Quality Agriculture: Conversations about Regenerative Agronomy with Innovative Scientists and Growers

An increasing number of farmers and scientists believe the foundational ideas of mainstream agronomy are incomplete and unsound. Conventional crop production ignores biology in favor of chemical interventions, leading farmers to buy inputs they don’t need. Fertilizer recommendations keep going up, pest pressure becomes more intense, pesticide applications are needed more often, and soil health continues to degrade. However, innovative growers and researchers are beginning to think differently about production agriculture systems. They have developed practices that regenerate soil and plant health and that deliver much better results than mainstream methods. Using these principles, growers are able to decrease fertilizer applications, reduce disease and insect pressure, hold more water in the soil, improve soil health, and grow crops that are more resilient to climatic extremes, increasing farm profitability immediately. As a leading agronomist and teacher, John Kempf has implemented regenerative agricultural systems on millions of acres across many different crop types and growing regions with his team at Advancing Eco Agriculture. In Quality Agriculture, John interviews a group of growers, consultants, and scientists who describe how to think and farm differently in order to produce exceptional results in the field. Their remarkable insights will challenge you, encourage you, and inspire gratitude and joy for the rewards of working with natural systems. Introduction 8 Acknowledgments 12 Developing Disease Resistance and Regenerating Soil Health 13 Michael McNeill 13 Suppressing Disease for Future Crops 32 Don Huber 32 The Value of Regenerative Agriculture Management 58 Jerry Hatfield 58 Indicators of Healthy Soil 75 Robert Kremer 75 Working with Life Rather than Death 94 Gabe Brown 94 Eliminating the Need for Synthetic Fertilizers 116 Dr. Kris Nichols 116 Ecosystem Diversity Prevents Insect Pressure 134 Dr. Jonathan Lundgren 134 Cultural Management for Organic Weed Control 154 Klaas Martens 154 Concepts in Biological Farming 180 Gary Zimmer 180 Insects: Nature’s Garbage Collectors 196 Tom Dykstra 196 Passionately Breeding for Health and Quality 223 Ed Curry 223 Water and Nutrient Movement in Plants and Cells 239 Dr. Gerald Pollack 239 Meeting the Demand for Nutrient-Dense Food 260 Matt Kleinhenz 260 About the Author 283