Regenerative Agriculture Podcast
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236 afleveringen, van nieuw naar oud
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Episode 195: Your Soil's Water Reservoir Is Smaller Than You Think with Jerry Hatfield
5 november 2026 · 1 uur 14 min
Jerry Hatfield earned his PhD in agricultural climatology from Iowa State University and worked at UC Davis before spending his career with USDA's Agricultural Research Service. He led the National Laboratory for Agriculture and the Environment in Ames, Iowa, for about 25 years. He has written nearly 500 research papers and was inducted into the ARS Science Hall of Fame in 2014. Lees meer
Since retiring in 2020, Jerry has worked as a freelance agricultural scientist, helping farmers improve production while protecting soil, water, and air. He studies how water, carbon, and gas exchange interact in the soil, using CO2 flux measurements and instruments built to measure CO2 inside crop canopies. He uses a "four R's" framework for water management: retain, redistribute, reduce, and remove.
In this episode, John and Jerry discuss:
Why water is the first thing to change as you build soil health, before carbon and then nutrients.
How bare soil can lose three-quarters of a one-inch rain to evaporation, and each tillage pass can cost another half inch.
Why raising organic matter from 2% to 4% stretches available water in a five-foot profile from 5 days to 13 days in August.
How hidden drought stress can cost 30 to 40 bushels on a 250-bushel corn crop without the leaves ever curling.
How one pass with a disc on wet soil created a shear pan that cost a farmer 150 bushels per acre.
Why tractors are getting about 900 pounds heavier each year, and compaction from a combine can still be measured 15 years later.
Why roughly half the carbon a crop captures can go into the soil as root exudates to feed soil biology.
Additional Resources
To read articles by Jerry on soil health and water management, please visit: https://greencover.com/author/dr-jerry-l-hatfieldTo learn more about Jerry's work with the Soil and Water Conservation Society, please visit: https://swcs.org/about-us/our-people/board-of-directors/jerry-hatfield
To listen to Jerry's first conversation with John, please v…
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Episode 194: Glyphosate and the Herbicide Treadmill with Chuck Benbrook
30 oktober 2026 · 1 uur 19 min
Chuck Benbrook is an agricultural economist with a PhD in agricultural economics who has also farmed commercially. From 1979 to 1997 he worked on agricultural policy in Washington, D.C., including as executive director of the National Academy of Sciences' Board on Agriculture and of a House Agriculture subcommittee. He has spent more than 40 years researching farming systems, pest management, and pesticide regulation. Lees meer
For the past 25 years, Chuck has served as an expert witness in pesticide litigation involving glyphosate, chlorpyrifos, and paraquat. His 2025 paper proposes that glyphosate can persist in human bone. He is involved with the Heartland Health Research Alliance, which is running a Midwest birth cohort study on herbicide exposure.
In this episode, John and Chuck discuss:
Why weed control in 1996 often took three to five herbicides, and how Roundup Ready crops replaced that with one pass.
How glyphosate use grew about 20-fold, reaching 80% of U.S. row crop acres at its peak.
Why the first glyphosate-resistant marestail in 2004 started farmers on the herbicide treadmill.
How seed and pesticide costs for corn, soybean, and cotton farmers have roughly tripled since 1996.
Chuck's hypothesis that glyphosate binds to calcium and is stored in bone, then slowly released back into the blood.
How Don Huber's work on glyphosate tying up minerals in soybeans helped Chuck connect the dots.
Why pre-harvest desiccation is only 2-3% of glyphosate use but may drive about 90% of dietary exposure.
How John uses boron as a maturity enhancer to replace a chemical desiccant and improve grain quality.
Why Chuck believes current EPA toxicity testing misses chronic health effects, and what he would change.
Additional Resources
To read Chuck's paper on glyphosate persistence in bone, please visit: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12302-025-01057-1To read Chuck's widely cited paper on trends in glyphosate use, please visit: https://link.springer.com/article…
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Episode 193: A Different Perspective on Fusarium with Heber Hall and Kirk Mersil
22 oktober 2026 · 1 uur 46 min
In this episode, commercial indoor producer Kirk Mersil shares his journey managing a 10,000-square-foot controlled-environment facility through an unexpected crop health crisis. Facing harvest losses exceeding 50% due to extreme plant brittleness and severe quality collapse, Kirk resisted conventional advice to destroy the operation and instead partnered with researcher and consultant Heber Hall to diagnose the root physiological drivers behind the outbreak. Lees meer
Drawing on plant pathology and biochemistry, Heber explains that Fusarium is not inherently an aggressive pathogen, but rather a ubiquitous fungal endophyte capable of conferring disease protection and facilitating nutrient reduction in healthy crops. By shifting away from pathogen eradication toward terrain management, their collaboration demonstrates how regulating fertility inputs, sustaining photosynthetic sugar supply, and preventing oxidative cascades can downregulate pathogenic gene expression and restore resilient crop health.
In this episode, some of the topics discussed are:
How Fusarium naturally functions as a beneficial endophyte in most plants and only turns pathogenic under specific environmental or nutritional stress.
The hierarchy of fungal food preferences, shifting from plant sugars to nitrates and oxidized minerals as plant energy declines.
Critical nitrate thresholds, including how levels above 120 parts per million activate pathogenic genes and drops below 40 parts per million cause sudden wilt.
Utilizing foliar sprays of reduced trace minerals to bypass stem blockages and restore vital antioxidant enzymes.
The vital role of soluble calcium and calcium signaling in fortifying internal plant defenses against fungal disease.
How fungal quorum sensing coordinates communication to transform localized infection into systemic crop virulence.
Preemptive applications of molasses and calcium prior to heavy rains to buffer root zones against stress-induced disease triggers.
Additional Res…
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Episode 192: Breaking Up Compaction with Roots Instead of Steel with Lloyd Murdock
15 oktober 2026 · 1 uur
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. Lees meer
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-250To 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.…
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Episode 191: Tar Spot, Tip Back, and Real-Time Plant Data with Jeff Kleypas
8 oktober 2026 · 1 uur 1 min
Jeff Kleypas is Distribution Manager and Senior Agronomist at Advancing Eco Agriculture, based in South Texas. He began his career 20 years ago as a crop consultant walking South Texas vegetable fields that were sprayed weekly with insecticides and fungicides. He started working with biologicals in 2009 and joined AEA four years ago. He also runs a 1.5-acre market farm at home, where he tests new tools himself. Lees meer
Jeff works with row crop growers and dealers across the Midwest and South, many of them now in year three or four of a full AEA program. This season he helped calibrate the CropTix sap sensor on cotton and corn and ran live demos at Midwest grower events. He uses FieldLark and other AI tools to turn sap, soil, and imagery data into faster recommendations.
In this episode, John and Jeff discuss:
A 3,000-acre Illinois corn farm that saw 5% of the tar spot with Pinion compared to its conventional fungicide check.
How cutting P and K too hard led to tip back in Illinois corn.
How the Croptix sensor returns full sap results in minutes.
A grower with a 58-bushel soybean break-even who is averaging over 80, with some spots near 100.
Pinion results from Jeff's own cut flowers, including a full month without disease.
Why AI should make farmers better at seeing patterns in data, not replace them.
Why sugars give a much bigger response at much lower rates in biologically active soils.
A biological in-furrow program that beat a 2x2 of 40 units of nitrogen by 25 bushels.
Additional Resources
To learn more about FieldLark, please visit: https://fieldlark.aiTo learn more about Pinion, please visit: https://advancingecoag.com/product/pinion/
To learn more about Croptix, please visit: https://www.croptix.ag/
To listen to Jeff's earlier podcast short, please visit: https://advancingecoag.com/podcast/podcast-short-10-breaking-away-from-traditional-agronomy-with-jeff-kleypas/
Learn more about AEA's regenerative programs and products: https://www.advancingecoag.c…
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Episode 190: What the 1980s Farm Crisis Should Have Taught Us with Wendy Johnson
1 oktober 2026 · 1 uur 25 min
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. Lees meer
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 Resources
To listen to the podcast episode featuring Austin Unruh on integrating trees into working pastures, please visit: https://advancingecoag.com/podcast/episode-97-i… -
Podcast Extra: Why Corn Is Dying Early with John Kempf & Brody Benton
24 september 2026 · 1 uur 30 min
In this Podcast Extra, Brody Benton of Six B and John Kempf, founder of Advancing Eco Agriculture, dig into why plants are shutting down weeks before black layer, what top dieback is actually telling you, and how nitrogen form, leaf temperature, and trace minerals decide whether a crop finishes strong or hollows out from the inside. Lees meer
John explains why the fungi behind stalk rot and crown rot — fusarium, rhizoctonia, pythium — are saprophytes that navigate by electrical charge, and why they only attack cells the plant has already given up on. Brody brings the 2026 weather data: 43 nights above 68°F in Polk County, Iowa (vs. a 28–29 night average), 35+ in York County, Nebraska, and record dew points that opened the door for tar spot. Put those together and you get a plant burning protein for energy, converting rubisco and PEP carboxylase back to ammonium, robbing amino skeletons out of the leaves, and dismantling its own photosynthetic engine during grain fill.
