Regenerative Agriculture Podcast

Dan Miller is the founder and CEO of Steward, a company dedicated to supporting regenerative farmers by providing access to capital. With a background in law and finance, Dan combines his expertise to create a unique financial platform that connects community investors with sustainable agricultural projects. His work at Steward is driven by a commitment to ethical and ecological principles, focusi...

John Kempf, Advancing Eco Agriculture Founder and Chief Vision Officer was a guest on the Robert F Kennedy Jr. Podcast. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is a presidential candidate in the 2024 election. His career in public service began in 1985 as an attorney for the environmental nonprofit RiverKeeper. He eventually became one of the most influential environmentalists in the United States, receiving TIME...

Corwin Heatwole is a 6th-generation farmer and the visionary founder and chairman of Farmer Focus. Starting his journey at age 23 with a 300-bird organic farm, Corwin's commitment to high-quality, humanely raised chicken quickly expanded his operation to 3,000 birds within a few months. This growth led to the transformation of Shenandoah Valley Organic into Farmer Focus in 2014, where Corwin began...

Frank Dean is the Product Development Manager at LidoChem. LidoChem has been involved in the global identification of reliable and superior chemical raw materials since 1981. Through his leadership at LidoChem, Frank has been committed to providing farmers with effective and environmentally responsible products to enhance soil health and optimize agricultural productivity.  In this episode, Frank...

Steve Diver, Farm Superintendent at the University of Kentucky's Horticulture Research Farm in Lexington, boasts a rich background in sustainable agriculture. With a B.S. and M.S. in Horticulture from Oklahoma State University, he honed his expertise while serving as a horticultural and soils consultant in Central Texas. Diver founded Agri-Horticultural Consulting in 2010, specializing in soil ana...

Alpha Lo runs the Climate Water Project and is Co-founder of Regenerative Water Alliance. He's also a water researcher, writer, and podcaster. With a deep understanding of the interconnectedness of natural systems, Alpha advocates for rewilding initiatives and holistic land management practices to address environmental challenges. Through collaboration and education, Alpha works to promote sustain...

Brian Magarin has a background rooted in farming, spanning over a decade. Brian's journey has been shaped by hands-on experience and a commitment to sustainable farming methods after first starting in a conventional setting. Through years of trial and error, he has gained valuable insights into soil dynamics, irrigation techniques, and the impact of cover crops on crop and soil health. Brian manag...

AEA Founder and Chief Vision Officer, John Kempf, gives a quick summary of the success of our first community raise and features six investors who share why they invested in Advancing Eco Agriculture. AEA has raised over $2.2 million thus far during our Wefunder crowdfunding campaign, aimed at expanding our regenerative solutions to support farmers worldwide and enhance our food supply. Hear from...

Austin Frerick is an expert on agricultural and antitrust policy. He is a 7th-generation Iowan whose passion for agriculture comes from the weekends working on his grandpa's farm. He is a Fellow at the Thurman Arnold Project at Yale University. In 2022, he worked with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to organize a conference at Yale Law School entitled "Reforming America's Food Retail Markets,"...

Jean-Martin (JM) Fortier has over 20 years of experience developing, testing, and perfecting biointensive and regenerative growing techniques on his small-scale farms in Quebec that increase the soil's biology to achieve maximum yields on small surfaces.  Jean-Martin's mission is to promote the importance of human-scale regenerative agriculture in creating sustainable and resilient food systems. H...

Taimur Malik founded Drawdown Farm, a regenerative farm in the Thal desert in Pakistan. Taimur engages in various regenerative agriculture practices, including planting diverse crops like bananas, implementing managed grazing trials, and using impact sprinkler systems powered by solar energy. Taimur emphasizes the importance of biological solutions and sustainable farming techniques to improve soi...

Boe Clausen is a second-generation farmer in Eastern Washington. His parents immigrated from Denmark and established Stokrose Farm in 1981. Initially focused on vegetable seed production, the farm diversified into alfalfa, hay, corn, wheat, and cattle. Boe now manages Stokrose Farm alongside his siblings.  Boe's shift towards foliar applications, reduced nitrogen usage, and strategic nutrient mana...

Zack Smith is a fifth-generation farmer from northern Iowa. He is the owner and operator of Smith Seed and Agronomy, LLC, and co-founder and CEO of Stock Cropper, Inc. Zack previously worked in seed production and chemical retail as a certified crop advisor and then as a seed rep while farming on the side. He eventually became interested in soil health and started experimenting with strip-tilling...

