State of Regenerative Ag (with Gabe Brown)

yeah in case grandpa grapple comes up here in the middle of these he just walks and he's like what are you guys doing are you guys on tv and he don't care he just asks his questions he does not care that's funny you're listening to grey's cast a show that shares the secrets to selling perishable food products online the show and advice is brought to you by the team at seven suns which is an eight-figure e-commerce business that started completely from scratch each episode we bring you one topic three strategies and one tangible resource to continue your learning and put you on the fast track in your own e-commerce journey let's begin [Music] okay we'll just start three two one all right everybody thanks for listening and welcome back to another episode of grey's cast my name is brooks hitsfield with seven sons and grace cart and as always i'm joined with my brother blaine ceo of seven sons blaine it's always good to uh record another one of these yes excited for this one here this is gonna be a fun episode because we have a very special guest we have uh it's gabe movie star brown is joining us today let's see gabe it's good to have you with us oh it's great to be here today always a pleasure to come to seven suns so this episode is going to be a little bit different i know we've always kind of stuck to the top three on a certain topic but since we have gabe with us we we've been breaking the rules we can't hold it just to one topic he's a wealth of knowledge so we got to take this wherever it can go so sure put the pressure on me yes so you know we know a lot of you who listen to this who are probably a you know a producer uh you know you'd love to have the opportunity to sit across the table with gabe brown so we're gonna try to do our best to ask the interesting questions and um yeah see where this goes so blaine do you maybe want to start this off by talking a little bit how we first met uh gabe brown and where this where that all started yeah i would say about 10 years ago gabe your name just started surfacing everywhere and a lot of it was with row crop farmers around here they ask us have you heard of gabe brown what he's doing on on his ranch and his farm and then we had got involved in the grass-fed exchange um and i think it was was it the fourth grass-fed exchange 2012 2012 it was hosted at your ranch your farm or was that the i met you in 2012 in nebraska we did okay one okay okay and then it was what year was the graph it was that much 2013 the grass exchange at your place and and i kind of feel like that was a good yeah we just was connected at that conference and we served we we did serve i think on the board no you got off board the grass exchange and i had i just gotten on there but made a lot of connections uh there and have been working with paul um with you guys a direct marketing operation a bit it's been a pleasure and you guys you allen understanding ag the whole team has just been uh has been you know been working with you guys for well i know quite a quite a while and as we're just talking today and we and you're here in roanoke because we just did a soil health school and focused on marketing that's right that that was a lot of fun but uh for people that may not uh may not be familiar with brown's ranch nourished by nature do you want to get a quick overview i know you got started in 91 but take us give us a quick overview of what this has been like for you sure so my wife and i purchased the 5 000 acre ranch from her parents in 1991 and we operated it conventionally and then after a couple years i'm not from a farm so i was always looking to to add new ideas new technology etc and no-till was really catching on and it just made sense sold all my tillage equipment went no-till then we went through a period 1995 through 1998 we lost our crop three of those four years to hail and the other year to drought so i tell people that was a har very very difficult to live through that with no crop income for four years but it was absolutely the best thing that could have happened to us because it sent me on a path of learning how do ecosystems really function and what do i need to do as a farmer rancher to enhance the natural process and work with nature instead of against her and i i guess the the rest is just my story of a journey and we were talking today about how so many times it takes that major life disruption to finally get your attention and i love i love what you say all the time the the quote or i don't know whose quote it was about making if you'll make small changes change how you do things you want to make big changes change how you see things yeah that was a quote from don campbell a rancher in alberta canada and that's what it took for you those those years of losing the crops yeah i actually heard that quote at a conference in 1997 i just lost our third crop and when i heard that quote it changed my life it just stuck with me and i i realized it was on me yeah it was on me and i like to tell people you know your farm your ranch is a direct reflection of you if it's not what you like why don't you change it yeah and that's what i had to do i had to change the way i saw things i had to become an observer and that sent me down this regenerative path of course back then nobody talked about regenerative agriculture you know and i was only trying to save the farm keep the banker at bay you know who who coined the term how did that even come how did the word regenerative rise to the surface i'm just curious yeah well well it would really come about from rodale yeah you know he coined that many many years ago and then it kind of wasn't used and then i give credit to archuleta for really resurfacing it and starting to talk about regenerative back uh ray first came to my place in in 2007 and it changed his life and now he's known as ray the soul guy and one of our partners at understanding how did how did uh i mean you're known all over the world how did that how did it go from just you on your farm yes what you know i tell people gabe brown really isn't very smart but i know a lot of smart