Regenerative Agriculture Podcast
- Épisodes
- 237
- Parution
- hebdomadaire
- Dernier épisode
- 12 Nov 2026
À propos du podcast
This is a show for professional growers and agronomists who want to learn about the science and principles of regenerative agriculture systems to increase quality, yield, and profitability.
Épisodes 237
Episode 196: Getting Paid for Nutrition Instead of Yield with Eric Smith
Eric Smith is the cofounder and CEO of Edacious, a public benefit company that measures and reports the nutritional quality of food. He spent his earlier career at what he calls the intersection of economy and …
Notes de l’épisode
Eric Smith is the cofounder and CEO of Edacious, a public benefit company that measures and reports the nutritional quality of food. He spent his earlier career at what he calls the intersection of economy and ecology, working on carbon, water, and biodiversity markets as ways to pay growers for better land management. He concluded those payments would always come second to the price of the food itself, which led him to food quality.
Edacious runs an ISO-accredited lab in the Boston area that tests food for macronutrients, vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals, heavy metals, and crop protection residues. More than 400 growers, producers, and brands test with the company, from individual farms to the largest CPG companies. Results are benchmarked against USDA averages and reported as percent of daily value, so producers can back label claims and price premiums with data.
Eric invites growers and agronomists who follow AEA to submit a crop through the Edacious website, and be sure to mention the podcast, and he'll look for a nutrition story worth marketing: https://www.edacious.com/get-started
In this episode, John and Eric discuss:
- Selenium in wheat flour ranges from 0% to roughly 50% of daily value per serving, with a median of 7.5%.
- Fiber content in the same fruit or vegetable can differ by 100 to 200%.
- Wild blueberries carry about 10 times the anthocyanins of modern highbush varieties, and soil health practices narrow that gap but never close it.
- Alexandre Family Farm eggs tested at 388% more vitamin E, 379% more carotenoids, and 175% more omega-3 than the average American egg.
- Why nutrient density does not equal Brix in fruit, and why John considers Brix a less than ideal metric outside of leaf readings.
- Micronutrients in wheat rise with soil organic matter when variety is held constant.
- How brands use test results to defend premiums and win shelf space with retailers.
- The USDA food composition database defines a blackberry from 8 samples taken five years ago.
Additional ResourcesTo explore Edacious food data and nutrient variability, please visit: https://eat.edacious.com
To read the 2026 Regenerative Organic Nutrition Report, please visit: https://www.edacious.com/2026-roc-nutrition-report
To learn more about the AEA and Edacious partnership, please visit: https://advancingecoag.com/land/edacious/
To watch the webinar Better Food, Stronger Farms: The AEA + Edacious Partnership, please visit: https://youtu.be/xPZBcvMZckI
To listen to Episode 156: Data-Driven Regeneration with Jonathan Lundgren, please visit: https://advancingecoag.com/podcast/episode-156-data-driven-regeneration-with-jonathan-lundgren/
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 soil, stronger crops, and higher profits.
Beyond working on the ground with growers, AEA leads in regenerative agriculture media and education, producing and distributing the popular and highly-regarded Regenerative Agriculture Podcast, inspiring webinars, and other educational content that serve as go-to resources for growers worldwide. Learn more about AEA's regenerative programs and products: https://www.advancingecoag.com
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by speakers on the Regenerative Agriculture Podcast are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views, positions, or policies of Advancing Eco Agriculture (AEA) or its employees. Appearances do not constitute an endorsement by AEA, and AEA does not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of statements made by speakers. This podcast is for educational and informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional agronomic, medical, legal, or financial advice. Always follow product labels and applicable laws, and consult a qualified professional before making decisions for your operation or your health.
Episode 195: Your Soil's Water Reservoir Is Smaller Than You Think with Jerry Hatfield
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 …
Notes de l’épisode
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.
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 ResourcesTo read articles by Jerry on soil health and water management, please visit: https://greencover.com/author/dr-jerry-l-hatfield
To 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 visit: https://advancingecoag.com/podcast/jerry-hatfield-on-why-should-we-care-about-soil-health/
To listen to The Carbon Capture Business with Jerry Hatfield, please visit: https://advancingecoag.com/podcast/the-carbon-capture-business-with-jerry-hatfield/
Learn more about AEA's regenerative programs and products: https://www.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 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 regenerative agriculture media and education, producing and distributing the popular and highly-regarded Regenerative Agriculture Podcast, inspiring webinars, and other educational content that serve as go-to resources for growers worldwide.