From there the conversation goes well past stalk rot: front-loaded nitrogen and electrolyte overload, chloride and sodium from manure histories, herbicide and fungicide effects on fungal-to-bacterial ratios, the depletion of microbially active carbon under corn-on-corn and corn-soybean rotations, molybdenum and nitrate assimilation in soybeans, EDTA chelates that pull one nutrient out while adding another, plant sap pH targets, and how humic substances turned a manure pit into liquid gold.
Additional Resources
If you farm in the midwest and would like to get in touch with Brody, please reach out to him via email, brody.benton@gmail.comTo listen to the Podcast conversation with Mike Omeg, please visit: https://advancingecoag.com/podcast/episode-188-eliminating-ground-applied-urea-with-mike-omeg/
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,… -
Episode 189: Why Your Nitrogen Program Is Costing You 50 Bushels with Ed Baumgartner
17 september 2026 · 1 uur 43 min
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. Lees meer
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 a…
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Episode 188: Eliminating Ground-Applied Urea with Mike Omeg
11 september 2026 · 1 uur 20 min
Mike Omeg is a fifth-generation farmer who grew up on a diverse family farm in Oregon, initially producing cherries, hay, cattle, apricots, apples, and wheat. Over time, he honed in on fresh cherry production. He is currently the Director of Orchard Operations at Orchard View Cherries. Drawing on decades of tree-fruit experience and driven by a vision to keep his operation thriving for the next 100 years, Mike has spent the last 13 years collaborating closely with Advancing Eco Agriculture to challenge the conventional . Lees meer
Currently, Mike is implementing management practices to maintain high cherry yields while drastically reducing input costs . He has completely eliminated dry nitrogen ground applications, shifting toward targeted fertigation and carbon-based energy sources to optimize tree metabolism . By focusing on biological precision and custom blends, he is growing firmer, higher-quality fruit while successfully testing new methods to control severe powdery mildew pressure without relying on conventional fungicides .
In this episode, John and Mike discuss:
How eliminating dry nitrogen ground applications improved overall tree health and nutrition .
Boosting calcium absorption by 45% using Advancing Eco Agriculture custom blends .
Turning large cherry crops into high-yield, premium-sized fruit while lowering harvest labor costs .
Utilizing carbon and targeted sugars as energy sources to expand leaf size and drive tree vigor .
Testing AEA's Pinion to manage severe powdery mildew without applying conventional fungicides .
Maintaining a strict twenty-dollar-per-acre budget for foliar applications .
Supporting multi-year crop loads without sacrificing branch strength or tree vitality .
Additional Resources
To listen to the podcast episode featuring Jim Dunlop, please visit: https://advancingecoag.com/podcast/episode-183-overcoming-the-ammonium-death-spiral-with-jim-dunlop/About John Kempf
John Kempf is the founder of Advancing Eco Agriculture (AEA). A t… -
Podcast Extra: Building High-Efficiency Fertility Systems for Row Crops
4 september 2026 · 1 uur 18 min
Join us for a discussion led by Heather Poutre of Agronomy Diversified LLC, Jeff True of True Potential Ag Consulting, LLC, and John Kempf, founder of Advancing Eco Ag. With nitrogen management remaining a central topic amidst heightened focus on water quality, Heather, Jeff, and John will dive into practical agronomic strategies designed to balance environmental stewardship with farm profitability. Lees meer
Topics in this webinar that are discussed include:
Navigating evolving water quality focuses and proactive nitrogen management.
Building a practical fertility program designed to maximize nutrient efficiency and profitability.
Implementing management practices that address root causes rather than relying on bulk fertilizer top-ups.
Actionable strategies for cutting conventional commercial fertilizer dependence while maintaining yield.
Utilizing biology, humic and fulvic acids, and amino acids to improve nutrient uptake.
Maximizing Return on Investment (ROI) by lowering unit costs per bushel through smarter nutrient delivery.
Additional Resources
Click here to watch "How Excess Nitrogen Creates Yield Drag"For Iowa/Midwest growers who want to reach out to Heather or Jeff, contact info is below:
Jeff True, True Potential Ag Consulting, LLC.
641-431-0436
Jeff serves the NW and SE corners of IowaHeather Poutre, Agronomy Diversified LLC
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 missio… -
Episode 187: Clearing Nitrogen "Constipation" in High-Yield Corn with Brody Benton
27 augustus 2026 · 1 uur 14 min
Brody Benton is an agronomist and no-till farmer in Guthrie County, Iowa, specializing in continuous corn rotations and hoop-barn hog manure management . Brody works with growers in Iowa and the midwest as an independent consultant through his company, Six B, using sap analysis and field trials to help growers reduce synthetic chemical dependency. Lees meer
To forward regenerative agriculture, Brody focuses on restoring soil fungal communities, accelerating humification, and keeping living roots in the ground year-round through cover cropping . He advocates replacing synthetic fungicides with targeted trace mineral nutrition to resolve plant nutrient backlogs, boost photosynthesis, and rebuild natural crop immunity .
In this episode, John and Brody discuss:
The historical shift over the last 50 years from naturally maturing green corn to crops dependent on continuous synthetic inputs .
How late-season cover crops feed soil biology with exudates to increase organic matter and boost cash crop yields .
The severe impact of chemical herbicides on soil fungi and how proper planting depth protects biological inoculants .
How AEA ReBound trace minerals and PhotoMag clear nitrogen backlogs, lower plant nitrates, and reactivate photosynthesis .
The success of Pinion as a fungicide alternative that suppresses tar spot without harming soil biology .
How trace mineral nutrition prevents phantom yield loss by maintaining a reducing internal environment in the plant during grain fill .
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 plan…
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Episode 186: The Power of Precision Management and Multi-Species Covers with Mike Thompson
13 augustus 2026 · 52 min
Mike Thompson is a fifth-generation farmer in West Texas who grew up in conventional "cotton-on-cotton" country. After leaving the farm for 16 years, he returned to face the region's harsh climate, hot winds, and declining water reserves. His perspective shifted during his first year back when his plow hit a patch of decomposing hay on pasture land, effortlessly slicing through moist mud instead of pulling up massive dirt clods. Lees meer
Today, Mike manages a resilient operation by rotating corn, wheat with summer cover crop mixes, and cotton, while dividing his pivot irrigation fields into thirds to optimize water efficiency. By incorporating livestock grazing and multi-species covers like sunn hemp, he has built rich soil structure, eliminated synthetic plant growth regulators, and produced his highest-yielding cotton crops even during severe dry spells.
In this episode, John and Mike discuss:
Navigating landlord relationships by splitting fields into thirds for consistent annual cotton income and incorporating vegetable species in cover crop mixes.
The crucial role of deep pre-watering before planting to build subsoil moisture reserves for late-summer heat.
Haney soil test results showing 57 pounds of available nitrogen remaining after harvesting a heavy three-bale cotton crop.
Plant physiological changes under regenerative management, including dark green, dinner-plate-sized leaves that act as massive solar panels.
Using AEA sap analysis to track how a targeted spring boron application activated a massive mid-season surge in boron, calcium, and magnesium uptake.
Testing handheld Croptix sensors for instant field data and utilizing FieldLark AI to analyze root zone nutrient mobility.
Mike's advice on the intense scouting, preparation, and attention to detail needed to succeed in regenerative agriculture.
Resources
To learn more about Croptix, please visit: https://advancingecoag.com/news/how-the-croptix-platform-is-changing-plant-nutrition-and-disease-monitorin… -
Podcast Extra: John Kempf on Soil Biophysics, Plant Immunity & Foliars on the Permaculture Orchard Podcast
31 juli 2026 · 1 uur 45 min
In this Podcast Extra episode, John Kempf joins Stefan Sobkowiak and his son, Zach, on the Permaculture Orchard Podcast . During the course of the episode, they discuss John's background growing up on an Ohio Amish farm ; plant biophysics, including seeds as living microbial inoculants and quantum mechanics in photosynthesis ; high-ROI grower tips like adding sugar to foliar sprays to cut nutrient inputs in half , planting eight plant families to trigger quorum sensing , and avoiding excess nitrogen and potassium to prevent pest outbreaks and extend storage life ; and Advancing Eco Agriculture (AEA), the company John founded to offer living, non-suppressive fertility inputs alongside AI agronomy tools like FieldLark. Lees meer
Host Stefan Sobkowiak uses The Permaculture Orchard Podcast to give growers access to cutting-edge insights on ecological agriculture . Through the podcast, resources like the Permaculture Orchard Blueprint ebook , and his work transforming traditional monocultures into diverse permaculture ecosystems , Stefan demonstrates how hands-on testing, non-chemical weed management, and multi-family ground covers build long-term soil health, fruit quality, and farm profitability.