people and i met the right people at the right time you know i i could go through a list of them but one that i really need to give credit to is jay fear who it was our district conservationist with nrcs at the time he was working with me on a number of grazing projects we were doing on the ranch moving down to at that time we called it rotational grazing now we call it amp grazing and he saw the changes in my soil and he will tell you that it changed his career and his path and you always need those mentors who push you and jay would always say yeah gabe what you're doing but you could do better you know and yep one thing you say that to gabe brown i'm going to do better and and so that was a real spark and i met people like david brandt and ray archuleta and dr chris nichols you know and i really like how you need to associate yourself with like-minded people and that's what i did i i love a challenge and i love learning new things and you know here i am almost 60 years old and i just wake up loving every day because i'm going to learn something new every day and that makes it fun and regenerative agriculture is that way it's fun and it's engaging and you you work with life instead of death and that that's just a joy so i i know we're going to go deeper down talking about regenerative ag some opportunities that are there and most of our listeners our producers are probably well familiar with the term but anyone who's not how would you define regenerative agriculture yeah so what i what i look at it is i think of it as a renewal of a food and farming system that works with nature to improve the water cycle the mineral cycle the nutrient cycle the health of the land while improving farm and ranch profitability and the community dynamics the dynamics of the family and the next generation and then our community and that's where consumers are brought in is because their health is directly correlated to the health of the land that their food is growing in and on and you're at the grassroots of this and on kind of the inside tell us a little bit about the exposure that regenerative bag is getting and kind of the growth that we're seeing around that and what's driving that i know we talked a little bit about that at the event today but just for the listeners as well what are you seeing you know those of us who david brandt and i often talk about that many people know david brandt from carroll ohio long time no tiller you know no taylor since the 70s cover crop since the late 70s and you know we talked about how way back then we we we were on an island you know we were alone you know for crying out loud i was going to the library and looking up cover crops under the dewey decimal system you know that's how old we were you know al gore hadn't invented the internet you know so so uh it was slow to start but the last particular last three four years it's just warp speed those of us involved in regenerative agriculture feel like we're strapped to a spaceship you know and just go on a thousand miles an hour it's unbelievable and there's there's the book dirt to soil uh and that came out when two years ago yeah so it's movie star gabe brown awful dave brown that's right that's right tell us about the book what what uh what's been the reception and what are the opportunities that that's brought well i was approached by a number of publishers to write a book on my story and i told them i'm not a writer i don't have time so then finally had one that convinced me chelsea green convinced me yeah you need to write this story so it was released two years ago uh just over two years ago and and they let me know it's been the number one selling agriculture book on amazon for 24 straight months congrats and that uh i would have never thought i would have never believed and all that is is my story it's just what i went through and what i learned along the way and the people i met it's a it's a simple story and so now dr alan williams and i are working on a sequel book on rejection i heard a rumor about that we had alan on the podcast couple what a month ago or so and and got got that rumor so and then not only the book but there has been the film kissed the ground which yeah i know i've i've watched that that uh you've made appearance on that and uh um who else was on there uh obviously ray was a rock star yeah yep so us ellen got left out how did that happen yeah we were like what we didn't tell them about it we realized that movie was actually filmed it started five years ago it was the first time they filmed me for that movie and they they filmed ray and i and ah on site in oklahoma doing some work ray in kansas doing some work then they came to my ranch in north dakota and filmed for almost a week up there and then two years later they came back and filmed some more up there and and it was a journey you know it was one that started out to be about healthy food and then we ray uh showed them the importance of soil and and i give josh and rebecca togel world of credit because they really learned along the way and expanded the movie to where it really is a soil health plant health animal health human health connection so talk about who who is all involved in that and and and uh i mean how it came to be i know there was many folks backing it yeah and and what it was really was uh it started out with the organization kissed the ground they wanted to tell the story of the importance of healthy food and and how that healthy food is grown and so they they formed an alliance with josh and rebecca to produce this film and josh and rebecca award-winning uh um ah my mind's producing film producers excuse me yeah and and then uh they had in their research they came across ray the soil guy yeah and they reached out to ray archuleta and and uh and then uh ray uh they came and filmed him in kansas and they ray told them well you need to you need to go to gabe's branch so that's how i got involved with it so that came out on netflix right uh what was was that uh trying to remember how long ago that was from yeah it was just uh a month ago yep and so how how has that what are you hearing i mean are