Learn more about AEA's regenerative programs and products: https://www.advancingecoag.com
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by speakers on the Regenerative Agriculture Podcast are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views, positions, or policies of Advancing Eco Agriculture (AEA) or its employees. Appearances do not constitute an endorsement by AEA, and AEA does not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of statements made by speakers. This podcast is for educational and informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional agronomic, medical, legal, or financial advice. Always follow product labels and applicable laws, and consult a qualified professional before making decisions for your operation or your health.
Episode 194: Glyphosate and the Herbicide Treadmill with Chuck Benbrook
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 …
Notes de l’épisode
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.
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/s12302-025-01057-1
To read Chuck's widely cited paper on trends in glyphosate use, please visit: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12302-016-0070-0
To read Chuck's widely cited paper on how genetically engineered crops changed pesticide use, please visit: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/2190-4715-24-24
To learn more about the Heartland Health Research Alliance, please visit: https://hh-ra.org
To read about the Heartland Study, a Midwest birth cohort study on herbicide exposure, please visit: https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-023-17171-9
To listen to John's conversation with Don Huber, please visit: https://advancingecoag.com/podcast/season-2-kickoff-with-don-huber/
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by speakers on the Regenerative Agriculture Podcast are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views, positions, or policies of Advancing Eco Agriculture (AEA) or its employees. Appearances do not constitute an endorsement by AEA, and AEA does not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of statements made by guests. This podcast is for educational and informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional agronomic, medical, legal, or financial advice. Always follow product labels and applicable laws, and consult a qualified professional before making decisions for your operation or your health.
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 soil, stronger crops, and higher profits.
Beyond working on the ground with growers, AEA leads in regenerative agriculture media and education, producing and distributing the popular and highly-regarded Regenerative Agriculture Podcast, inspiring webinars, and other educational content that serve as go-to resources for growers worldwide.
Learn more about AEA's regenerative programs and products: https://www.advancingecoag.com
Episode 193: A Different Perspective on Fusarium with Heber Hall and Kirk Mersil
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 …
Notes de l’épisode
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.
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 Resources Click here to order Heber's book, Understanding Fusarium In Non-Field High Density And Contained Media Cropping Click here to order James' book, Microbial Endophytes Click here to order John Ott's book, Health and Light To lern more about Heber's work, please visit: mycogasm.bio
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 soil, stronger crops, and higher profits.
Beyond working on the ground with growers, AEA leads in regenerative agriculture media and education, producing and distributing the popular and highly-regarded Regenerative Agriculture Podcast, inspiring webinars, and other educational content that serve as go-to resources for growers worldwide.
Episode 192: Breaking Up Compaction with Roots Instead of Steel with Lloyd Murdock
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 …
Notes de l’épisode
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.
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-250
To 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.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 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 regenerative agriculture media and education, producing and distributing the popular and highly-regarded Regenerative Agriculture Podcast, inspiring webinars, and other educational content that serve as go-to resources for growers worldwide.
Learn more about AEA's regenerative programs and products: https://www.advancingecoag.com
Episode 191: Tar Spot, Tip Back, and Real-Time Plant Data with Jeff Kleypas
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 …
Notes de l’épisode
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.
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.ai
To 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.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 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 regenerative agriculture media and education, producing and distributing the popular and highly-regarded Regenerative Agriculture Podcast, inspiring webinars, and other educational content that serve as go-to resources for growers worldwide.
Learn more about AEA's regenerative programs and products: https://www.advancingecoag.com
Episode 190: What the 1980s Farm Crisis Should Have Taught Us with Wendy Johnson
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 …
Notes de l’épisode
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.
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 ResourcesTo listen to the podcast episode featuring Austin Unruh on integrating trees into working pastures, please visit: https://advancingecoag.com/podcast/episode-97-integrating-trees-into-working-pastures-with-austin-unruh/
To learn more about Jóia Food & Fiber Farm, please visit: https://www.joiafoodfarm.com/
To learn more about Jóia Sleep, please visit: https://www.joiasleep.com/
To learn more about 99 Counties, please visit: https://99counties.com/
To learn more about the Perennial Promise Growers' Cooperative, please visit: https://perennialpromise.com/
Learn more about AEA's regenerative programs and products: https://www.advancingecoag.com
About John KempfJohn 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 GrowSince 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 regenerative agriculture media and education, producing and distributing the popular and highly-regarded Regenerative Agriculture Podcast, inspiring webinars, and other educational content that serve as go-to resources for growers worldwide.