Resources
To listen to more episodes of the Permaculture Orchard Podcast and learn more about Stefan's work, please visit the links below:YouTube Channel : www.youtube.com/c/stefansobkowiak
POP Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@PermacultureOrchardPodcast
Permaculture Orchard Masterclass: https://permaculture.study/
Talks: Stefan Sobkowiak
Les Fermes Miracle Farms & Courses: miracle.farm
Social Media:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lesfermes.farms
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stefansobkowiak/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stefan-sobkowiak-91694442/
Ma Chaîne Française YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-fKD72AtioxXV2C9oZf6ZQAbout John Kempf
John Kempf is the founder of Advancing Eco Agriculture (AEA). A top expert in biological and regenerative far… -
Podcast Extra: Ask Me Anything with John Kempf - July 10, 2026
23 juli 2026 · 1 uur 13 min
In this Podcast Extra, Join John as he answers a wide range of grower-submitted questions covering challenges in agriculture. The discussion focuses on managing high summer leaf temperatures, optimizing organic nitrogen budgets, and navigating severe base saturation imbalances. John emphasizes the critical connection between precise crop nutrition, active soil biology, and the natural suppression of destructive diseases and pests. Lees meer
Other topics discussed include:
Managing nutrition and the microbiome through AEA's integrated approach to help achieve crop resistance to spotted wing drosophila in berries.
Reducing pecan scab and weevil pressure by balancing trace minerals and applying AEA products like Pinion and PhotoMag.
Evaluating plant metabolism and internal health by measuring sugar levels, EC, and pH/EH homeostasis on a sap analysis.
Managing almond bloom diseases and pests like navel orange worm using AEA's Pinion alongside targeted applications of calcium and boron.
Executing safe foliar applications of solubilized urea by managing overall solution concentration and electrolyte levels to prevent crop leaf burn.
Improving late-season calcium absorption in fruit crops through soil shading and foliar boron applications.
Pre-blending AEA nutritional products before spraying to create a synergistic response because the formulations are designed to support living biology.
Addressing insect pests like the apple borer using a foliar combination of AEA's PhotoMag, Rejuvenate, and Rebound Boron.
Mitigating crop damage from herbicide drift using AEA products like SeaStim, MacroPak, MicroPak, HoloCal, and Rebound minerals to bind chelating herbicide molecules.
Utilizing micronized mineral products like AEA's Accelerate and HoloCal to deliver fast results as leaf-surface microbes rapidly metabolize the minerals.
Generating disproportionate crop responses in soil by fertigating and feeding rhizosphere microbes with the same consistency as foliar feeding.
Incre…
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Episode 185: Pioneering Solubilized Urea and Foliar Nutrition with the Fabian Family
16 juli 2026 · 1 uur 23 min
Patrick Fabian and his two sons Andrew and Stephen operate a third and fourth-generation farm in Southern Alberta, Canada. Farming on 100% irrigated land, they specialize in producing a diverse range of pedigreed seeds, including cereals, flax, corn, alfalfa, canola, and peas. Their operation encompasses roughly a thousand acres and revolves around cultivating high-quality seeds that boast robust germination and exceptional vigor. Lees meer
In their transition to regenerative agriculture, the Fabians drastically reduced upfront synthetic nitrogen, opting instead to spoon-feed crops with highly efficient foliar applications of solubilized urea. By combining biological seed treatments like compost tea with targeted carbon sources and micronutrients, they successfully eliminated the need for conventional fungicides and insecticides. Their practices focus heavily on maximizing net income per acre and enhancing soil biology rather than chasing sheer volume.
In this episode, John and the Fabians discuss:
The efficiency gains achieved by switching from upfront soil nitrogen to foliar applications of solubilized urea.
The operational shift from chasing maximum gross yield to prioritizing net income per acre.
Replacing conventional synthetic seed treatments with compost tea and biological inoculants.
How microbially active soils produce heavier pedigreed seeds with superior cold-stress vigor.
Utilizing plant sap analysis and tissue testing to address precise nutritional needs.
The remarkable crop resilience and yield recovery observed after severe early-stage hail damage.
How Advancing Eco Agriculture helps growers make data-driven decisions through sap testing.
Resources
To keep up with the Fabians, follow them on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FabianSeedFarmsInc/To learn more about plant sap analysis: https://advancingecoag.com/plant-sap-analysis/
About John Kempf
John Kempf is the founder of Advancing Eco Agriculture (AEA). A top expert in biological and regenerat… -
Episode 184: The Crisis of Blandness in Agriculture with Mark Schatzker
9 juli 2026 · 52 min
Mark Schatzker's path into food science and journalism began in 1997 when an unforgettable Chilean steak completely changed his perspective on taste. Armed with a degree in philosophy, he became obsessed with understanding why standard North American food had lost its flavor. This curiosity sparked a decades-long global journey investigating the deep connection between soil quality, plant genetics, animal nutrition, and culinary excellence. Lees meer
Today, Mark is the acclaimed author of three groundbreaking books—Steak, The Dorito Effect, and The End of Craving. Beyond his writing, he collaborates on clinical neuroscience and physiology research at Yale University and the University of Bristol. His current initiatives focus on studying how artificial flavorings, declining crop nutrient density, and a degraded food environment physically alter human brain chemistry, cravings, and overall public health.
In this episode, John and Mark discuss:
How modern agriculture's intense focus on yield has accidentally bred the natural flavor and nutrition out of whole foods.
The internal wisdom livestock use to actively seek out specific nutrients when grazing diverse, healthy pastures.
How synthetic flavorings are engineered in factories to trick human brain chemistry into a cycle of overconsumption.
The direct link between Advancing Eco Agriculture's focus on soil microbiomes and the creation of truly flavorful, nutrient-dense crops.
The stark differences between commodity-driven bulk food markets and traditional food cultures like those in Italy and Japan.
How regenerative growers can leverage exceptional crop flavor to command higher value and disrupt standard commodity markets.
Resources
To learn more about Mark's work and purchase his books, please visit: https://www.markschatzker.com/new-page-1To follow Mark's ongoing research and writing, check out his Substack: https://markschatzker.substack.com/
About John Kempf
John Kempf is the founder of Advancing Eco Agricultur… -
Episode 183: Overcoming the Ammonium Death Spiral with Jim Dunlop
2 juli 2026 · 59 min
Jim Dunlop is a senior agronomist with Advancing Eco Agriculture (AEA) whose journey into agriculture began after serving in the Marine Corps. He used the GI Bill to study biology and chemistry at CSU Stanislaus. While there, he started a CSA farm in the Yosemite foothills, which grew significantly as he collaborated with organic growers. Jim later managed a pasture livestock operation on California's Central Coast and spent a year traveling the country in an RV to visit diverse farms. He eventually settled in Oregon's Columbia Gorge, transitioning from a compost facility to managing orchards for Mike Omeg, where he first discovered AEA. Lees meer
Today, Jim is working to build the AEA business in the Pacific Northwest. He works with conventional and organic growers across a variety of crops, including tree fruit, berries, vegetables, and livestock pasture. In his role, Jim uses his years of experience, sap analysis and AI to pinpoint plant metabolic bottlenecks, helping growers overcome environmental stress and unlock peak crop performance.
In this episode, John and Jim discuss:
How adding small amounts of sugar to foliar sprays stops a destructive "ammonium death spiral" by balancing nitrogen and raising sap pH.
How addressing a plant's foundational sugar and boron levels successfully unlocks calcium movement into new leaves far better than heavy doses of foliar calcium alone.
The way using AEA's pre-mixed nutrient blends rather than standard tank mixing helps farmers cut application costs while achieving identical sap movement.
The impressive field trial results of AEA's Pinion product in successfully making powdery mildew less active in highly susceptible conventional cherry orchards.
The powerful synergy of pairing fertigation and foliar applications together to trigger rapid shoot growth and maximize fruit size.
Resources
To learn about working with AEA, please visit: https://advancingecoag.com/land/consulting/
To buy and see what Pinion can do for you, pleas…
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Podcast Extra: Ask Me Anything with John Kempf - June 4, 2026
18 juni 2026 · 57 min
In this Podcast Extra, Join John as he answers a wide range of grower-submitted questions covering challenges in agriculture. The discussion focuses on managing high summer leaf temperatures, optimizing organic nitrogen budgets, and navigating severe base saturation imbalances. John emphasizes the critical connection between precise crop nutrition, active soil biology, and the natural suppression of destructive diseases and pests. Lees meer
Other topics discussed include:
Distinguishing between air temperature and leaf temperature, highlighting how a healthy wax lipid layer lowers a plant's canopy temperature by 8 to 10 degrees.
