degree in Agriculture Science. He worked for Dwayne Beck at Dakota Lakes Research Farm while attending school and after college, worked for Cronin Farms in Gettysburg, South Dakota, on their very diverse cropping and ranching operation. Brad then became the head Agronomist for Ducks Unlimited in the US for 3 years. Working with DU he helped found their Soil Health Program to work more closely with farmers to reach their goals of profitability and reach DU's goals of conservation work. Nearing the end of his time with DU he founded Regeneration Nation LLC. Regeneration Nation is a biological based company focused on increasing profitability and bringing more value back to farmers and ranchers with the power of biologicals. He also serves on the board for Holistic Management International and is a part owner in his family's direct marketing business where they sell Regeneratively Raised meats direct to consumers. He’s married to his wife Ashley and they have one son and live in Brookings, South Dakota. https://www.facebook.com/Regen.Roots https://twitter.com/Regen_Roots https://www.instagram.com/regen_roots/ Got questions you want answered? Send them our way and we’ll do our best to research and find answers. Know someone you think would be great on the AgEmerge stage or podcast? Send your questions or suggestions to kim@asn.farm we’d love to hear from you.

Research scientist Dr. Ryan Schmid and graduate student, Tia Busenitz both from the Ecdysis Foundation, join us for episode 081. Ryan leads the foundation’s rangeland studies. His current research focuses on how regenerative grazing affects pollinator and dung arthropod communities, and how arthropods facilitate the cycling of nutrients in Grasslands. Tia’s current research is focused on honey bee health and hive management, as well as land management effects on pollinator conservation and survival. Add passion and purpose to the pollinators, pastures and poop discussion. It’s folks like Ryan and Tia and all the researchers at Ecdysis that are helping us to uncover and understand all of these different communities through, as they say, their “cutting edge research for transforming agriculture with regenerative principles.” So listen in as Monte discusses with Ryan and Tia all things pollinators, pastures and poop! Ryan Schmid is a research scientist with Ecdysis Foundation since 2018, where he leads the foundation’s rangeland studies. He credits his upbringing on a family-farm for honing his interest to work with ranchers investigating ecosystem services provided by arthropods in rangelands. His current research focuses on how regenerative grazing affects pollinator and dung arthropod communities, and how arthropods facilitate the cycling of nutrients in Grasslands. Katya (Tia) Busenitz is a student scientist at Ecdysis Foundation while pursuing her master’s degree in entomology from UNL. Her admiration for insects and the natural world led her towards entomology, then inevitably into sustainable agriculture and agroecology. Her current research is focused on honeybee health and hive management, as well as land management effects on pollinator conservation and survival. Learn more at: https://www.ecdysis.bio/ Got questions you want answered? Send them our way and we’ll do our best to research and find answers. Know someone you think would be great on the AgEmerge stage or podcast? Send your questions or suggestions to kim@asn.farm we’d love to hear from you.

Welcome Dr. Stephanie Seneff, a Senior Research Scientist at MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. On this podcast Monte and Dr. Seneff discuss her research and work in understanding the role of toxic chemicals and micronutrient deficiencies in health and disease. Sometimes our topics are hard but necessary to hear. Hopefully this conversation will encourage you to do some critical thinking about our production systems and how we can continue to work to improve not only soil health but human health. Dr. Seneff has a BS degree from MIT in biology and MS, EE and PhD degrees from MIT in electrical engineering and computer science. She has published over 200 peer-reviewed papers in scientific journals and conference proceedings. Her recent interests have focused on the role of toxic chemicals and micronutrient deficiencies in health and disease, with a special emphasis on the pervasive herbicide, Roundup, and the mineral, sulfur. Since 2008, she has authored over three dozen peer-reviewed journal papers related to biochemistry and toxicology, and has delivered numerous slide presentations at conferences around the world. She is the author of a book on glyphosate, titled "Toxic Legacy: How the Weedkiller Glyphosate Is Destroying Our Health and the Environment," which was released by Chelsea Green publishers on July 1, 2021. This book was selected by Kirkus Reviews as one of the best non-fiction books of 2021. http://stephanieseneff.net/ https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0971R287S/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33310222/ https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378112721003479 Got questions you want answered? Send them our way and we’ll do our best to research and find answers. Know someone you think would be great on the AgEmerge stage or podcast? Send your questions or suggestions to kim@asn.farm we’d love to hear from you.

