At the end of 2023 we took the AgEmerge Podcast on the road to the Big Soil Health Event in Cedar Falls, Iowa. It was a great event where hundreds of farmers and ranchers from all over the country gathered to learn, share and encourage each other to continue to adopt soil health strategies. We asked attendees to join us in our “on the road" studio to share their soil health journey and I want to tell you, get a tissue. These are heartfelt, raw stories of family, legacy and amazing soil health. Thanks so much to our guests for sharing! Check out our awesome guest list: Sue Kuennen from Iowa Tom Rudolph from Indiana Seth Watkins from Iowa Liz Haney from Texas: https://www.agsoilregen.com/ Emily Kamala from Colorado: https://farmrebel.org/ Lance Irving from Wisconsin: https://sandcountyfoundation.org/about/staff Jeremy and Kelly Slack from Ohio Jerry and Jen Volenec from Wisconsin Evan and Rochelle from Wisconsin: https://craftgrainswi.com/ Nick Sennert from Iowa Roger Wenning from Indiana Cameron Mills from Indiana: http://millsfamilyfarms.com/ Got questions you want answered? Send them our way and we’ll do our best to research and find answers. Know someone you think would be great on the AgEmerge stage or podcast? Send your questions or suggestions to kim@asn.farm we’d love to hear from you.

Dr. Jason Rowntree joins Monte as they have a great discussion about Jason’s research that focuses on identifying the metrics and management that reflect ecological improvement in grazing land and other agricultural systems. And just like many of our guest, he had a moment where his paradigm shifted and it came in the form of a series of hurricanes. And that got him thinking about resilience and what does it mean to look at resilience in agriculture. Jason is also the co-director of the Center for Regenerative Agriculture at Michigan State University. https://www.canr.msu.edu/regenerative-agriculture/ Jason Rowntree is a professor of Animal Science at Michigan State University where he holds the Charles Stewart Mott Distinguished Professorship for Sustainable Agriculture. Rowntree’s research focuses on identifying the metrics and management that reflect ecological improvement in grazing land and other agricultural systems. Rowntree has given presentations throughout the United States, Australian, Canada, Europe, Saudi Arabia, Africa and New Zealand. Rowntree has led or been a co-investigator on $27.75 million in funding to conduct food system research. Jason is also the co-director of the Center for Regenerative Agriculture at Michigan State University. His work in beef sustainability was featured in the movie Sacred Cow (https://www.sacredcow.info/) and he too has been highlighted in The Washington Post, New York Times, Forbes and many other popular media publications. Got questions you want answered? Send them our way and we’ll do our best to research and find answers. Know someone you think would be great on the AgEmerge stage or podcast? Send your questions or suggestions to kim@asn.farm we’d love to hear from you.

Dr. Don Reicosk. Dr. Reicosky is a retired Soil Scientist for the USDA-ARS, North Central Soil Conservation Research Laboratory, Morris, MN, and Adjunct Professor in the Soil Science Department, University of Minnesota, St. Paul. He has an exciting discussion with Monte about the foundational research he conducted back in the late 1990’s finding that tillage releases carbon into the atmosphere in sudden rushes of CO2 as soil is opened up. And now, more than ever, Dr. Reicosky uses his time to help growers know this critical information, whether it's conservation, agriculture, regenerative agriculture or soil health farming, he says we’ve got to adopt these practices so we don't destroy all of our soil resources. Don's early research involved describing crop response and water use on conventional till and no-till systems with and without irrigation and later focused on tillage and crop biomass management as related to global change issues with emphasis on measuring carbon dioxide and water losses following intensive tillage with a portable chamber. The short-term tillage-induced gaseous losses of carbon were related to the volume of soil disturbed in the tillage operation and help explain the long-term decline in soil carbon associated with intensive tillage agriculture. These results suggest need for improved Conservation Agriculture Systems for enhancement of soil resources and environmental quality that resulted in numerous international invitations. In retirement, he continues to write about Conservation Agriculture Systems, soil carbon management and environmental issues and to travel and talk about carbon cycling and carbon management in agricultural production systems.