Learn more about AEA's regenerative programs and products: https://www.advancingecoag.com
Podcast Extra: Why Corn Is Dying Early with John Kempf & Brody Benton
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 …
Notes de l’épisode
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.
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 ResourcesIf you farm in the midwest and would like to get in touch with Brody, please reach out to him via email, [email protected] To 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 KempfJohn 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 regenerative agriculture media and education, producing and distributing the popular and highly-regarded Regenerative Agriculture Podcast, inspiring webinars, and other educational content that serve as go-to resources for growers worldwide.
Learn more about AEA's regenerative programs and products: https://www.advancingecoag.com
Episode 189: Why Your Nitrogen Program Is Costing You 50 Bushels with Ed Baumgartner
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 …
Notes de l’épisode
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.
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 an on-ramp for soil biology
- What germinator trials revealed about fungicide-treated seed versus seed grown without fungicides
Additional Resources
To listen to John's first conversation with the BASS Hybrids team, please visit: https://advancingecoag.com/podcast/podcast-extra-john-kempf-bass-hybrids-on-the-future-of-corn/
To read the University of Wisconsin research on nitrogen-fixing corn in Mexico, please visit: https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.2006352
To learn more about AEA's Pinion, please visit: https://advancingecoag.com/product/pinion/
To find Charles Walters' book Eco-Farm, please visit: https://bookstore.acresusa.com/products/eco-farm?srsltid=AU7gw4XfkT_GNsryakPAWEYC5avS6GxN3ikUv9nbqaG0cJXfyZIq3Y8_
To learn more about BASS Hybrids, please visit: https://www.basshybrids.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 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 regenerative agriculture media and education, producing and distributing the popular and highly-regarded Regenerative Agriculture Podcast, inspiring webinars, and other educational content that serve as go-to resources for growers worldwide.
Learn more about AEA's regenerative programs and products: https://www.advancingecoag.com
Episode 188: Eliminating Ground-Applied Urea with Mike Omeg
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 …
Notes de l’épisode
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 .
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 ResourcesTo 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 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 regenerative agriculture media and education, producing and distributing the popular and highly-regarded Regenerative Agriculture Podcast, inspiring webinars, and other educational content that serve as go-to resources for growers worldwide.
Learn more about AEA's regenerative programs and products: https://www.advancingecoag.com
Podcast Extra: Building High-Efficiency Fertility Systems for Row Crops
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 …
Notes de l’épisode
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.
- 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 ResourcesClick 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 Iowa
- Heather 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 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 regenerative agriculture media and education, producing and distributing the popular and highly-regarded Regenerative Agriculture Podcast, inspiring webinars, and other educational content that serve as go-to resources for growers worldwide.
Learn more about AEA's regenerative programs and products: https://www.advancingecoag.com
Episode 187: Clearing Nitrogen "Constipation" in High-Yield Corn with Brody Benton
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 …
Notes de l’épisode
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.
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 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 regenerative agriculture media and education, producing and distributing the popular and highly-regarded Regenerative Agriculture Podcast, inspiring webinars, and other educational content that serve as go-to resources for growers worldwide.
Learn more about AEA's regenerative programs and products: https://www.advancingecoag.com
Episode 186: The Power of Precision Management and Multi-Species Covers with Mike Thompson
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 …
Notes de l’épisode
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.
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-monitoring/
To learn more about FieldLark AI, please visit: https://advancingecoag.com/land/fieldlark/
To learn more about plant sap analysis: https://advancingecoag.com/plant-sap-analysis/
To learn more about Green Cover, please visit: 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 & 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 regenerative agriculture media and education, producing and distributing the popular and highly-regarded Regenerative Agriculture Podcast, inspiring webinars, and other educational content that serve as go-to resources for growers worldwide.
Learn more about AEA's regenerative programs and products: https://www.advancingecoag.com
Podcast Extra: John Kempf on Soil Biophysics, Plant Immunity & Foliars on the Permaculture Orchard Podcast
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 …
Notes de l’épisode
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.
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.farmSocial 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-fKD72AtioxXV2C9oZf6ZQ
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 soil, stronger crops, and higher profits.
Beyond working on the ground with growers, AEA leads in regenerative agriculture media and education, producing and distributing the popular and highly-regarded Regenerative Agriculture Podcast, inspiring webinars, and other educational content that serve as go-to resources for growers worldwide.
Learn more about AEA's regenerative programs and products: https://www.advancingecoag.com
Podcast Extra: Ask Me Anything with John Kempf - July 10, 2026
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 …
Notes de l’épisode
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.
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.
- Increasing lipid levels in pasture forage through adequate soil levels of calcium, sulfur, and boron combined with strategic grazing management.
