Hold Hands With the Earth

with John Arbuckle

John Arbuckle of Singing Prairie Farms is a 9th generation livestock farmer. Today, he helps us take a deep dive into the heart of regenerative farming practices. He explains how we need to see soil differently, as a living entity that we must nurture and respect.

His family has been farming for the last 300 years, and they’ve learned a thing or two along the way. In this conversation, John shares their accumulated wisdom. He discusses how recent droughts, flooding and even wildfires are related to our disconnect with the land. He contrasts regenerative agriculture to the industrial model of farming and explains how good the former is for the planet. And he invites us all to “hold hands with the earth” and take part in regenerating the soil, whether we are farmers or not.

Notes:

Highlights from the conversation include:

How to hold hands with nature
Benefits of regenerative agriculture (such as less land erosion, carbon being sequestered back into the earth, and wild species thriving).
The effect of rotational grazing on the earth
How modern interventions in agriculture degrade the environment drastically
How soil, plants, and animals thrive w/o impediments
Why seeing the land as a “living entity” helps us appreciate it and nurture it more
How droughts, floods, and wildfires are related to our mistreatment & misunderstanding of the soil
How to harness what’s already on the farm instead of buying synthetic fertilizer
Why regenerative farming needs a more exact definition
Why more farmers should consider themselves “soil farmers” above anything else
The importance of farmers regarding their work as a business