Julie Rawson and Jack Kittredge are co-owners of Many Hands Organic Farm, an organic CSA farm that serves 150 families in Barre, MA. They met while doing community organizing work in Boston, and in 1982, made the decision to move out to the country to raise their kids in connection to the land and grow their own food. Julie and Jack share their farm's transformative journey from inception to becom...

Nicole Dooling and Michael Frey help operate Mariah Vineyards in the Mendocino Ridge alongside Nicole's parents, Dan and Vicki. As founders, Dan and Vicki have mindfully tended their land for over 40 years, putting in the hard labor of planting and growing this vineyard from the ground up. Their family and vineyard have thrived due to their dedication, adaptability, and resourcefulness in working...

Marty Travis, a former furniture maker turned farmer, co-owns and operates Spence Farm in Illinois with his son, Will. Spence Farm grows a wide array of heirloom and native crops, heritage animals, and a huge diversity of agricultural opportunities on the 160 acres. Marty embraced sustainable farming, catering to Chicago's restaurant community. This unique partnership led to a thriving and sustain...

Will Harris is a fourth-generation cattleman and the owner of White Oak Pastures, a holistically managed regenerative farm raising cattle, pigs, poultry, rabbits, sheep, and organic vegetables in Bluffton, Georgia.  After graduating college in 1977, Will returned to Bluffton, where he and his father continued to raise cattle using pesticides, herbicides, hormones, and antibiotics. By the mid-1990s...

Steven Cardoza is a second-generation organic raisin grape grower. His 400-acre farm is south of Fresno, California. His father transitioned from conventional to organic growing in 1998 after discovering some of the inputs he was using were making him ill. Steven took over the business in 2017 with a massive jumpstart on the pathway to regenerative agriculture. Since moving from an organic to a re...

In this special podcast episode marking the launch of Integrity Grown™, AEA's verification standard, John Kempf shares the heart behind this new brand. John advocates for a shift towards verifying outcomes rather than solely focusing on processes. Integrity Grown prioritizes the verification of outcomes across several key areas: Harvest Quality and Nutritional Integrity: Ensuring the produce meets...

Join us in this episode as Amy Williams, who has three decades of clothing industry experience and currently serving as the CEO of Citizens of Humanity, shares insights into the transformative journey toward regenerative cotton. Amy delves into the organization's commitment to sustainability, emphasizing their shift towards regeneratively grown cotton after recognizing the critical role of raw mat...

Allen Williams is a 6th-generation farmer and founding partner of Grass Fed Insights, Understanding Ag, and the Soil Health Academy. He has consulted with over 4,000 farmers and ranchers in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, South America, and other regions on operations ranging from a few acres to over 1 million. Allen and his colleagues specialize in whole farm and ranch planning based on regenerative ag...

Joel Grosbach is a fifth-generation farmer and AEA customer growing dryland and irrigated crops in Southwest Nebraska. Since his area only receives seven inches of average annual rainfall, incorporating regenerative practices such as cover crops, crop rotation, animal grazing, and minimal tillage are critical for water management. Joel grows a variety of crops, including popcorn and dry edible bea...

It's the 100th episode of the Regenerative Agriculture Podcast! In this special episode, AEA grower James Johnson interviews the voice behind the podcast, John Kempf.  James Johnson is a fourth-generation farmer in New Mexico and the Vice President of Carzalia Valley Produce. When James finally took over the family farm in the early 2000s, the outlook of his operation seemed grim. After many years...

Dr. James White is a professor of Plant Pathology at Rutgers University. Dr. White obtained an M.S. in Mycology and Plant Pathology from Auburn University and a Ph. D. in Mycology from the University of Texas at Austin in 1987. Dr. White specializes in symbiosis research, particularly endophytic microbes. He is the author of more than 180 articles and author and editor of reference books on the bi...

Bob Jones is co-owner and chief executive officer of The Chef's Garden, a family-owned farm in Huron, Ohio, committed to growing exceptional vegetables. Bob leads the farm's cutting-edge food safety and food quality programs, helping develop the most reliably healthy and nutritionally dense fresh vegetables. The direction of the farm changed in the 1980s from growing conventional vegetables when h...