- Understanding how high sodium and chloride accumulation distorts refractometer brix readings by inflating total dissolved solids rather than indicating pure sugar content.
About John Kempf 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 regenerative agriculture media and education, producing and distributing the popular and highly-regarded Regenerative Agriculture Podcast, inspiring webinars, and other educational content that serve as go-to resources for growers worldwide.
Visit https://advancingecoag.com to learn more.
Episode 185: Pioneering Solubilized Urea and Foliar Nutrition with the Fabian Family
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 …
Notes de l’épisode
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.
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 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 regenerative agriculture media and education, producing and distributing the popular and highly-regarded Regenerative Agriculture Podcast, inspiring webinars, and other educational content that serve as go-to resources for growers worldwide.
Learn more about AEA's regenerative programs and products: https://www.advancingecoag.com
Episode 184: The Crisis of Blandness in Agriculture with Mark Schatzker
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 …
Notes de l’épisode
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.
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.
ResourcesTo learn more about Mark's work and purchase his books, please visit: https://www.markschatzker.com/new-page-1
To 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 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 regenerative agriculture media and education, producing and distributing the popular and highly-regarded Regenerative Agriculture Podcast, inspiring webinars, and other educational content that serve as go-to resources for growers worldwide.
Learn more about AEA's regenerative programs and products: https://www.advancingecoag.com
Episode 183: Overcoming the Ammonium Death Spiral with Jim Dunlop
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 …
Notes de l’épisode
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.
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.
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 soil, stronger crops, and higher profits.
Beyond working on the ground with growers, AEA leads in regenerative agriculture media and education, producing and distributing the popular and highly-regarded Regenerative Agriculture Podcast, inspiring webinars, and other educational content that serve as go-to resources for growers worldwide.
Learn more about AEA's regenerative programs and products: https://www.advancingecoag.com
Podcast Extra: Ask Me Anything with John Kempf - June 4, 2026
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 …
Notes de l’épisode
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. 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 foliar combinations to halt disease progression.
- Understanding why high-salt content fertilizers solubilize trace minerals and leach them down the soil profile over a 20- to 40-year period.
Additional Resources: To learn more about managing nutrition during Critical Points of Influence, please watch this webinar.
To learn more about how optimizing foliar applications, please watch this webinar. To learn more about AEA's Integrity Grown program, please listen to this podcast episode.
To hear John and Michael McNeill's conversations, please listen to this podcast episode.
About John Kempf 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 regenerative agriculture media and education, producing and distributing the popular and highly-regarded Regenerative Agriculture Podcast, inspiring webinars, and other educational content that serve as go-to resources for growers worldwide. Visit https://advancingecoag.com to learn more.
Episode 182: Reclaiming Independence from Corporate Meat with Cole Mannix
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 …
Notes de l’épisode
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. 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.
Episode 181: Plant Immunity Through Custom Foliars and Targeted Nutrition with Peter Henry
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 …
Notes de l’épisode
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. 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 system to actively inoculate both the soil and plant foliage with beneficial microbes .
How running an on-farm trial of AEA's Pinion product for six weeks successfully eliminated severe bacterial leaf spot and stem issues on highly susceptible heirloom bell pepper crops .
Integrating AEA's Rebound Copper alongside Rebound Molybdenum to completely reverse visual deficiencies and provide a dramatic greening effect on the farm's terraced pepper fields .
Utilizing AEA's SeaShield and MacroPak to safely deliver trace organic nitrogen and essential amino acids without overriding the plants' reproductive cycles .
To follow Peter's farm on Instagram, please visit: https://www.instagram.com/imfarmerpete/ or imfarmerpete on the app.
To learn more about AEA's products, please visit: https://advancingecoag.com
To learn more about AEA's Pinion, please visit: https://advancingecoag.com/product/pinion/
About John KempfJohn 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 GrowSince 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 regenerative agriculture media and education, producing and distributing the popular and highly-regarded Regenerative Agriculture Podcast, inspiring webinars, and other educational content that serve as go-to resources for growers worldwide.
Learn more about AEA's regenerative programs and products: https://www.advancingecoag.com
Episode 180: Shifting Management Logistics to Build a Better Lifestyle with Tom Cotter
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 …
Notes de l’épisode
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.
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 motorcycle rides during harvest season .
To learn more about Tom and the work of the Minnesota Soil Health Coalition, please visit: https://www.mnsoilhealth.org/about-us/tom-cotter/
About John KempfJohn 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 GrowSince 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 regenerative agriculture media and education, producing and distributing the popular and highly-regarded Regenerative Agriculture Podcast, inspiring webinars, and other educational content that serve as go-to resources for growers worldwide.
