Facilitating Large Scale Transitions to Regenerative Agriculture with Terry McCosker
Regenerative Agriculture Podcast
Release Date: 09/02/2020
Regenerative Agriculture Podcast
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 manages 9,000 acres for Belltown Farms and grows corn, soybeans, wheat, and alfalfa. He also operates his own farm, growing organic corn, soybeans, and small grains. In this episode, Brian and John...
info_outline Podcast Extra - AEA's Regenerative Future: Hear From Our InvestorsRegenerative Agriculture Podcast
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 investors: Claudia Ben Erin Crampton John Pierce Kate Fileczki Laurenz Von Glahn Paul Ruger To invest in AEA and a regenerative future, please visit our Wefunder page: About John Kempf John...
info_outline Episode 114: The State of the American Food System with Austin FrerickRegenerative Agriculture Podcast
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,” which explored competition issues in the nation’s grocery industry. He is the author of Barons: Money, Power and the Corruption of America’s Food Industry, which illustrates the...
info_outline Episode 113: The Economics and Ethos of Market Gardening with Jean-Martin FortierRegenerative Agriculture Podcast
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. He achieves this goal by sharing his knowledge and expertise with thousands of farmers through the Market Gardener Institute. JM’s multifaceted roles range from CEO to technical specialist,...
info_outline Episode 112: Transforming Arid Landscapes with Taimur MalikRegenerative Agriculture Podcast
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 soil health, increase yields, and mitigate environmental impacts. His innovative approaches, such as using biologicals and adopting holistic land management practices, demonstrate his commitment to...
info_outline Episode 111: Questioning Farm Management Traditions with Boe ClausenRegenerative Agriculture Podcast
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 management have improved crop health, reduced disease and insect pressure, and enhanced soil fertility. In 2022, he grew 250-bushel corn with only 20 lbs of nitrogen. In this episode, Boe and John...
info_outline Episode 110: Stock Cropping and Regenerative Innovation with Zack SmithRegenerative Agriculture Podcast
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 and using cover crops, which marked the beginning of his shift towards regenerative agricultural. Zack recently developed a system called “stock cropping,” a regenerative farming system that...
info_outline Episode 109: From Urban Organizers to Organic Pioneers with Julie Rawson and Jack KittredgeRegenerative Agriculture Podcast
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 becoming a model of regenerative, organic farming. In this episode, Julie and Jack discuss with John: Their journey from community organizing to farming and urban to rural living The financial and...
info_outline Episode 108: Increasing the Nutrient Density of Wine Grapes with Nicole Dooling and Michael FreyRegenerative Agriculture Podcast
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 with nature. Situated at 2,400 ft elevation without irrigation, they holistically manage their vineyard using organic and regenerative farming practices. In 2020, Mariah Vineyards partnered with the...
info_outline Episode 107: Sustainable and Profitable Agriculture with Marty TravisRegenerative Agriculture Podcast
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 sustainable business prioritizing soil health, livestock, and community relationships. The farm model evolved to support individual families in response to the Covid crisis and the closing of most...
info_outlineIn our latest episode, John sits down with one of Australia’s most recognized thought leaders in Regenerative Agriculture, Dr. Terry McCosker. Over the course of three decades, Terry has worked with about 10,000 Australian farmers—a staggering 10% of all farmland on the continent—coaching them through an agricultural approach that emphasizes both soil nutrition & pasture ecology.
Terry currently serves as the director of RCS, an Australian agriculture consulting firm, but his career started at an early age when he had the opportunity to work on an Australian cattle station. Driven by a fearless pursuit of excellence, Terry found that most of the problems that faced the cattle station, as well as other operations across the country, stemmed from an outdated reductionist view of farming. As he continued his research, which included traveling to farms across the globe, he saw firsthand the power of holistic practices and their effects on livestock. Terry began challenging the paradigms of conventional farming and what he observed were results like an increase in livestock reproduction and mortality rates.
Throughout the episode, John and Terry discuss the work of Stan Parsons and Allan Savory, the importance of cell grazing alongside other regenerative practices, the proper strategies farmers use to approach succession planning, and the fascinating future potential of carbon sequestration.
“A client of mine once said that he thought he was a livestock producer. And then he came to one of our programs and went away thinking that he was a grass producer. And then over time, as he's learned more and more, he now believes he's a soil manager. If you understand that you're a soil manager, the production and the economics of your farm will actually look after itself…to be truly regenerative, a farmer needs to understand that they are a part of the ecosystem, not apart from it.” -Dr. Terry McCosker