Managing the photorespiration process in C3 and C4 plants to prevent protein degradation and the buildup of high ammonium levels.
Utilizing trace amounts of nickel (3 to 10 grams per acre) as an essential enzyme cofactor to rapidly lower ammonium in plant sap.
Applying Rejuvenate as a foliar tool to provide stressed crops with carbohydrates, enzymes, and high-energy compounds.
Addressing low magnesium and potassium in soils with extreme calcium base saturation using targeted applications.
Citing historical 1960s data on fire blight indicating the disease cannot establish when sap sucrose levels remain above a 22–26% threshold.
Restructuring high-chloride potato programs by pairing Rebound micronutrients with Holo-K, SeaShield, and SeaStim.
Remediating the typical "burnt leaf tips" on garlic by satisfying the crop's unusually high molybdenum requirement.
Evaluating the limitations of indigenous microorganisms (IMOs) and acknowledging that 90% of living soil microbes require active plant roots to propagate.
Deploying PhotoMag to optimize plant sap ratios, delivering magnesium, sulfur, molybdenum, and boron to efficiently convert excess ammonium into complete proteins .
Advocating for a national food policy focused on nutritional quality and farmer economic viability over cheap, abundant food.
Utilizing MacroPack and MicroPack within target…
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Episode 182: Reclaiming Independence from Corporate Meat with Cole Mannix
12 juni 2026 · 1 uur 3 min
Cole Mannix is a multi-generational rancher from central and western Montana who serves as the founder of Old Salt, a vertically integrated startup enterprise. Coming from a background rooted in mountain grazing and extensive holistic management, Cole spent decades working alongside his family and regional producers to optimize ecological function, riparian health, and predator coexistence on their expansive home landscapes. Lees meer
Recognizing the vulnerabilities ranching families face as processing and retail channels become increasingly consolidated, Cole launched Old Salt to construct an alternative ecosystem of localized market power. Under his leadership, Old Salt has grown to incorporate a membership of ranches operating alongside processing hubs, a direct e-commerce engine, local restaurants, and an annual community festival hosted directly on his family's ranch. Cole is dedicated to creating experiential, relational marketplaces that adequately reward producers, support active workforce ownership, and increase the sheer volume of passionate hearts and hands managing the landscape.
In this episode, John and Cole discuss:
How Cole engineered an LLC model with cooperative principles to access external capital without risking members' family lands.
Constructing a vertically integrated market to disrupt highly consolidated, downstream corporate meat packing and processing monopolies.
Establishing regional slaughter facilities and custom restaurants to stabilize profit margins and balance animal carcasses locally.
Rerouting financial value directly back upstream to give independent ranchers viable financial alternatives to commodity supply chains.
Why integrating livestock back into modern cropping systems is restricted by structural barriers like missing fences and scarce water infrastructure.
Creating parallel government incentive programs focused on funding active farm labor rather than subsidizing crop insurance yields.
Additional Resources
To learn more ab… -
Episode 181: Plant Immunity Through Custom Foliars and Targeted Nutrition with Peter Henry
5 juni 2026 · 1 uur 11 min
Peter Henry is a first-generation farmer who manages a diverse, seven-hectare operation in the mountainous terrain of Puerto Rico alongside a dedicated four-person workforce. He transitioned to agriculture during the pandemic after a successful career as a tech executive and startup vice president, initially purchasing the abandoned land with the intent of establishing a shade-grown specialty coffee farm. After encountering significant challenges with his initial coffee crops, Peter successfully shifted his operation toward passion fruit and a highly specialized niche market growing traditional African heirloom vegetables and tubers for buyers in the United States and Canada. Lees meer
Peter focuses heavily on biological soil health and precise nutritional balance instead of conventional chemical applications. He works closely with Advancing Eco Agriculture (AEA) to run on-farm trials and design sophisticated nutritional programs using AEA's data-driven inputs. By utilizing rigorous soil testing to address extreme iron and manganese imbalances, Peter designs custom foliar stacks delivered through a specialized micro-sprinkler system to proactively build plant immunity and suppress heavy tropical disease pressure.
In this episode, John and Peter discuss:
How Peter manages a complex landscape by separating the farm into distinct irrigation sectors to address vastly different soil mineral profiles on opposite sides of a river .
Utilizing an aggressive pre-planting soil amendment strategy that combines lime and custom humic-complexed fertilizers based on comprehensive soil tests .
How the operation completely avoids synthetic nitrogen applications because excess nitrogen immediately triggers insect pressure and fungal blights across his pepper and okra crops .
Peter designing an innovative micro-sprinkler trellis system to broadcast humics and biology over multiple hectares in just over an hour .
Mixing AEA's Humacarb, HoloPhos, and Spectrum directly into the irrigation s…
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Episode 180: Shifting Management Logistics to Build a Better Lifestyle with Tom Cotter
28 mei 2026 · 1 uur 6 min
Tom Cotter is a third-generation farmer from Austin in southeast Minnesota who operates a diverse operation alongside his family and brother-in-law, Tony. He began farming with his dad in 1994 under a purely conventional system characterized by full tillage and routine chemical applications. Tom's journey into soil health began unexpectedly when his father purchased a tile plow and they noticed how much easier the equipment pulled—and how much better subsequent yields were—following a 20-acre test planting of rapeseed cover crops. Lees meer
Today, Tom manages an operation encompassing 340 acres of certified organic ground, 430 acres of conventional no-till ground, and an 80-acre pasture. Driven by a desire to cut input costs and work with nature, Tom has successfully integrated a five-way crop rotation with multi-species cover crop mixes and intensive grass-finished livestock grazing. He is passionate about helping his local community and fellow producers, actively collaborating with the Minnesota Soil Health Coalition to host annual field days and food health days.
In this episode, John and Tom discuss:
A small trial of rapeseed in the 1990s that dramatically improved soil structure, earthworm populations, and subsequent corn yields.
How integrating a 40-way cover crop mix and livestock triggered a massive biological explosion of 25 to 30 earthworms per shovelful.
Balancing organic and conventional no-till acres using a simple plus-and-minus grading system to track soil health trends.
Grazing livestock on crop ground for up to 10 months out of the year to cut feed costs and to act as a natural, variable-rate fertilizer system.
Shifting to an adaptive multi-crop rotation distributed the workload, eliminated grueling hours, and reduced seasonal stress.
How designing smart crop sequences and planting winter rye allowed him to completely eliminate fungicides and insecticides on his conventional acres.
Distributing his workload so that he can take weekends off and enjoy…
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Podcast Extra: Rethinking Fertility Inputs | Soil Strategies Podcast
21 mei 2026 · 51 min
In this Podcast Extra, John Kempf joins the Soil Strategies podcast, hosted by Roy Thompson of the South Dakota Soil Health Coalition, to break down a radically different operating system for agriculture that transitions away from traditional NPK mindsets toward biological agronomy . Lees meer
In this episode they discuss:
How high-salt index, electrolyte-based fertilizers interrupt plant signaling and create a long-term dependency by sabotaging effective microbial colonization .
The powerful role a healthy microbiome plays in supercharging a plant's native genetic expression for ultimate disease and insect resistance .
Why conventional soil tests have historically been utilized primarily as fertilizer sales tools rather than agronomic guides .
The incredible economic opportunity growers have to break away from being "farmed" by input companies by optimizing free resources like water, sunlight, and carbon dioxide .
And how well-designed foliar applications can harness the plant's photosynthetic engine to dramatically increase sugar production and feed soil biology without causing a yield drag .
Additional Resources
To listen to more episodes of the Soil Strategies Podcast, please visit: https://www.sdsoilhealthcoalition.org/podcast/About John Kempf
John Kempf is an agronomist, entrepreneur, sought-after speaker, and the founder of Advancing Eco Agriculture (AEA) . He is also the host of the Regenerative Agriculture Podcast . Growing up in the Amish community on a family fruit and vegetable farm, John experienced firsthand the financial pain and escalating pest pressures of traditional chemical-intensive models . This led him to study plant physiology and soil health deeply, helping him build a scientifically established, systems-based approach to plant nutrition that moves beyond electrolyte agronomy and leverages biological soil function .Support For This Show & Helping You Grow
Since 2006, AEA has worked globally with professional growers to improve crop perform… -
Podcast Extra: Our Crops Aren't Sick, They're Dependent | Soil Talks Podcast
14 mei 2026 · 1 uur 2 min
In this Podcast Extra, John joins the Soil Talks Podcast to break down a radically different way to think about crop health, soil biology, and system function. Lees meer
In this episode they discuss:
• Why pests may not be attacking your crops but reporting a deeper issue
• How soluble fertilizers can create long-term dependency
• The hidden relationship between plant immunity and soil microbiology
• Why modern agriculture succeeds in yield but fails in resilience
• And how some growers are producing healthier crops with fewer inputsAdditional Resources
To listen to more epsidoes of the Soil Talks Podcast, please visit: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEVD04wz0u2J9qqu3L0zcZ9V8_YVzpr81About 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 rege…
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Podcast Extra: Ask Me Anything with John Kempf - April 9, 2026
7 mei 2026 · 57 min
In this Podcast Extra, Join John as he answers a wide range of grower-submitted questions covering real-world challenges in regenerative agriculture. The discussion focuses on the practical application of biologicals and biostimulants, nutrient management strategies for specific soil types, and the use of AEA products to improve crop resilience. John emphasizes the importance of synergistic "stacking" of products and the role of microbial diversity in achieving disproportionate yield responses. Other topics discussed include: Lees meer
Distinguishing between biological inoculants for the soil rhizosphere and those designed for plant foliage.