Learn more about AEA's regenerative programs and products: https://www.advancingecoag.com
Podcast Extra: Rethinking Fertility Inputs | Soil Strategies Podcast
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 …
Notes de l’épisode
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 .
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 ResourcesTo 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 GrowSince 2006, AEA has worked globally with professional growers to improve crop performance, build farm resiliency, and increase profitability through balanced nutrition and biological soil function . AEA believes in testing instead of guessing, relying on rigorous laboratory data to measure what the soil can actually deliver before making recommendations . Through a unique line of products—including biological seed treatments, well-designed foliar nutrition, and their highly effective broad-spectrum disease-resistance product, Pinion—AEA empowers farmers to reduce synthetic inputs, optimize photosynthesis, and transition smoothly into highly successful, resilient biological systems .
Podcast Extra: Our Crops Aren't Sick, They're Dependent | Soil Talks Podcast
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. In this episode they discuss: • Why pests may not …
Notes de l’épisode
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.
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 inputs
Additional Resources To listen to more epsidoes of the Soil Talks Podcast, please visit: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEVD04wz0u2J9qqu3L0zcZ9V8_YVzpr81 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 soil, stronger crops, and higher profits.
Beyond working on the ground with growers, AEA leads in regenerative agriculture media and education, producing and distributing the popular and highly-regarded Regenerative Agriculture Podcast, inspiring webinars, and other educational content that serve as go-to resources for growers worldwide.
Learn more about AEA's regenerative programs and products: https://www.advancingecoag.com
Podcast Extra: Ask Me Anything with John Kempf - April 9, 2026
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 …
Notes de l’épisode
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:- 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 DS.
- Treating hard water with an RO water purifier for foliar sprays to ensure the best possible crop response.
Additional Resources To learn more AEA's Nitrogen Effeciency Program, please visit: https://advancingecoag.com/land/nitrogen-efficiency/ To learn more and purchase Pinion, please visit: https://advancingecoag.com/land/pinion/ To learn more about AEA's seed treatments, please visit: https://advancingecoag.com/land/seed-treatments/ About John KempfJohn 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 regenerative agriculture media and education, producing and distributing the popular and highly-regarded Regenerative Agriculture Podcast, inspiring webinars, and other educational content that serve as go-to resources for growers worldwide.
Learn more about AEA's regenerative programs and products: https://www.advancingecoag.com
Episode 179: Rewilding Livestock Instincts for Soil Health with Bob Kinford
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 …
Notes de l’épisode
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.
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 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 regenerative agriculture media and education, producing and distributing the popular and highly-regarded Regenerative Agriculture Podcast, inspiring webinars, and other educational content that serve as go-to resources for growers worldwide.
Learn more about AEA's regenerative programs and products: https://www.advancingecoag.com
Episode 178: Reducing Inputs and Reclaiming Independence with Alex Udermann
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 …
Notes de l’épisode
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.
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 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 regenerative agriculture media and education, producing and distributing the popular and highly-regarded Regenerative Agriculture Podcast, inspiring webinars, and other educational content that serve as go-to resources for growers worldwide.
Learn more about AEA's regenerative programs and products: https://www.advancingecoag.com
Episode 177: Leveraging Native Biology and No-Till Strategies with Bob Tillman
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 …
Notes de l’épisode
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.
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 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 regenerative agriculture media and education, producing and distributing the popular and highly-regarded Regenerative Agriculture Podcast, inspiring webinars, and other educational content that serve as go-to resources for growers worldwide.
Learn more about AEA's regenerative programs and products: https://www.advancingecoag.com
Episode 176: Vertical Integration for Regenerative Farmers with David Stelzer
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 …
Notes de l’épisode
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.
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-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 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 regenerative agriculture media and education, producing and distributing the popular and highly-regarded Regenerative Agriculture Podcast, inspiring webinars, and other educational content that serve as go-to resources for growers worldwide.
Learn more about AEA's regenerative programs and products: https://www.advancingecoag.com
Podcast Extra: Adjusting Nitrogen Management with John Kempf and MSHC
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 …
Notes de l’épisode
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 . 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.
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 regenerative agriculture media and education, producing and distributing the popular and highly-regarded Regenerative Agriculture Podcast, inspiring webinars, and other educational content that serve as go-to resources for growers worldwide.
Learn more about AEA's regenerative programs and products: https://www.advancingecoag.com
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