Conventional Farmer Transition Starter Kit

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This free kit is to help conventional farmers find a starting place as they transition their operations away from synthetic and toxic technology and into soil health and regenerative practices. Audio lectures on cover crops, soil testing & soil fertility advice from farmers who have already transitioned their farms from toxic chemistry to more natural systems, like Gabe Brown and Klaas Marten. 

As a bonus, enjoy a free April 2020 magazine issue (digital only) that features 100 pages to help you transition your farm, ranch, orchard or greenhouse to a more soil-health focused operation.

We know often times, finding the first step to changing can be a very difficult part, and these pieces were specially designed to help address this challenge. 

What is included:

Gabe Brown MP3: Building Soils with Cover Crops: The 5 Principles of Building Soils

Imagine rapidly building soil on more than 5,000 acres. That’s what Gabe Brown is doing by merging back-to-basics agrarian practices with innovative, science-based sustainable farming techniques on his multi-thousand-acre diversified family ranch in North Dakota. Learn how his diverse practices of converting all cropland to no-till, constant seeding with a cocktail of dozens of cover crops, and mob grazing of diverse livestock species all combine for continued improvement of his farm’s greatest resource, its soil.

Gabe Brown has merged back-to-basics agrarian practices with innovative, science-based, sustainable farming techniques on his 5,400-acre diversified North Dakota family ranch for over 15 years. For decades the cropland had been conventionally farmed with tillage and the use of synthetic fertilizers and herbicides. In 1993 Gabe purchased a no-till drill and converted 100 percent of his cropland to no-till. He practices Holistic Management and employs a diverse cropping strategy on his grain and cattle operation, which includes over 25 different cash and cover crops, resulting in high yields and strong net profits. The Natural Resources Defense Council awarded one of its 2012 Growing Green Awards to Gabe.

(1 hour, 18 minutes, 49 seconds) Recorded at the 2014 Acres U.S.A. Conference, Columbus, Ohio, Saturday, December 6, 2014. 

Klaas Marten MP3: Soil, Testing and Fertility MP3

In our 2009 Acres U.S.A. annual conference, Klaas Martens talks about his experience in making a cohesive approach to eco-agriculture. As Fred Walters says in his introduction, "Some people push, and some people pull," and Martens expands on that notion to determine the best practices in growing plants that are sustainable.

Klaas began his farming career as a conventional grower in the 1970s. He and his partner, Mary-Howell, began to transition their farm in the early 1990s. Klaas and Mary-Howell now farm 1,400 acres of certified organic crops and operate Lakeview Organic Grain, a certified organic feed and seed business. They are frequent speakers at conferences and have written extensively on organic farming. Organic research is a strong component of their farming operation. They have conducted on-farm research independently and in cooperation with university researchers.

(1 hour) Recorded at the 2009 Acres U.S.A. Conference

Jeff Lowenfels MP3: Soil Life 101

The author of the book Teaming with Microbes, explains the concept of the soil foodweb and how it applies to growers. Learn of the interconnectedness of soil bacteria, fungi, and other forms of microlife and how they function within processes of nutrient cycling in the soil.

Jeff Lowenfels is a weekly columnist for the Anchorage Daily News. He is the founder of Plant a Row for the Hungry, a program that has created over 14 million meals to feed the hungry. A popular national garden writer and leading proponent of gardening using the concepts of the soil food web, Jeff is the former president of the Garden Writers of America and was made a GWA Fellow in 1999. In 2005, he was inducted into the Garden Writers of America Hall of Fame. He lives in Anchorage, Alaska. He is author of Teaming with Nutrients: The Organic Gardener’s Guide to Optimizing Plant Nutrition and co-author of Teaming with Microbes: The Organic Gardener’s Guide to the Soil Food Web.

1 hour. Recorded at the 2014 Acres U.S.A. Conference, Columbus, Ohio, Thursday, December 4, 2014.

April 2020 Magazine Issue PDF

This magazine is designed just for farmers who are moving away from toxic systems and into more natural methods of farming. Stories include information about timing from Darby Simpson, planning methods from Abbey Smith, and much, much more.

Acres U.S.A., The Voice of Eco-Agriculture, April 2020 | Issue #586 Copyright 2020, 100 pages (PDF, 21.8 MB)