Defining biostimulants as non-living materials, such as humic substances, seaweeds, and organic acids, that trigger plant or microbial responses.
Achieving geometric yield effects, where one plus one equals five or more, through the synergistic stacking of diverse inoculants and biostimulants.
Recommending BioCoat Gold and Seed Flare as the primary choices for seed treatments to enhance the native microbiome.
Including molybdenum in all nitrogen applications because it is a necessary enzyme cofactor for nitrate reductase.
Improving nitrogen use efficiency for both plants and soil biology through the use of Rebound Molybdenum.
Adding ammonium thiosulfate to nitrogen mixes to help achieve a proper 10:1 nitrogen-to-sulfur ratio.
Utilizing Pinion as a broad-spectrum biocontrol that activates the plant's own immune, genetic, and microbiome pathways.
Acknowledging that the effectiveness of Pinion is heavily influenced by the amount of oxidative stress a plant is under.
Identifying plant species and family diversity as the most effective practical steps for improving soil microbial communities.
Using single-species inoculants, such as Rhizobium or Mycorrhizal fungi, to disprove the myth that small amounts of microbes cannot be successful.
Remediating high sodium in soil and water by combining gypsum, humic substances, and Spectrum D…
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Episode 179: Rewilding Livestock Instincts for Soil Health with Bob Kinford
1 mei 2026 · 1 uur 10 min
Bob Kinford is a veteran stockman and grazing consultant who has spent a lifetime observing and refining the way we interact with livestock. His journey began as a child watching cattle scatter while sheep and goats remained bunched, leading him to question the conventional belief that cows lack decision-making capabilities. Through decades of working alone, he developed a unique approach to managing large herds without the use of permanent or electric fencing, focusing instead on the intuitive relationship between the handler and the animal's natural instincts. Lees meer
Bob advocates for the "rebooting" of cattle to restore their innate herd instincts and selective grazing habits. He demonstrates how this transition allows livestock to become more nutritionally self-sufficient, often consuming invasive species and "weeds" like leafy spurge or spotted knapweed that they would typically ignore in a stressed environment. By utilizing proactive management, he illustrates how stress-free handling can significantly increase forage productivity, soil health through distributed fertility, and overall ranch profitability.
In this episode John and Bob discuss:
The inherent intelligence and decision-making capabilities of livestock compared to mainstream scientific views
Managing large herds across vast landscapes without the use of traditional or electronic fencing
Creating murmurations in cattle to guide their movement through subtle body positioning and intention
The three-day "reboot" process that triggers cattle to begin eating highly nutritious invasive plants
Strategies for increasing animal weight gain by reducing the stress associated with traditional feeding and moving
The relationship between animal bedding patterns and the development of mycorrhizal fungi in the soil
Additional Resources
To learn more about Bob and his work, please visit: https://migratorygrazing.com/ or http://bobkinford.com/About John Kempf
John Kempf is the founder of Advancing Eco Agricultu… -
Episode 178: Reducing Inputs and Reclaiming Independence with Alex Udermann
23 april 2026 · 49 min
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. Lees meer
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 regen… -
Episode 177: Leveraging Native Biology and No-Till Strategies with Bob Tillman
16 april 2026 · 1 uur
Bob Tillman is a former electronics professional who launched Alta Colina Vineyard & Winery in 2003 on the steep, mountainous terrain of Paso Robles, California . Managing thirty-two acres of grapes, he has spent two decades transitioning from conventional methods to a biological approach centered on the natural resilience of his native ecosystem. Lees meer
He eliminated tillage in 2006 and moved away from synthetic inputs to rely on native ground cover and biological cycling . By utilizing total nutrition testing, he identifies vast mineral reserves already present in his soil and focuses on microbial health to make those nutrients available to the vines
In this episode, John and Bob discuss:
Tranisitiong to a completely no-till system after observing that native grasses were more effective and resilient than planted cover crops .
How nutrition testing revealed that the soil contains enough potassium for over six hundred years and enough iron for millions of years of production .
Utilizing AEA and sap analysis to identify specific micronutrient deficiencies and adjust nutrition throughout the growing season through foliar applications.
Applying AEA products like CalGuard and Rebound Boron helps address seasonal trending deficiencies in calcium and boron levels .
How the vineyard uses compost extracts and teas to inject biological activity directly into the soil through the irrigation system .
High-density native plant populations providing ground cover that supports deep-rooted vines while maintaining high soil organic matter .
Additional Resources
To learn more about Alta Colina Vineyard & Winery, please visit: https://altacolina.com/learn-more-about-alta-colina-wines/To learn more about Advancing Eco Agriculture and their products, please vist: https://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 providin… -
Episode 176: Vertical Integration for Regenerative Farmers with David Stelzer
9 april 2026 · 1 uur 13 min
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. Lees meer
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-usAbout John Kempf
John Kempf is the founder of Advancing Eco Agriculture (AEA). A top expert in biological and regenerative farming, J… -
Podcast Extra: Adjusting Nitrogen Management with John Kempf and MSHC
2 april 2026 · 1 uur 1 min
In this webinar for the Minnesota Soil Health Coalition, John Kempf discusses a paradigm shift in nitrogen management . John outlines how moving away from high-electrolyte "chemistry" fertilizers toward biological nutrition can build crop resilience and significantly reduce input costs . By understanding how different forms of nitrogen, such as ammonium and urea versus nitrate, impact plant physiology and water requirements, growers can navigate a transition to a system where soil biology provides the majority of the crop's nutritional needs . Lees meer
In this webinar, John discusses:
High-yielding crops historically receive about 80% of their nitrogen as ammonium and 20% as nitrate .
Plants and soil biology interact with specific nitrogen forms like amino acids rather than generic N .
Nitrate requires three molecules of water for conversion, increasing a plant's total water requirement .
Foliar urea can be four to seven times more efficient than soil-applied nitrogen
Replacing the first 25 pounds of nitrogen with 25 pounds of sulfur can deliver an equivalent yield responses
Managing nitrogen with carbon and molybdenum reduces leaching and supports biological fixation
Additional Resources
To learn more about the Minnesota Soil Health Coalition, please visit: https://www.mnsoilhealth.org/To learn more about AEA's approach to Nitrogen Management, please visit: https://advancingecoag.com/article/regenerative-nitrogen/
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.…
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Episode 175: Wild-Range Metabolomics and Nutrient Density with Glenn Elzinga
26 maart 2026 · 1 uur 41 min
Glenn Elzinga is a seasoned rancher who has spent 34 years managing Alderspring Ranch in the wild, high-country landscapes of Idaho. Growing up on conventional farms that relied heavily on chemicals and formulaic business models, Glenn's career shifted dramatically after a "clobber over the head" moment forced him to innovate to survive. Today, he and his family manage 47,000 acres of wilderness rangeland, where they have pioneered "inheritance grazing" by living with their cattle 24-7 on horseback to coexist with wolves and maximize plant diversity. Lees meer
By collaborating with researchers like Dr. Stephan van Vliet, he has provided empirical evidence that grazing cattle on diverse wild ranges produces beef with significantly higher anti-inflammatory and antioxidant compounds compared to feedlot alternatives. His work emphasizes the "nutritional wisdom" of animals and the importance of vertical enterprise stacking to create a profitable, multi-generational future for regenerative agriculture.
In this episode, John and Glenn discuss:
The shift from formulaic commodity agriculture to the "Wild West" of the regenerative space.
How maintaining human presence on the ground allows ranchers to coexist with predators like wolves.
The results of metabolomics research comparing wild-range beef to feedlot beef.
The concept of nutritional wisdom and how cattle self-select plants for preventative medicine.
Why handling cattle with a focus on their left-eye perception reduces stress and improves performance.
Moving from horizontal expansion to vertical stacking to bring the next generation into agriculture.
