Category: Nutrients to Soil

What we learned in 2024 about ecocide, land access crisis, regenerative education, return of inspiration, chefs, machinery and brands driving change

27th December 2024 koenvanseijen Diet Change, Ecosystem Services Payments, Farmers First Tech, Landscape Design 2.0, Nutrient Dense Food, Nutrients to Soil, Ownership, Regenerative Agriculture, Role of Animals, Role of corporations, Short Food Webs, Transition finance 0 Comments

As we wrap up 2024, we reflect on a year that brought hope but also served as a wake-up call. With skyrocketing temperatures, droughts, fires, and floods, the challenges have been immense. But we were very lucky that we—both online and offline— had the chance to come together with many of the pioneers and builders in regenerative agriculture and food. At the same time, we were reminded that we, as part of nature, are at war with extractive forces.

Our takeaways on ambitious entrepreneurs, the many elephants in the room, role and legacy of farmers, innovation in water cycle restoration, money money money, building new industries. Many deep dives in soil health, starting with chefs, consumer brands driving change and educating consumers, walking the land with regenerative farmers, legends, role of AI and tools. And, finally, some milestones and highlights.

Marco Carbonara – Using 10 species of animals to profitably regenerate 100 hectares of forgotten Italian land between Rome and Florence

26th November 2024 koenvanseijen Nutrients to Soil, Regenerative Agriculture, Role of Animals, Short Food Webs 0 Comments

A conversation with Marco Carbonara, cofounder, owner and farmer at Pulicaro Farm, in Lazio, Italy. A special early morning walk through permanent pasture surrounded by multispecies graziers, donkeys, cows, sheep, goats, chickens and, of course, some guard dogs, which means a lot of pleasant and present background sounds. We are in the hills between Rome and Florence and have the great pleasure to visit the farm of Marco and Chiara. Marco takes us on the morning walk to feel, smell, and see regeneration of permanent pastures in a Mediterranean landscape. Definitely not easy, but definitely possible, and yes, also profitable.

How did Marco, who had no farming experience 20 years ago, approach regeneration back then, and how does he approach it now? When they take on new lands, what are the first steps, and how much has he learned over the last 20 years? What is the role of animals in regenerating the Mediterranean landscape, and how does he handle the challenging balance between running a company, needing to break even, and wanting to regenerate as quickly as possible?

We also discuss the challenge of feed: is it okay to bring feed for the non-ruminants in your rotation from outside the farm when your soils can’t yet sustain needy plants like wheat, barley, etc.? And if it is, how do you deal with the challenge of potentially competing for human food? We only scratched the surface because it’s impossible to capture 20years of deep regeneration in just one hour, but we tried and we hope you enjoyed listening to it as much as we did recording it.

Clare Hill and Annie Rayner – The counter-narrative to industrialised chicken: what does it mean to produce deeply regenerative chicken and eggs?

20th August 2024 koenvanseijen Nutrients to Soil, Regenerative Agriculture, Role of Animals, Short Food Webs 0 Comments

A conversation with Annie Rayner and Clare Hill, founders of Planton Farm, Roots to Regeneration and Impeckable Poultry, experts in poultry welfare and regenerative agriculture transition pioneers in the UK. We discuss where to start when you want to integrate livestock as a farmer. Many would say poultry, but there are a lot of issues, from lockdowns because of bird flu to feeding because these aren’t ruminants, so they can’t just graze, while another big one is genetics. We have bred birds to be either egg or meat birds, and that is incredibly inefficient and horrible for animal welfare. Annie and Clare are on a mission to answer the question: What does it mean to produce deeply regenerative chicken and eggs?

Felipe Pasini – Walking the land of Amadeco Syntropic Farm with a regenerative farmer

30th July 2024 koenvanseijen Farmers First Tech, Nutrients to Soil, Regenerative Agriculture, Walking the Land with a Regenerative Farmer 0 Comments

What if you could turn a dry, water-scarce plot of land into a thriving ecosystem? In this new episode of Walking the Land with a Regenerative Farmer we follow the journey of Felipe Pasini, as we explore his transformative work on the Amadeco Syntropic farm in Depressa, Salento, Puglia. Felipe reveals how he tackled the challenges of traditional dry stone walls, rocky soil, and limited water supply to create a productive, visually stunning farm organized into innovative elements.

Fireside Chat with John Kempf & Koen van Seijen @ Groundswell ’24

9th July 2024 koenvanseijen Nutrients to Soil, Regenerative Agriculture, Short Food Webs 0 Comments

Ever wondered how podcasting can transform the field of regenerative agriculture? This fire side chat with John Kempf and Koen van Seijen, hosts of the most followed and longest existing podcasts in the regenerative agriculture and food space, was recorded live at Groundswell 2024.

