Agrarian Futures

It’s easy to feel powerless in the face of climate change, but where can we find models for living in harmony with the planet—before it’s too late? Alexis Zeigler and the community at Living Energy Farm are doing just that: building a self-sustaining, non-extractive way of life and sharing their knowledge with others. Alexis brings a unique blend of practical, technical expertise and a deep philos...

Today’s guest is proving that financial models can prioritize the well-being of farmers and the resilience of our food systems—not just financial returns. Mark Watson, president and chief investment officer of Potlikker Capital, leads a fund dedicated to supporting BIPOC farmers in the U.S. who operate at the intersection of racial and climate justice. Drawing from his extensive background in conv...

Register for the Acres USA conference coming up on December 2-5, 2024. And if you can’t make those dates or its already passed, you can purchase the event recordings as well! Can a digital bookstore and learning community reshape the world of farming? On our latest episode Taylor Henry, owner of Acres USA , makes a compelling case.  He takes us through his journey into regenerative agricultur...

“ I believe there is something dangerous about our entire notion of what a solution to climate change even is. We’re trying to engineer our way out of an ecological crisis that we engineered ourselves into. Growing bigger and more complex might not help. We’re going to have to humble ourselves first. ” - Rex Weyler In this episode, we were joined by the one and only Rex Weyler - activist, author,...

If most of us are honest—banking probably isn’t the first thing that comes to mind when we think about social and environmental change. But what if it could be? In today’s episode, we talk with Charley Cummings, CEO of Walden Mutual, an innovative bank that’s restoring a community-driven model that has largely disappeared in the face of 50 years of banking consolidation. Charley walks us through t...

What does it take to leave the city behind and embrace the life as a cowboy? In this episode, we trace Tyler’s unique path from competitive running, to beekeeping and vegetable farming, to life as a regenerative cattle rancher. Tyler shares the transformative experience of building a relationship with the land, the day-to-day realities of cowboy life, and the complex dynamics of being a non-binary...

For Cole Bush, life as a shepherd is more than a job—it’s a calling. As the founder of her own grazing business in Southern California, she's using livestock to help restore land, reduce wildfire risks, and promote better agricultural practices. At the same time, she’s using her knowledge to train the next generation of pastoral graziers through the Grazing School of the West. We’ll dive into her...

In the 1990s, the success of the US organic movement seemed undeniable. Demand for healthy, chemical-free produce skyrocketed amidst public health concerns and a growing environmental consciousness. As a consequence, many small organic farmers could make a real living selling healthy produce and restoring farmland in the process.  In the decades since, however, the story has gotten much more...

Carlyle Stewart is living many of the core ideas behind Agrarian Futures. Like many of us, he grew up without a close connection to farming or our agricultural landscapes, but that didn’t stop him from taking a massive leap to move across the country and establish himself as a skilled cattle rancher. He fuses these skills with wise-beyond-his-years thoughtfulness about what it means to steward the...

Russell Wallack and team at Breadtree Farms are some of our favorite kind of people - the kind who not only imagine a different future for our communities and our planet, but put in the work to turn that vision into reality. In this wide-ranging conversation, Russell walks us through the history of the chestnut tree in North America, which once made up over a quarter of all trees in the eastern US...

This week we were delighted to be joined by Briana Warner, CEO of Atlantic Sea Farms, a regenerative seaweed farming company based in Biddeford, Maine. Briana walks us through the wondrous potential of kelp to help secure the economic future of fishermen along the coast of Maine, protect our oceans, decarbonize our supply chains, and introduce a nutritious and affordable food source into the broad...

For those who have followed regenerative agriculture anytime over the last three decades, this week’s guest needs no introduction. Jenni Harris is the Director of Marketing at White Oak Pastures , a six-generation farm in Bluffton, Georgia that transitioned from conventional to regenerative agriculture in 1995 (long before it was cool) and have laid the path for scores of farms to follow suit. The...

When it comes to building a robust regenerative agriculture movement, it takes more than just farmers. Cole Allen of Grass Fed Valley is pitching in in his own way by leveraging years of experience in the financial world to help regenerative farmers solve their most pressing business challenges. We discussed the importance of local context and farming knowledge when advising clients, and dig into...

In this conversation, Peter Allen of Mastadon Valley Farm challenges everything you think you know about climate change, eating beef, and the potential for food abundance grown regeneratively on the land. He brings a unique perspective as both a seasoned academic ecologist and someone with practical experience creating a profitable regenerative farming business. In this episode, we cover: - How Pe...

In our increasingly technology-driven and urbanized culture, who hasn’t fantasized from time to time about getting out of the hustle and bustle, moving to the woods, and reconnecting with the natural world? Today we’re joined by Daphné Rose Courtés a horse logger in rural Quebec who has done exactly that. In this conversation, Daphné gave us a picture into the day to day life of her and her horse,...

Today we are joined by Kristina Villa of the Farmers Land Trust who is confronting one of the most intractable challenges and deepest inequities within our food system today: Land access and tenure. Kristina shares her remarkable journey that has culminated in launching her own organic farming business and founding an organization that enables emerging regenerative farmers to gain access to arable...

It's no secret that conventional farming is wreaking havoc on America's farmland, but is it really economically possible to convert conventional row crop farms to a regenerative approach that heals our planet? And how can the concept of an agrarian help foster stronger ties between rural farming communities and the cities they feed? In this first episode, we dig into the answer with someone who's...

Welcome to Agrarian Futures, a podcast exploring a future centered around land, community, and connection to place. Join hosts Emma Ractliffe and Austin Unruh as they chat with farmers, philosophers, and entrepreneurs reimagining our relationship to the land - and to each other - to showcase real hope and solutions for the future.