Welcome David Brandt of Brandt Farms and Walnut Creek Seed. If you know your soil health, no-till history, and follow the leaders in these areas then you know how fortunate we are to get to visit with David. He’s been no-tilling since 1971, back when they called it trash farming and a whole list of other things. But David would not be deterred, he continued to test systems, implement cover crops and utilize livestock to improve soil health. Listen in to this great conversation as he and Monte talk about the history, the present, and the exciting future on their farm. ***BRANDT FARM EVENT*** Brandt Farms is hosting their 2022 Spring Soil Health Field Day Friday, April 8th, 2022 8:30am-3:30pm Click below to register for the Field Day. https://www.walnutcreekseeds.com/default.html#upcomingevents David Brandt farms 950 acres all no-till, in Fairfield County, which is located in central Ohio. He began no-till farming in 1971 and has been using cover crops since 1978. David has participated in yield plots for corn, soybeans, and wheat into various covers. This information has been used by seed growers as well as county agents and universities to encourage other farmers to adapt no-till practices in their farming operations. He has also been planting various blends of cover crops to find out what benefits they provide to improve soil health. David is co-owner of Walnut Creek Seeds, LLC with his son and daughter-in-law Jay and Ann Brandt. David has had articles published in Farm Journal, Ohio Farmer, Country Journal, and numerous no-till journals. He has worked in cooperation with The Ohio State University, the University of Illinois, Penn State University, Purdue University, and Milan Research Farm in Tennessee. At present, David is working with OSU Randall Reeder and Dr. Islam on reducing input costs of fertilizers and herbicides using various cover crops which improve soil health. The results of this study have been published in the International Soil and Water Conservation Research journal. (March 2014, Vol. 2, No. 1) He is also working with the regional NRCS soils lab in Greensboro, North Carolina on the benefits of cover crops to improve soil health. David Brandt has received awards for conservation practices: Ohio EPA Non-Point Pollution Winner, Ohio Conservation Farmer, Ohio Conservation Educator Award from Ohio No-Till Council, Ohio State University South Center Supporter of the Year, a Friend to Public Education Award from the Ohio School Board Assoc., Ohio Agriculture Man of the Year, Ohio Farm Bureau Federation Distinguished Service to Agriculture Award, Ohio NRCS Soil Conservationist Partnership, 2015 No-Till Innovator in Crop Production award at the 2016 National No-Till Conference, Master Farmer of Ohio selected by the Ohio Farmer magazine and NRCS State Volunteer Awards, appointed to the rank of “Chevalier” of Agriculture merit by the French Minister of Agriculture 2016 Associations: Past Fairfield County Soil and Water Supervisor, Past President of Fairfield Co. Farm Bureau, Member of Land Use Planning Committee, Past President of Local Cooperative Association, Currently President of Ohio No-Till Council, Working with Local FFA chapters to allow young men and women to learn about agriculture and utilization of equipment and resources, member of the National Gideon’s Association, and several county Historical associations, Ohio State Piketon research committee member, host to the Believers Bible men's fellowship. Check out https://www.walnutcreekseeds.com/ Got questions you want answered? Send them our way and we’ll do our best to research and find answers. Know someone you think would be great on the AgEmerge stage or podcast? Send your questions or suggestions to kim@asn.farm we’d love to hear from you