This is an intimate conversation where we dive deep in the the long-term dedication needed to engage an audience genuinely, the nerve-wracking journey of publishing the initial episodes and the relentless effort required to build a loyal listener base. We highlight the importance of mentors, the art of storytelling and how digital platforms can amplify critical ideas and drive change.

We uncover how the overuse of nutrients like nitrogen and potassium can actually harm crops, making them more susceptible to diseases and pests, and ultimately reducing yields. We explore the research on plant nutrition, plant health and fertilizer use and questions traditional agronomy practices. John shares about Advancing Eco Agriculture’s fundraising experience within the farming community and the strategies for reaching wider audiences, including turning our podcast episodes into books. Plus, a sneak peek into the shared upcoming projects focusing inputs from innovative companies.

Yasmine Cathell on nutrient quality bio stimulants, microalgae and other random but world changing regen trivia

21st May 2024 koenvanseijen Diet Change, Nutrient Dense Food, Nutrients to Soil, Regenerative Agriculture 0 Comments

A check-in conversation with Yasmine Cathell in which we discuss everything from why we should focus on solutions that work for all farmers, not just regen organic, to the reduction of bio stimulants on farm or off farm, microalgae, nutrient density, and quality. Why does it all start in the soil? And we finish up with a masterclass on smelling soil and other random but world-changing regen trivia.

Matteo Mazzola – Walking the land of Iside Farm with a regenerative farmer

2nd April 2024 koenvanseijen Landscape Design 2.0, Nutrient Dense Food, Nutrients to Soil, Regenerative Agriculture, Walking the Land with a Regenerative Farmer 0 Comments

This is a special episode, the first one ever of the Walking the Land with a Regenerative Farmer, where we walk the land of the farm with a farmer while we talk about regeneration. 

Walking through Iside Farm on the Iseo Lake in Italy, with regenerative farmer Matteo Mazzola, we unlock the secrets of regenerative agriculture as we traverse the innovative landscapes crafted by Matteo, Paola and the Iside crew. We embark on a profound exploration of sustainable farming, showcasing Matteo’s expertise in farm design, water systems, and the integration of olive trees and animals into the land. Learn how access ways are more than just paths across a farm; they’re a vital component in the flow of energy and resources, helping to prevent erosion with concrete strips and alfalfa, and offering additional crop space. Matteo’s wisdom extends to the creative reuse of shipping containers, illustrating a commitment to terraforming that marries functionality with environmental stewardship.

Chris Bloomfield and Daniel Reisman – We need animals outside to feed the planet sustainably

22nd March 2024 koenvanseijen Farmers First Tech, Nutrient Dense Food, Nutrients to Soil, Regenerative Agriculture, Role of Animals 0 Comments

A conversation with Chris Bloomfield and Daniel Reisman, co-founders of Collie, a provider of virtual cow guidance system for managing production in grazing, about enabling regenerative dairy, how virtually fencing and cow guidance drastically reduce labour and boost production. To feed ourselves and the planet sustainably, we need to include animals as part of agriculture. We dive deep into going from vegan to grazing, animal welfare, and the state of our planet. How do we enable more farmers to hold complexity on their farms? How do we use technology to enable complexity instead of using technology to make everything mono, as we have done in the last 50 years?

Abby Rose – On raising non-extractive funding and the power of AI to help farmers with observation

20th February 2024 koenvanseijen Diet Change, Farmers First Tech, Nutrients to Soil, Regenerative Agriculture 0 Comments

A conversation with Abby Rose, co-founder of Vidacycle and Farmerama, about the role and potential of AI in observation, alternative investment, the power of transparency, why regenerative viticulture is so interesting, and more.

Why did someone who didn’t really need the money and had serious and reasonable questions about the tendency of startups, both in and outside the regenerative space, to keep raising money, ended up raising funding? Not in a traditional, potentially extractive way, but a revenue share, and service fee, and a cap.

Brett Hundley – From Tyson Foods equity analyst to financing millions of trees

13th February 2024 koenvanseijen Farmers First Tech, Landscape Design 2.0, Nutrients to Soil, Regenerative Agriculture 0 Comments

A conversation with Brett Hundley, President of Agroforestry Partners (AP), a fund that invests in agroforestry projects on farmland with the strategy of providing uncorrelated and attractive nature-based investment opportunities for investors.
We talk about moving away from an agricultural system that relies on annuals to a system that relies more on perennial trees. If trees are the answer to whatever the question is, how do we get millions of more trees into the ground?

How do we finance them, and how do we make the key stakeholders, the farmers- that need to give agroforestry operators access to their land for 20 40 or maybe a 100 years- comfortable with these farming systems? How do we get comfortable with writing these checks the other essential stakeholder investors that need to pour hundreds of millions into an industry and a system they are not really used to, with long time horizons (chestnuts, for instance, take 7 to 9 years before they bare fruit but could produce for at least 50 or even hundreds of years)?