As 2023 draws to a close, we often find ourselves evaluating the results of this year's harvest and reflecting on the systems and practices we’ve adopted to improve soil health. Some of our guests have shared with us they changed their practices not only for soil health and water quality, but also because of a health event in their lives that prompted an examination of their current systems. Today, we’re bringing you a medley of guests who explore the human health to soil health connection. We’ve picked out some great highlights, with Seth Watkins, a farmer and inaugural Iowa Leopold Conservation Award recipient in 2022. Anthony Corsaro, the Founder and Managing Director at Outlaw Ventures who are working on building a better food system of tomorrow. Erin Martin, gerontologist and founder of Conscious Aging Solutions and Dr. Stephan van Vliet, Assistant Professor in Nutrition, Dietetics and Food Sciences. AgEmerge Podcast Episode 124 a powerful collection of guests, so click above to watch or listen. Below are links to each guest episode to hear their experiences in full context. AgEmerge Podcast Episode 067 with Seth Watkins: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAIr5GyUSgU AgEmerge Podcast Episode 118 with Anthony Corsaro: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAIr5GyUSgU AgEmerge Podcast Episode 086 with Erin Martin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAIr5GyUSgU AgEmerge Podcast Episode 056 with Dr. Stefan van Vliet: https://www.agsolutionsnetwork.com/agemergepodcast/episode/8f97aa8a/056-agemerge-podcast-dr-stephan-van-vliet-research-at-the-nexus-of-agricultural-and-human-health Know someone you think would be great on the AgEmerge stage or podcast? Email contactus@asn.farm We’d love to hear from you!

Jimmy Emmons is the Senior Vice President of Trust In Food and leads their Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities Connected Ag Project, America’s Conservation Ag Movement and Trust In Beef, coalition-driven conservation programs developed to accelerate the adoption of conservation agriculture at scale. Monte and Jimmy discuss what the successful implementation of these practices looks like and how leaving a legacy is so much more than leaving a piece of property. Jimmy and his wife, Ginger, own and operate Emmons Farm in Leedey, Okla., where they farm 2,000 acres and have 5,000 acres of rangeland where they run 300 head of cows and calves in an integrated row-crop and livestock operation that optimizes water resources, reduces erosion and improves organic material in the soils. He is a public speaker, educator, mentor and advocate for conservation management practices to improve producers’ resiliency to weather, operational efficiency and profitability. Emmons most recently served as coordinator for mentoring for the Oklahoma Conservation Commission. Prior to that, he was regional coordinator for USDA’s Farm Production and Conservation, where he supported operational and business functions across the Farm Service Agency (FSA), Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and Risk Management Agency (RMA). He has also served as president of the Oklahoma Association of Conservation Districts and led fundraising for the National Young Farmers Education Association. https://www.trustinfood.com/ Got questions you want answered? Send them our way and we’ll do our best to research and find answers. Know someone you think would be great on the AgEmerge stage or podcast? Send your questions or suggestions to contactus@agemerge.com we’d love to hear from you.

Dr. Jack Schultz is a Research Professor in the Department of Biology and Biochemistry at the University of Houston. His research has focused on the chemical and molecular interactions between plants and insect herbivores. And those relationships are what Monte and Dr. Schultz explore as they discuss the amazing communications being discovered between plants and insects. It’s a fascinating conversation so let’s jump right in. Dr. Schultz’s research has focused on the chemical and molecular bases of interactions between plants and insect herbivores, integrating insect physiology and behavior with plant chemistry, molecular biology and ecology. He (with undergraduate Ian Baldwin) was the first to demonstrate volatile signaling by and among plants. He also studied the role of plant tannins induced by insect attack in defending plants against pests and found that some interfere with biocontrol. Gene expression underlies defense induction by plants. The Schultz lab demonstrated the relationship between gene expression, resource allocation, defense compound production and plant defense using the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. They also found that salivary signals allow some insects to block plant defense responses. Some insects induce the development of unique organs on plants called ‘galls.’ Galls house the insect and provide concentrated food resources. A team led by Schultz demonstrated that development of the gall formed on grape leaves by grape phylloxera involves plant genetic pathways unrelated to leaf development and requires relatively undifferentiated leaf cells and manipulation of plant hormones. In 2007, Schultz became Director of the Christopher Bond Life Science Center at the University of Missouri, where he led interdisciplinary research by faculty from 8 departments in 6 colleges. Funded by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and NSF, he developed and taught in a training program in science communication for graduate students. Schultz has also taught tropical ecology and studied plant defenses in Costa Rica, primarily at the La Selva Biological Station. https://uh.edu/nsm/biology-biochemistry/people/profiles/jack-schultz/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15923339/ Got questions you want answered? Send them our way and we’ll do our best to research and find answers. Know someone you think would be great on the AgEmerge stage or podcast? Send your questions or suggestions to contactus@asn.farm we’d love to hear from you.