Thanks for joining us! Today we welcome Russell Hedrick to the podcast. Russell is a first-generation farmer in the foothills of Hickory, North Carolina where he operates JRH Grain Farms. Russell is known as one of the most progressive young farmers in the country for his work utilizing soil health practices on cash crops.. He earned the North Carolina soybean yield record in 2021 and in 2017 he won the North Carolina Corn Yield contest. He was the first person to win in the state using regenerative practices and has been featured in Top Producer Magazine, Furrow Magazine, RFD TV, The Soil Health Institute and National No-till Farmer just to name a few. Russell's operation focuses on maximizing profits and direct consumer marketing for all their products, including corn, soybeans, wheat, barley, pastures beef and pork. He is the co-founder of Regen Mills and Heritage Ground, co-owner of Soil Regen, LLC, and has partnered with Foothills Distillery producing the first bourbon in North Carolina since prohibition. Today he and Monte explore all these areas and you’ll hear the passion Russell has for making this happen. You can find more information about all of Russell’s endeavors at these websites: Soil Regen: https://www.agsoilregen.com Regen Mills: https://www.facebook.com/regenmills Heritage Ground: https://www.heritageground.com LinkedIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/russell-hedrick-a9a323b0/ Got questions you want answered? Send them our way and we’ll do our best to research and find answers. Know someone you think would be great on the AgEmerge stage or podcast? Send your questions or suggestions to kim@asn.farm We’d love to hear from you!

Welcome Ben Moest, a third generation grain and livestock farmer located in Stephenson County, IL near the WI border where he and his family own and operate a hog and cash crop operation. Ben is the President of High Plains Grains, which he operates with his brother, Grant Moest, and two other partners. They raise 100% non-GMO corn & non-GMO soybeans along with small grains including wheat, rye, and oats. They also practice multi-species cover cropping on all of their acres annually and hope to begin the integration of livestock on the land in some form starting in 2022. Their primary focus in crop production is on soil conservation and building healthy, well-functioning soils that are improving over time. Family, communication, and legacy are all part of this exciting conversation where we hear how they’re all working in the operation and bringing their specific skills and talents together to create a well-oiled machine. In addition, we learn a lot about the mindset of building communication, fine-tuning management opportunities, and ultimately growing a business that utilizes and encourages new ideas. This conversation with Ben is so encouraging. The way his family approaches change and how they work together to communicate their individual desires and goals is exciting. And communication is really a big part of the equation. Recognizing that there are different ways for different types of operations to implement practices that build resilience in today's agriculture, is exciting to hear. After growing up on the farm, Ben attended the University of Wisconsin-Platteville where he earned a bachelor’s degree in agricultural business. After college, he earned his Series 3 license and spent time working as a licensed broker in the dairy risk management industry, while also becoming a licensed crop insurance agent, which he still is today. Ben came back to the family operation in 2019 to help raise a feminized CBD hemp crop, and then quickly started assisting in the management of the overall farm. What excites Ben most in life is soil stewardship & regenerative farming. He cares deeply for the land and has a life-long mission of leaving whatever land he's blessed to care for in much better shape than when he started. Ben believes farming production models of the future will be much more diverse and sustainable than what they are today, and he’s most excited about doing his part to help design, develop, test, and implement said models right on his own farm. Healthy people come from healthy ecosystems, and healthy ecosystems start with healthy soils. Got questions you want answered? Send them our way and we’ll do our best to research and find answers. Know someone you think would be great on the AgEmerge stage or podcast? Send your questions or suggestions to kim@asn.farm Mechanized CBD Hemp Video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=656Ll-GITZU&authuser=0&mc_cid=aea2bf6400&mc_eid=UNIQID

We’re bringing you a great conversation with Dr. Liz Haney, Founder of Soil Regen and co-founder of Regen Mills and Heritage Ground. Liz is a soil and ecosystem scientist with experience in regenerative agriculture education, soil health testing and analyses, carbon as well as conservation practice modeling. Today Monte and Liz unpack all of those areas including soil testing in the regenerative space, carbon, mobile milling and everything in between. Listen in as we explore these topics! Liz’s purpose, drive and passion are helping to improve producer profitability, environmental sustainability, and human health through regenerative practices and soil health. Throughout her career she has developed an expansive network of scientists, thought leaders, consultants, farmers and ranchers within the sustainable agriculture space. Liz loves nothing more than creating community and is skilled at coordinating and conducting educational events, workshops and conferences, bringing together today’s leading innovators in regenerative agriculture. Liz is the founder of Soil Regen and co-founder of Regen Mills and Heritage Ground with Sarah Varble and Russell Hedrick. Got questions you want answered? Send them our way and we’ll do our best to research and find answers. Know someone you think would be great on the AgEmerge stage or podcast? Send your questions or suggestions to kim@asn.farm We’d love to hear from you!