you guys what's the buzz what's yeah it's you know obviously you have a few critics but for every critter critic there's 99 positive testimonials to it and daily uh i'll probably average a couple hundred emails a day about that and about the uh you know the difference it's made and what an impression made and i know ray averages a lot more than that but he's better looking than me so that's to be expected you know so is that opening up uh new opportunities yeah it is it is you know our business understanding ag we saw a marked increase in the hits on our website and the interest i think it goes along it's kind of the perfect storm we're seeing these last three or four years and it's building and coveting is even built on that and accelerated it even more because you know this film came out in the midst of covid well people were searching for that where do we find yeah nutrient dead food to drive our health well that that movie was a perfect opportunity then it just showed that hey you need to source your food from farms and ranches that are using these regenerative practices and so we're seeing a a big increase from consumers but also industry yeah it's absolutely amazing how industry now is is focusing on hey this is the path we need to go for a variety of different reasons so that's something i think it would be nice to talk about a little bit deeper can you talk a little bit about understanding ag kind of the work you guys are doing who you guys are working with and the growth you're seeing around and the long-term vision yeah yeah so so along with ray archuleta dr ellen williams and shane knew the four of us partners uh came together and we we just we were all going down the regenerative path we all farm and ranch ourselves and we wanted to see this vision expanded you know we wanted to educate we're primarily an education based organization now shortly after we formed we realized that we needed a non-profit so that's soil health academy and that's what hap occurred the last three days here in roanoke in a wonderful event where we go around and we teach these regenerative principles along with and on farms and ranches that are using these regenerative practices and that's why we were at seven suns as one of the locations now understanding ag is a for-profit consulting group so we consult on farms ranches for businesses for organizations government entities whoever wants to learn about regenerative agriculture we will teach them and it's us for partners and we tell everyone kathy richberg our director of operations she's the boss of the whole thing and then we have old cadre of consultants these are very experienced uh farmers and ranchers themselves who go work with our clients and then we also have a very important cadre of technical advisors world-renowned technical advisors and we're very very fortunate that we've been able to attract some of the smartest brightest people in the world so as i said earlier we're not very intelligent but we know a lot of smart people yep so i think people listening to us and on you know kind of follow us are obviously going down this direct marketing journey so can you speak to that a little bit when it comes to regenerative agriculture for those of us who are you know selling pasture proteins say that we're practicing regenerative standards is it too early to be speaking to the consumer and bringing awareness around regenerative ag is there enough awareness out there where we're seeing consumer reception to this now or you know how do you guys feel on that i i remember back to the early days you never heard about regenerative agriculture like we said now i was just reading a food industry publication that said that no other term has caught on as fast as the word regenerative and they're talking about because it brings so much to the table and i tell i tell people i don't care if your interest is in farm profit if it's interested if your interest is in climate change if it's interest your interest is in water quantity or quality or your interest is in human health regenerative agriculture can address all of those and along with that then it brings back community you know the community of the family on the farm and ranch the community at large as far as the consumers regenerative agriculture can play a part in all this so why not work together on the 80 percent of the things we can agree on yep so what do you think about the future of regenerative agriculture you know we've kind of seen organic that became popular for a while we talked about this at the event a little bit more but just for those who are listening you know organic feels like it's kind of came it grew in popularity now a lot of people are kind of getting off of that you know term as a label and we know that accounts for very little of the farm ground is is a reason why you believe regenerative agriculture won't become another you know organic type label and way of farming that's a great question and i the reason i believe that this is so powerful is we can regenerate all landscapes ecosystems community dynamics the family you know our communities and our countries and i don't care where you live in the world regenerative is a positive who doesn't want to regenerate something it means renewal it means life it's so positive and that's just a great way to go through life with that positive attitude working with nature rather than against her yeah and that's that's what we were talking about earlier today at the school we've there's never we've seen a movement with so much momentum coming from so many different directions whether it's an environmental movement a consumer movement nutrient dense food um or or just farmers that that want their kids to inherit their farm and and a future for the next generation so i was just to say still on the marketing side though what about um you know for those of us who are direct marketing what about um a label is a label coming for a generator of access that's the answer and how does how does it not get get green washed and watered down you know as we see major companies major companies you know that a label will happen