Additional Resources
To learn more about Glenn and Alderspring ranch, please visit: https://www.alderspring.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 … -
Episode 174: Scaling Regenerative Practices from Micro-Farms to Row Crops with Briana Bosch
19 maart 2026 · 1 uur 16 min
Briana Bosch is the founder of Blossom and Branch, where she manages a two-acre flower micro-farm in Denver and a 180-acre family grain farm in Minnesota. With a background in journalism and a master's in marketing, she has become a prominent voice in the regenerative movement by focusing on scaling soil health concepts for both small-scale market gardens and large-scale commodity operations. Lees meer
Last year marked a significant milestone in her transition of the family's century-old Minnesota farm, as she implemented intensive regenerative practices for the first time, including the total elimination of herbicides and fungicides on her experimental acreage.
In this episode, John and Briana discuss:
The role of authenticity and maintaining the "true voice" to build lasting trust
Her transition from using plastic mulch and netting to implementing living ground covers and high-carbon mulches like wood chips
How flower production can net a higher profit per acre than almost any other crop, including marijuana, when focused on local markets
The benefits of 60-inch corn rows for facilitating intercropping and cover crop growth within the constraints of a short northern growing season
Seed inoculation as the most effective "low-hanging fruit" for jump-starting soil biology and reducing synthetic fertilizer needs
The psychological and cultural barriers, such as "groupthink" and defensiveness, that often prevent farmers from adopting new practices
Additional Resources
To purchase Briana's book, The Regenerative Gardener's Handbook, please visit: https://www.blossomandbranch.com/the-regenerative-gardeners-handbookTo follow Briana on Instagram, please visit: https://www.instagram.com/blossomandbranch/
To subscribe to Briana's YouTube channel, please visit: https://www.youtube.com/@BlossomandBranch
To purchase BioCoat Gold, please visit: https://advancingecoag.com/product/biocoat-gold-2/
About John Kempf
John Kempf is the founder of Advancing Eco Agriculture (AEA). A … -
Episode 173: Building Soil Health on Limited Rainfall with Jeremy Brown
12 maart 2026 · 59 min
Jeremy Brown is an organic farmer and the founder of Broadview Agriculture in the Southern Plains of West Texas. Managing nearly 4,000 acres of certified organic land, Jeremy is a leader in adapting regenerative practices to "brittle," low-rainfall environments. He brings a pragmatic approach to the movement by aligning his production with the natural limitations of his ecosystem, prioritizing soil biology and local economic health over the high-input "rat race" of conventional technology. Lees meer
In this episode, John and Jeremy discuss:
Jeremy's transition from the "Roundup Ready" era back to organic farming to discover what truly constitutes "good soil."
How high yields in desert-like environments creates a financial "rat race" that ignores the farm's natural context.
30-year plateau in dryland cotton yields despite massive advancements in chemical and seed technology.
How Jeremy uses a weather-responsive approach to interseed multi-species cover crops.
The integration of stocker cattle to offset the cost of cover crop seeds while providing natural fertilizer and biological stimulation.
Why Jeremy chooses to invest in local labor and home-raised seeds rather than high-tech machinery and expensive technology fees.
Additional Resources:
To learn more about Green Cover, please visit: https://greencover.com/To learn more and to purchase BioCoat Gold, please visit: https://advancingecoag.com/product/biocoat-gold-2/
To learn more about Allan Savory and the Savory Institute, please visit: https://savory.global/
To learn more about Gabe Brown, please visit: https://brownsranch.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 bui…
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Podcast Short: BioCoat Gold and the Future of Risk-Sharing in Ag
6 maart 2026 · 19 min
In this Podcast Short, John discusses how shifting from extractive to collaborative business models can help farmers reclaim their economic destiny. This episode also explores: Lees meer
Historical farm economics, noting that while it was once common to pay for a farm in under ten years,
How "regenerative relationships" and shared risk-taking between vendors and growers are essential to restoring farm profitability.
A new performance warranty for BioCoat Gold is introduced as a way to remove financial risk for growers
Inviting large-scale operators to engage in broader risk-sharing partnerships that extend beyond single products to entire agricultural systems.
Additional Resources
To learn more about AEA's new BioCoat Gold warrant, please visit: https://advancingecoag.com/land/warranty-biocoat-gold/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 he…
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Podcast Extra: Electrolyte Nutrition vs. Biological Nutrition | ACRES USA Webinar with John Kempf
12 februari 2026 · 1 uur 10 min
In this Podcast Extra, John Kempf compares Electrolyte Nutrition vs. Biological Nutrition in a webinar with ACRES USA and explains why conventional nitrogen strategies often lead to loss, inefficiency, and disrupted soil biology. Drawing from real-world agronomy, John outlines a biology-centric approach to nitrogen management that improves profitability, reduces synthetic inputs, and strengthens plant resilience. Topics include nitrogen timing, loss prevention, biological on-ramps and off-ramps, and practical strategies for in-season management. The webinar concludes with a live Q&A, where John answers grower questions and expands on implementation details. Lees meer
Additional Resources
To learn more about ACRES USA and to become an Eco-Farmer member, please visit: https://eco-farming.com/To view their bookstore, please visit: https://bookstore.acresusa.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 …
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Podcast Extra: John Kempf & BASS Hybrids on the Future of Corn
5 februari 2026 · 1 uur 39 min
In this podcast extra, John Kempf joins Ed Baumgartner, Founder, and Andrew Dixon, Business Development Manager, of BASS Hybrids on a BASSCAST to discuss regenerative corn production. They explore transitioning from chemical-heavy practices to biological systems using microbial inoculants like Biocoat Gold to improve soil health and plant resilience. Lees meer
They also discuss:
Using Biocoat Gold as a biological seed treatment to set plants up for better long-term success.
The "rhizophagy cycle," where plants meet nutritional needs by recruiting and "consuming" soil microbes.
Observations of interseeded companion crops increasing corn yields rather than just competing for resources.
Delaying the "black layer" in corn by up to 12 days through optimal biological nutrition to gain test weight.
The effectiveness of biological treatments even when applied to seeds pre-coated with traditional fungicides.
How diverse microbial health naturally lowers excess sodium and chloride levels in irrigation systems.
Strategies for reducing synthetic nitrogen dependency while maintaining high-yield performance.
Additional Resources
To learn more about BASS Hybrids, please visit: https://basshybrids.com/To purchase BioCoat Gold, please visit: https://advancingecoag.com/product/biocoat-gold-2/
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 profitab… -
Podcast Extra: Market Differentiation Through Regenerative Agriculture - John Kempf Keynote
29 januari 2026 · 1 uur 18 min
In this Podcast Extra episode, John Kempf delivers his keynote address from "The Quality Edge: Market Differentiation Through Regenerative Wine Growing," an event hosted by Grgich Hills Estate in Rutherford, California. Speaking to an audience of professional wine growers, John explores how regenerative agriculture is becoming the ultimate differentiator in a crowded global market. He details how focusing on soil biology and plant physiology not only restores ecosystems but drives the production of wines with distinct character and superior quality that today's consumers demand. Lees meer
Key Topics Discussed:
Why wine grapes are one of the few crops where microbiome integrity translates directly to harvest quality and financial return.
The "Rhizophagy Cycle" and how plant roots absorb entire microbial cells to extract nutrients.
Recent discoveries that microbes act as "truckers", transporting lipids and nutrients into plants before returning to the soil.
The concept of "quorum sensing" and how microbial communities behave as a superorganism once they reach a critical threshold of diversity.
How trees and plants demonstrate intelligence and support one another through fungal networks, including the "Mother Tree" concept.
The three major suppressors of soil biology: bare soil, high-salt fertilizers, and synthetic fungicides.
Why synthetic fungicides are often more damaging to soil structure and biology than tillage or herbicides.
Introduction to Pinion, a new biocontrol product from AEA that influences plant redox environments and activates immune pathways.
The critical role of Manganese and Boron as bottlenecks for photosynthesis and sugar translocation.
Additional ResourcesTo learn more about Pinion, please visit: https://advancingecoag.com/product/pinion/
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, t… -
Podcast Extra: Navigating Macroeconomic Shocks with John Kempf and Dr. Michael McNeill - Acres Eco-Ag Conference 2025
8 januari 2026 · 1 uur 13 min
In this Podcast Extra, John Kempf speaks with Dr. Michael McNeill at the Acres U.S.A. Eco-Ag Conference in December 2025. During their conversation, they field questions from the audience and dive deep into the intersection of macroeconomics, history, and the future of farming. Lees meer
Topics discussed include:
The historical context of the 1962 "Adaptive Program for Agriculture" and its intentional design to reduce the American farm population.
Personal reflections on the 1980s farm crisis and the role of high-interest rates in driving farm bankruptcies and consolidation.
Strategies for developing resilient farming systems that can withstand economic shifts, political changes, and climate volatility.