Dr. Kelsey Griesheim is an Assistant Professor of Soil Fertility at North Dakota State University. She completed her PhD at the University of Illinois, where she worked under Dr. Richard Mulvaney conducting field evaluations to measure fertilizer uptake efficiency of various application types. Monte and Dr. Griesheim take a deep dive into her studies of nitrogen. She gives us a lot to think about like when we apply nitrogen, we’re fertilizing our crops, but we are also fertilizing the microorganisms. And that, Dr. Griesheim points out, is why nitrogen management is so difficult, because we have to take into account the fact that nitrogen is not just being used by the plants, it's also being used by microorganisms in the soil. And they’re often, a lot better at scavenging nitrogen than the crop is. We’ll cover that and so much more so let’s get started. Kelsey Griesheim grew up in Mt. Pulaski, Illinois and completed her BS, MS, and PhD from the University of Illinois in Urbana, Champaign. She was hired as assistant professor of soil fertility at North Dakota State University (NDSU) in February of 2023. While at Illinois, she worked under Dr. Richard Mulvaney conducting field evaluations to measure fertilizer uptake efficiency of various application types using 15N as a tracer. She is currently building a research program at NDSU to tackle the same issues for North Dakota producers. https://www.ndsu.edu/agriculture/ag-home/directory/kelsey-griesheim https://acsess.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/saj2.20503 https://acsess.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/saj2.20531 Got questions you want answered? Send them our way and we’ll do our best to research and find answers. Know someone you think would be great on the AgEmerge stage or podcast? Send your questions or suggestions to kim@asn.farm we’d love to hear from you.

Pamela Tanner Boll is an artist, filmmaker, writer as well as the Director and Executive Producer of several films including To Which We Belong. She is also the Founder and CEO of Mystic Artists Film Productions. We’re excited to explore her vision as she worked to, in her words, “shine a light on the amazing possibilities for restoring our lands. And how we could fix our water problems and our climate issues.” She loves farmers and all of that was what brought her to this film. We think you’ll be inspired as you listen to the stories and vision not only from the film but from the possibilities and hopes we have to address the challenges in agriculture we are facing today. Pamela is the Co-Executive Producer of the Academy Award-winning documentary, Born into Brothels. Pamela has executive produced the following film projects: Living in Emergency: True Stories of Doctors Without Borders; In a Dream; Connected: A Declaration of Interdependence; Our Summer in Tehran; Strange Powers: Stephin Merritt and the Magnetic Fields; Close to the Fire; She’s Beautiful When She’s Angry; E-Team; Teen Press; Obit; Navajo Nation; and Storm Lake. Pamela directed and produced Who Does She Think She Is?, a feature-length documentary film that follows five women who are mothers and artists. Pamela also directed A Small Good Thing, a film that asks the question how can we live in a better way. She is currently working on a new film project, To Which We Belong, highlighting farmers and ranchers who are improving the health of their land with regenerative practices and helping to reverse climate change. Pamela grew up in Parkersburg, WV. She received a BA in English from Middlebury College and a Masters in Interdisciplinary Studies from Lesley University. Pamela raised three sons in Winchester, Massachusetts and now lives in Boulder, Colorado. https://www.towhichwebelong.com/ Got questions you want answered? Send them our way and we’ll do our best to research and find answers. Know someone you think would be great on the AgEmerge stage or podcast? Send your questions or suggestions to contactus@agsolutionsnetwork.com we’d love to hear from you.