From Our Experts

I concluded my last post by asking if we can overdo our nurturing management (“all things in moderation”), so that it then becomes an overwhelming disturbance which outpaces the current capability of the soil to tolerate the impact? And instead of enhancing the soil biology, it then becomes deadly to it? That’s the very thing […]

As farmers and ranchers, we tend to be a bit stubborn and set in our ways. This leads us to operating our farms and ranches in basically the same way year after year. We use the same crop rotation, we graze the same pasture at the same time each year, and so on. I used […]

One of the true joys of getting to work with so many farmers and ranchers as they move down the regenerative path is watching as they learn how to work in synchrony with nature. It’s especially gratifying when they send along letters that describe their regenerative experiences, like the one I recently received from Daniel […]

Understanding Ag works with a significant number of gardening operations around the U.S. and has developed several helpful tips for regenerative gardening that you and your garden can benefit from, too. I hope you’ll consider incorporating many of these regenerative principles and practices in your garden this year. When you do so on a planned, […]

As a regenerative farmer and consultant, I see the enormous potential of restoring the health of our living and life-giving soil. However, I also see the potential for regenerative agriculture to become a broad and misleading brush by which some companies can disingenuously greenwash their sustainability efforts, confuse consumers and devalue the currency of legitimate […]

Pictured here is the De Leon family: Gil and Holly, with children Emanuel, Iliana, Celina, Christian, Valentina and Mariana. For Gilberto (Gil) De Leon, life is all about “service.” A U.S. Army Captain (promotable) with more than 17 years in military uniform, and multiple tours as a combat arms officer in Afghanistan and Iraq with […]

The Three Rules of Adaptive Stewardship TM have been proven to work in every region of North America and in many other parts of the world.  Results are similar relative to differences in soil type, precipitation, temperature, and other environmental differences.  The KEY to successful adaptive grazing is KEEN OBSERVATION.  Since adaptive grazing is not […]

It is important to note that every living cell and organism has a memory and responds to prior experiences accordingly. So, soil microbes have a memory and respond to prior grazing or other management practices. Plant cells have a memory. Animal cells have a memory. If similar practices are employed year after year, then the […]

The Three Rules of Adaptive StewardshipTM are: Rule of Compounding Rule of Diversity Rule of Disruption The Rule of Compounding follows the concept that every management decision or practice applied creates a series of compounding and cascading effects that are either positive or negative in nature. There never are any singular impacts and they are […]

Research performed by Dr. Stephan Van Vliet, Department of Nutrition, Dietetics and Food Sciences, Utah State University, and the Bionutrient Food Association, found that grass-finishing, compared to conventional grain finishing, increases a wide variety of health-promoting compounds in meat and improves animal health. Phytochemical richness of meat is directly related to the finishing diet of […]

In my previous post, I discussed building soil aggregation and how this can help to address some of the problems growers face today. Those stable aggregates are created by living plants that release root exudates to feed a diverse quorum of microbes in the soil. The more the diverse the living plants are, the more […]

When many people think of cover crops on their farms, their initial thoughts circle around soil erosion, either via wind or rain. Many of the programs through the NRCS and Soil and Water Conservation Districts that have anything to do with cover crops pertain to erosion problems as well. But those who have been using […]