A vision for a "major reset" in American agriculture within the next five years, shifting toward either massive consolidation or smaller food-as-medicine operations.
The critical role of collaboration and mentorship between older and younger generations to facilitate land transition and knowledge sharing
Additional Resources
To learn more about Acres U.S.A, please visit: https://www.acresusa.com/To listen to a previous Regenerative Agriculture Podcast episode featuring Dr. McNeill, please visit: https://advancingecoag.com/podcast/disease-resistance-and-regenerating-soil-with-michael-mcneill/
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… -
Podcast Extra: Coffee with John Kempf - Acres Eco-Ag Conference 2025
31 december 2025 · 1 uur 1 min
In this Podcast Extra episode, join John at Acres Eco Ag 2025, where he hosted a "Coffee with John Kempf" session, answering questions from the audience. In this episode, a wide range of topics are discussed, including: Lees meer
The use of foliar-applied low-biuret urea to significantly reduce a crop's total nitrogen requirement .
The potential for amino acid forms of nitrogen to replace large amounts of conventional mineral nitrogen .
Why plants fail to absorb or metabolize calcium efficiently when soil boron levels are low .
Recommendations for conducting sap analysis every 7 to 10 days to identify nutrient needs .
Optimal spray timing and the "point of deliquescence" to keep droplets liquid on leaves longer .
The necessity of using clean water free of carbonates, such as rainwater or reverse osmosis water, for effective foliar sprays .
AEA's new product, Pinion, which stimulates the leaf microbiome and activates plant immune pathways .
Strategies for decompacting soil by building organic matter and mycorrhizal fungi rather than just chemical balancing .
Additional Resources
To learn more about Acres U.S.A., please visit: https://www.acresusa.com/To laern more about Pinion, please visit: https://advancingecoag.com/product/pinion/
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 work…
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Podcast Extra: The Future of Agriculture Podcast - AI For Regenerative Agriculture With John Kempf
18 december 2025 · 45 min
In this Podcast Extra episode, John Kempf joins The Future of Agriculture Podcast hosted by Tim Hammerich to discuss the intersection of cutting-edge technology and regenerative farming. As the founder and Chief Vision Officer of Advancing Eco Agriculture (AEA), John reflects on his journey from managing a struggling family farm in Ohio to becoming a leading crop health consultant. The conversation centers on the launch of FieldLark AI, an innovative regenerative agronomist tool, and John's personal project of creating a "digital clone" of his own agronomic expertise to streamline decision-making. Beyond technology and ethics, the duo dives into advanced nitrogen management strategies, offering technical insights for growers looking to optimize plant health. Lees meer
Additional Resources
To listen to more episodes of the Future of Agriculture Podcast, please visit: https://futureofagriculture.com/To learn more about FieldLark, please visit: https://advancingecoag.com/land/fieldlark/
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…
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Episode 172: Systems, Software, and Stewardship with Matthew Fitzgerald
11 december 2025 · 1 uur 7 min
Matthew Fitzgerald is a "1.5 generation" organic grain farmer operating 2,500 acres in Minnesota, situated where the big woods meet the prairie. Alongside his father, Joe, he manages a diverse rotation of crops on land originally preserved by organic pioneer Mabel Brelia. Matthew focuses on navigating modern economic challenges while actively fostering opportunities for the next generation of land stewards. Lees meer
To manage scale and improve yields, Matthew founded FarmFlow, a system that began as a visual whiteboard to track field passes and has evolved into software for optimizing execution. By integrating these standard operating procedures with emerging AI tools, he aims to professionalize organic operations and prove the financial competitiveness of sustainable agriculture.
In this episode, John and Matthew discuss:
Overcoming high barriers to entry for beginning farmers through creative partnerships and policy.
The concept of FarmFlow and using visual tools to manage complex organic systems.
Data analysis revealing the strong correlation between field pass frequency and increased crop yields.
Decommoditizing organic grain to ensure financial viability and economic independence.
Leveraging AI tools like FieldLark to enhance agronomic decision-making and operational efficiency.
The importance of team diversity and "quorum sensing" in building resilient farm operations.
Additional Resources
To learn more about FarmFlow, please visit: https://www.tryfarmflow.com/To learn more about Matthew, please visit: https://www.fitzgeraldorganics.net/
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…
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Episode 171: Turning Texas "Weeds" into Wellness with Abianne Falla
13 november 2025 · 45 min
Abianne Falla used to see the native holly shrub as a pesky invasive on her family's Texas land, until the 2011 drought highlighted its resilience: it was the sole green survivor. Yaupon (Ilex vomitoria) is North America's only caffeinated plant, though its roots as a ceremonial brew in Gulf Coast indigenous societies have been suppressed by colonial forces and lost to commercialization. As a member of the Chickasaw Nation, Abianne became interested in yaupon and crafted a variety of flavor profiles in her home roasting experiments, which she grew into her company, CatSpring Yaupon. Lees meer
Abianne harnesses yaupon for regeneration, harvesting on 500 acres while restoring degraded grasslands, boosting biodiversity by 70% and soil carbon by 7%, and fostering balanced ecosystems through grazing. Abianne's organic, wild-harvested model turns a 20-million-acre nuisance into sustainable income and regenerative opportunities.
In this episode, John and Abianne discuss:
Yaupon's drought resilience and its takeover of Texas savannas.
Its balanced caffeine mix for crash-free, joyful energy, plus anti-inflammatory benefits.
Reviving indigenous traditions with cultural care in branding.
Turning "weeds" like yaupon or kudzu into crops via history, AI, and observation.
Building a new category from markets to multi-channel sales.
The market potential for local, climate-resilient caffeine amid global shifts.
Additional Resources
To learn more about Cat Spring Yaupon, please visit: https://catspringtea.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 o…
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Episode 170: Reviving Degraded Soils Through Biological Farming with Jake Neustadt and Morgan Twain-Peterson
23 oktober 2025 · 1 uur 10 min
Morgan Twain-Peterson founded Bedrock Wine Company in 2007, growing from humble beginnings in a small outbuilding into a respected winery. Jake Neustadt joined Morgan in 2015, bringing his expertise in transitioning old vineyards to regenerative practices. Together they are focused on enhancing soil health, producing uniquely Californian wines, and preserving California's historic vineyards, some of which date to the 19th Century. Lees meer
Morgan and Jake's work at Bedrock Wine Company shows how regenerative agriculture can restore degraded vineyard soils, significantly increasing soil organic matter and water retention and improving climate resilience. Their practices—including no-till, cover crops, and holistic grazing—not only improve vine health and wine quality but also set a model for sustainable viticulture, addressing the wine industry's need for differentiation amid declining consumption.
In this episode, John, Morgan, and Jake discuss:
Preserving historic vineyards with diverse varieties unique to California
Transitioning from conventional tillage to no-till organic systems for soil health
Using foliar applications to enhance vine resilience in dry-farmed vineyards
Integrating holistic grazing with sheep to improve soil biology
Planting mixed-variety vineyards to increase resilience and wine complexity
Leveraging genetic diversity for heat tolerance
Additional Resources
To learn more about Bedrock Wine company, please visit: https://bedrockwineco.com/To listen to the Bedrock Wine Conversations Podcast, please visit: https://open.spotify.com/show/6jAHhAOI9Xy8uKDJmyl5Xx
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 bui…
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Episode 169: Nourishing Body and Land with Hilda Gore
17 oktober 2025 · 1 uur 14 min
Hilda Gore is a certified health coach and the host of the Wise Traditions podcast for the Weston A. Price Foundation. Born with a ventricular septal defect requiring open-heart surgery at age nine, she developed a passion for holistic health, emphasizing physical, emotional, and spiritual wellness. Through her global travels, Hilda has learned from indigenous communities about ancestral health practices, advocating for a return to traditional, nutrient-dense diets and lifestyles to foster generational health. Lees meer
In this episode, John and Hilda discuss:
The importance of spiritual grounding for health, starting the day with stillness and prayer
Choosing nutrient-dense, traditional foods rich in fat-soluble vitamins for sustenance
The role of sunlight in supporting metabolism and circadian rhythms
Prioritizing sleep to enhance the body's natural detoxification and health
Embracing cold exposure to stimulate mitochondrial health and resilience
Incorporating physical movement, like farming chores, to maintain strength and longevity
Additional Resources
To learn more about Hilda, please visit: https://www.holistichilda.com/To listen to the Wise Traditions podcast, please visit: https://open.spotify.com/show/2AsdxDqyG7nzj2xoAYZOgW
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…
-
Podcast Extra: Microbial Acceleration and Nutrient Release with Revenant Charge™
9 oktober 2025 · 56 min
In this Podcast Extra episode, John Kempf introduces Revenant Charge™, a new true-liquid biostimulant from AEA. Revenant Charge™ was developed to address the rising costs of soil health products for row crops while maintaining the powerful results growers have come to expect from AEA's Rejuvenate. Designed as a microbial accelerant, Revenant Charge™ stimulates soil biology and increases nutrient availability. Lees meer
In this episode, John discusses:
The origin and purpose behind developing Revenant Charge™ and how it compares to Soil Primer and Rejuvenate.