somewhere along the line from some company in saying that you know like you take our ranch in the nourish by nature label no we believe it's trust between us and our customers the consumers we have an open door policy on our ranch just like you do here at seven suns anyone can walk on at any time and look at anything that builds trust they trust us they trust the food that we produce and so i often tell people you know they ask well gabe why aren't you organic because i would easily qualify yeah and i said what value does it bring to my operation now i'm not belittling that for those that adds value to but for me we're selling our products higher than organic prices yep you know and and yet we're providing real value providing nutrient-dense foods to our customers do do you predict some green washing coming down the the road in the next five to ten years no doubt there will be no doubt but you know what i don't worry about that because i'm not in competition with any of them in my belief is that if you're advancing the ecosystem forward if you really have your customers best interest at heart yeah you know it's going to sort things out so let it be what it means you know i can only control my own operation yeah this is what we talk to people about a lot too because greenwashing and as farmers and producers sometimes it's it's really easy to get caught up in that and get really what happens that is not unique to our industry every industry deals with marketing claims and people taking that as far as it can and misleading the consumer it's not unique to us the biggest thing i think is just to not let it draw your attention to it and take focus away from you keep your keep your eye on the ball your farm and your why like you were talking about you know we often get asked well why are you out sharing this story man those those others are competition no i want everyone every farm family to be regenerative i want them all to be producing raising growing nutrient dense foods that's good for their family it's good for society it's good for all yep yep so i know and i don't know how many specifics you can share but i know uh from policymakers have been in touch with you guys uh governments from many places um you know what would what would you tell somebody if a policymaker for example whether it was a a a u.s policy maker if they came to you and said gabe what are the three things we can do from a government level what would you tell them yeah and it just so happens that uh we've had conversations with both the biden team and the trump team you know this election and our belief is we want to share this with everyone regardless of their political beliefs religious beliefs doesn't matter it that doesn't matter to us and so we were asked that very same question and they said if this is so good why doesn't everybody do it and i said well two reasons number one is fear you know farmers and ranchers get it pounded into them all the time they have to do things the same way you know they they have to use x amount of fertilizer and chemical and pesticides and fungicides and and plant this gmo seed it's just ingrained in them so it's kind of a fear of the unknown when they stop doing that but the other thing i tell every policy maker is the most antagonistic thing there is to regenerative agriculture is the current farm program here in the united states i'm talking in the united states because the majority of farmers and ranchers need an operating loan in order to put the crop in the ground every year well their bank is not going to give them that operating loan unless they take part in the federal farm program and get revenue insurance and that's what's holding it up now the beauty of that is right now last we added up understanding eggs consulting on about 22 million acres across north america incredible which is a lot of acres and we're very proud of the fact that we've moved the needle on almost all operations adding positive net return the very first year the first year the first year and the way we do that is through education so that's what i try and get across to the policy makers this is an educational problem you know nrcs had a lot of good programs out there natural resource conservation service but they didn't have the education to go with it once you pulled away that carrot so to speak that financial incentive why would the farmers and ranchers continue with it yeah because they didn't have the education as to why they need to do this so definitely i've heard i've heard about the attention you guys have gained from major policy makers what about on you know the the ad grant university front any any any progress there are we catching any attention uh oh we got their attention but we have to realize with land-grant universities they get their funding by doing research that's paid for by companies businesses etc okay what company or business is going to fund regenerative agriculture when you're working with nature now in saying that two and a half years ago well the story started about five years ago a team from general mills came to my ranch to learn about what i was doing and it was their head of sustainability and evidently that made an impression on them because then when we started soil health academy two individuals from that uh team came and attended the soil health academy well it was less than two months later i got an email from them they wanted to visit with us so we've signed an agreement with general mills that they are paying for the one-on-one consultation with farmers to move them down the regenerative path we started with 49 oat growers in north dakota minnesota manitoba saskatchewan now it's moved into kansas just today i had a conversation with them they want to move into wisconsin and illinois perhaps and we're working on large dairies in michigan now realize general mills does not buy directly from the farmers and ranchers but they know that the quality of the product that the quality the grains they buy from those grain terminals is directly dependent on those farmers and ranchers both producing high quality product from healthy soil but also