May/June

Kansas farmer aims to make herbicides obsolete with robotic weed control

Greenfield, Inc.’s “WeedBots” cut weeds down to size, help farmers reduce herbicide use Biotechnology companies have put farmers on an herbicide treadmill. Weeds have developed resistance to glyphosate, the most widely used herbicide. The companies then introduced crops that are genetically modified to tolerate dicamba and 2,4-D herbicides. But both of those herbicides are prone […]

Expo West panel: Nutrient density of food is the “lever” to scale regenerative agriculture

Proving that foods produced using regenerative agriculture are more nutrient-dense will drive wide-scale adoption of regenerative farming methods. This was the key message of a panel session, “Nutrient Density: The Consumer Case for Regenerative Agriculture,” at Natural Products Expo West in March. Panelists at the session included Tina Owens, senior fellow of regenerative agriculture at […]

Illinois farmer aims to inspire next generations to farm organically

Janie’s Farm Organics provides “guiding north star” for organic success Life sometimes works in mysterious ways and can even guide us in the right direction. Take Harold Wilken, an organic farmer in Danforth, Illinois. While farming conventionally, Wilken had bad experiences with pesticides—a common experience of conventional farmers. In 1992, he was accidently sprayed with […]

Organic farmer challenges pesticide company representatives at regenerative agriculture conference

As a Marine in Iraq doing counterinsurgency, Ryan Erisman, learned how to work in a hostile environment. Now an organic farmer, Erisman had no problem challenging a different opponent—pesticide company representatives—about the need for their products at the Regenerative Agriculture and Food Systems Summit. During a question-and-answer segment of the panel session, “Transforming and Innovating […]

Educating consumers is key to driving demand for regenerative foods

Regenerative Agriculture and Food Systems Summit focused on accelerating the global transition to regenerative agriculture In order to drive demand for foods produced using regenerative agriculture, consumers must be educated about the value of such foods and food retailers need to take a leadership role in working with brands to bring regenerative foods to market. […]