Early field trial data from Northeast Ohio, showing improved microbial activity and nutrient release.
Insights from the Haney Soil Test results analyzed by Dr. Rick Haney, highlighting significant biological responses in diverse soils.
The potential for Revenant Charge™ to improve nutrient cycling and soil disease suppression while reducing fertilizer dependence.
Additional Resources
To learn more about Revenant Charge™, please visit:
https://advancingecoag.com/product/revenant-charge/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-bas…
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Podcast Short: Exploring Endophytes for Healthier Plants with Maizie Koentopp
2 oktober 2025 · 17 min
This is the first time we've had a high schooler on the podcast! Lees meer
Maizie Koentopp, a 9th grader in Chicago, conducted a simple yet elegant experiment on buckwheat plants. Motivated by her father's urban farming work and her own concern about climate change, Maizie wanted to test the effect of endophytic bacteria on plant development as an alternative to harmful agrochemicals. She compared seeds inoculated with AEA's BioCoat Gold™ to a non-inoculated control, and found that inoculated seeds (in both sterilized and non-sterilized soil) grew faster, had higher survival rates, and developed more root hairs.
If others in Maizie's generation share her curiosity, poise, and scientific rigor, then our future is in good hands."
Additional Resources
To read more about her research, click here.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 s…
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Episode 168: "Debunked by Nature" and Lessons from Farm Life with Mollie Engelhart
25 september 2025 · 55 min
After growing up on a farm, Mollie Engelhart built a vegan restaurant empire in Los Angeles, which she planned to sell before COVID disrupted her plans. During the pandemic, she lost her income and spent time back on the farm, using nature's lens to question societal constructs like veganism. These experiences inspired her book, Debunked by Nature, where she shares her shift to truth-seeking based on natural cycles. She now lives on a Texas ranch, advocating for authentic living through storytelling. Lees meer
Mollie experiments with regenerative techniques on her Texas ranch, like mulching to combat oak wilt and bale grazing to boost soil health in caliche soils. She advocates for local food systems, resilient communities, and soil stewardship through her book and Epoch Times writings. She aims to inspire sustainable farming through her innovative practices, like propagating adapted trees and hedging crop plantings.
In this episode, John and Mollie discuss:
Shifting away from veganism and recognizing life-death cycles in food production.
Building resilient communities through local food systems and family governance.
Using deep mulching with juniper chips to reverse oak wilt in Texas' calcareous soils.
Enhancing soil fertility through bale grazing, leveraging carbon to boost pasture growth.
Adapting crop plantings, like late-season corn and sesame, to hedge against erratic weather and pests.
Propagating locally adapted tree varieties to support regional farming success.
Observing local ecosystems to inform management, avoiding blanket solutions for diverse soils.
Additional Resources
Click here to order Mollie's book.To read Mollie's opinion section of the Epoch Times, click here.
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 t… -
Episode 167: Controlling Pests using Boron Instead of Insecticide with Jay Watts
18 september 2025 · 1 uur 12 min
Jay Watte is a fourth-generation farmer from the Imperial Valley in Southern California, where he manages a family operation focused on seed production. Thanks to his pioneering practices, Jay hasn't sprayed insecticides on his farm for nearly two years. Instead of pesticides, Jay uses nutrient management, particularly boron applications, to boost plant resilience and reduce pest pressure. His experiments with soil inoculations and cover crops, are yielding promising results, including healthier plants and higher seed quality. Jay's approach emphasizes sustainable practices that prioritize long-term soil vitality and community well-being over short-term gains. Lees meer
Jay supplies major retailers and local farmers with his seed, especially Bermuda grass and alfalfa. Beyond seed production, he has ventured into growing agave and is launching a market garden to provide diverse, healthy produce to his community through a local CSA program.
In this episode, John and Jay discuss:
The challenges of producing seed compared to forage crops
Improving alfalfa seed quality
Changing regional crop patterns, including the decline of cotton and sugar beets
Water management and irrigation challenges in a desert environment
Evolving management strategies to combat the rise in pest and disease pressures
Jay's success in reducing insecticide use through boron and nutrient management
The benefits of soil inoculations and cover crops in regenerative farming
Jay's vision for a sustainable legacy for his children and community
Additional Resources
To learn more about AEA's Rebound Boron, please visit: https://advancingecoag.com/product/rebound-boron-gal-p6850075/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 …
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Episode 166: Redefining Farming Through Health, Taste, and Technology with Martin Crompton
11 september 2025 · 1 uur 22 min
Martin Crompton believes farmers can win by focusing on nutrition and flavor. He encourages farmers to adopt marketing and business development to tap into the growing demand for healthier, nutrient-dense foods. Martin is operations director at Union Grove Farm in North Carolina, where he creates demand for their table grapes through a "pull" marketing strategy of storytelling and education. By leveraging AI and ag tech, Martin has found a way to optimize farming practices and enhance profitability for regenerative farmers. Lees meer
Martin is originally from England. He began working in agriculture eight years ago, after a career as an executive for major global food companies. His corporate experience spanned sales, business development, and marketing for major retailers, though he never visited farms during his corporate tenure. Union Grove Farm is the first certified Regenified table grape vineyard in the nation, and aims to be the largest regenerative table grape operation on the East Coast.
In this episode, John and Martin discuss:
Martin's journey from corporate food to regenerative farming
Challenges farmers face in transitioning to regenerative systems
The symbiotic link between food systems and human health
The importance of creating consumer demand by communicating the health and taste benefits of regeneratively grown foods
The role of marketing to help farmers build brand equity and connect with customers
The potential of AI to compress decades of agronomic knowledge, providing actionable insights for optimizing crop health and farm efficiency
AEA's new product, Pinion™, which is designed to combat fungal and bacterial pathogens without disrupting the plant microbiome
Additional Resources
To learn more about Union Grove Farm, please visit: https://uniongrovefarm.com/To try out FieldLark AI, please visit: https://www.fieldlark.ai/
To learn more about Pinion, please visit: https://advancingecoag.com/product/pinion/
About John Kempf
John Kempf is the f… -
Episode 165: Epigenetic Seed Adaptation and No-Till Success with Brad McIntyre
4 september 2025 · 1 uur 14 min
Brad McIntyre, a fourth-generation farmer in Caldwell, Idaho, has transformed his family's operation along the Snake River Basin, scaling back from 3,000 to 1,000 acres due to urbanization and rising costs. Inspired by no-till pioneers, he now manages a diverse farm with seed production, grass-finished beef, pastured pork, poultry, and eggs; all non-GMO. Lees meer
Brad advances regenerative agriculture through no-till farming, diverse rotations, and cover crops, maintaining yields while cutting inputs. He produces locally adapted, high-quality seeds with strong germination for companies like Green Cover Seed. His livestock integration enhances soil health, and direct-to-consumer meat sales promote community health and sustainability.
In this episode, John and Brad discuss:
Brad's shift from conventional hay work to regenerative farming
No-till seed production for brassicas and alfalfa with better germination
Epigenetic seed adaptations for local resilience
Livestock integration for soil health and direct meat sales
Direct-to-consumer marketing with consistent, local products
The role of soil health in sustainable farming and stewardship
Additional Resources
To read Biochemical Individuality by Roger J. Williams, a book exploring how individual biochemical differences influence flavor perception, click hereTo learn more about Green Cover Seed, visit their website: https://greencover.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 & Hel…
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Episode 164: Navigating Economic Pressures in Tree Fruit with Sam Godwin
28 augustus 2025 · 55 min
Sam Godwin is a second-generation farmer operating a 300-acre organic orchard in north central Washington, primarily growing apples, pears, and cherries. His farm, which is small by industry standards, faces economic pressures in a market dominated by larger operations, and so has adopted organic practices since the early 2000s to differentiate and add value. Lees meer
Sam is in his second year of integrating practices to enhance soil health and reduce input costs, guided by consultants from Advancing Eco Agriculture. By using sap analysis and tools like compost, clover, and fish products, he has seen significant improvements, particularly in cherry yields, achieving over 10 tons per acre with high-quality fruit.
In this episode, John and Sam discuss:
The challenges of operating a small family farm in a consolidating industry
The transition from organic to regenerative agriculture practices
Improvements in cherry yield and quality using sap analysis
The importance of soil health and cover crops like clover in orchards
The role of proprietary genetics in gaining a competitive market advantage
The significance of succession planning for the next generation of farmers
Additional Resources
To read additional case studies on AEA's success in cherries, please visit: https://advancingecoag.com/case-studies/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,…