Upcoming ‘Kiss the Ground’ Movie Features Three Understanding Ag Experts
Questions and Answers with Our ‘In-House’ Stars By Ron Nichols, Understanding Ag Kiss the Ground is a new, feature-length movie that explores key soil health and regenerative agricultural principles, and features interviews with a wide range of authors, experts, farmers, researchers and scientists. Seven years in the making, “Kiss the Ground,” the movie offers a hope-filled […]
The ‘Unintended’ Consequences of Taxpayer-Subsidized Crop Insurance
By Doug Peterson, Understanding Ag, LLC There are many things that influence what a person does and how well they take care of the land they own or operate. Several studies show that any kind of absentee or non-operating landowner (investors, heirs, retirees) generally do not invest in conservation on the land as much as […]
Where Human Health Begins: One Farmer’s Story of Regeneration
Sometimes, adversity is a blessing, though rarely does it seem so in the moment. Just ask Roy Thompson, a 33-year-old farmer from Akaska, South Dakota. At age 20, Roy was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, an inflammatory bowel condition that the Mayo Clinic’s website describes as “both painful and debilitating, and sometimes may lead to life-threatening […]
Checking in on the Regenerative Journey of Macauley Kincaid
‘Dad, I think you’re the greatest farmer in the world’ Checking in on the regenerative journey of Macauley Kincaid By Ron Nichols, Understanding Ag I first spoke with the then 25-year-old Macauley Kincaid a little over a year ago, shortly after he attended a Soil Health Academy school. After that experience, Macauley went back to […]
Don’t Let it Bug You: Six Steps to Control Internal & External Parasites
Allen R Williams, Ph.D., Soil Health Academy Instructor Parasite control in livestock is a major issue and has been heavily focused on for several decades now. There are numerous anthelmintics (chemical dewormers) available for internal parasite control and a host of pyrethroid and organophosphate products available for fly control. The issue with any of these […]
A Tale of Two Industries
Allen R Williams, Ph.D., Soil Health Academy Instructor The 1859 novel written by Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities, was required reading for millions of school kids in English Literature classes and is one of the best-selling novels of all time. The story is set in the late 18th century against the background of […]
Can Food Be Our Medicine?
Allen R Williams, Ph.D., Soil Health Academy Instructor Did you know that the health of plants, animals, ecosystems and humans is inextricably tied to plant phytochemical diversity? So, what are phytochemicals? In short, they are compounds naturally produced by plants that help the plants thrive in challenging conditions, fight off competitors, pest insects and disease. […]
The Most Radical Act You Can Do: Grow Your Own Food!
Ray Archuleta, Soil Health Academy Instructor Concerns about the US food chain supply made their way into the mainstream this week, as more meat processing and packaging plants suspend operations temporarily due to coronavirus outbreaks in the workforce. When Smithfield Foods announced it was shutting its Sioux Falls plant indefinitely, CEO Ken Sullivan warned that […]