those farmers and ranchers need to be profitable to stay in business so you know i my i can't say enough about general males when you walk into their headquarters right on the wall it's painted regenerative agriculture is the future wow and it's a company belief when you park in their parking lot and walk up the drive they have cover crops planted along that walkway with tags telling what they are because they're trying to educate their employees that's how much they believe there's a ground swelling coming i mean you you see it every day i know on our end here you know uh we work with whole foods on the eggs we were invited to a meeting to train their leadership team on regenerative agriculture i'm thinking we're just farm kids from indiana and we're but but they are uh they feel behind a lot of these food companies feel behind and they know they don't know they can't turn to many places to learn about it so they're inviting farmers two years ago we went down to atlanta to meet with the amazon team their leadership team and they just wanted to learn from the farmers because they couldn't learn it anywhere else what's going on what is this movement about yeah and since we signed that agreement with general mills we have been contacted by a number of multinationals to help lead their teams down the regenerative path so it's very exciting so on that note for as this is gaining attention from a lot of big names and you know they're believing that it's the future as well for people listening who are direct marketing um i know there might be people listening is that good or bad for us who are trying to go direct to consumer um and is there still gonna be market share left when these you know bigger names start turning and offering products that you know we have to offer yeah how would you speak to that yeah and and i look at that as nothing but positive because those large companies they have the monies to build awareness so they will help educate consumers as to the importance of of purchasing their food from those who are using these practices but then we know as farmers and ranchers that who better can produce a high quality product and offer a high quality product than us right there on the farm branch so i look at it as a total positive we will always be out compete the larger scale operations with uh with higher quality will be at the next level sooner because we're smaller we're agile and we can we can build trust faster so we're always going to compete as well in those economics we've always said this you know as the awareness grows that that helps everybody who's doing this we're talking about this the event today you know a lot of us look at large brands like butcherbox who are selling grass-fed beef online as competitors but you know actually what they have done is they just helped the consumer get more familiar with buying frozen perishable products online because that was something that a lot of people had anxiety with now that more people are used to doing that they're more likely to turn directly to a farm as you continue down this path so they like if you look at it as competition it's really not it's making the consumer more aware and it's going to help absolutely as we're talking about the consumer um a lot obviously what's in it for them more nutrient-dense foods can you talk about uh some of the the research that's going on around looking at and researching the nutrient density of food grown on regenerative soils absolutely well let me tie that into general mills so right now we're on almost 90 farms with working with general mills general mills is paying to measure the nutrient density in those grains being produced on those farms and so that's a positive those farmers are getting that information out there okay understanding ag this past year worked with a an individual a very well-known individual dr david montgomery who wrote the book dirt he wrote the book growing a revolution and he had our team go out on farms and ranches and what we did is we found a regenerative farm or a ranch and then a neighbor that was willing to cooperate we grew the same uh a grain the same vegetable the same pastured protein on both those operations okay and then we tested those foods for nutrient density and those results will be released when david's dr montgomery's book comes out here sometime uh in the spring i believe so is that the same and i also heard out dr alan williams talking about the research at with duke universities that's another totally different project so what we're doing with with uh uh dr stephen van vliet dr fred provenza and dr scott cronenberg dr stephen van vliet is with duke university we're actually trying to secure funding where we'll be doing human trials so we're going to take pastured proteins that are grown on a regenerative farm along with vegetables grains etc and we're going to feed those to one group of test subjects humans for 21 days meanwhile another group gets food grown in quote unquote the conventional mindset during this time we're going to measure with a mass spectrometer dr vanvleet will measure all the phytonutrients in these foods so we have that then there will be blood work taken every week then we'll take after the three weeks a week off and then we'll switch yeah and they'll consume the other okay and and once we get this project funded we are pretty confident of what's good it's gonna show well you've already got so much momentum there's ground swelling happening and that's without research like this yet so general mills already knows the the benefits of this then they already believe and no but just wait until some of this research begins to surface and this is going to be scientific research that can hold up to peer review we know when that comes out that'll be a major game changer you know we've already seen greater than 20 percent increase in the pastured protein business for 20 straight years now with covet it accelerated well beyond that think of this next step then yeah because most people are concerned about their health they just don't realize what's out there and available to them and we have to prove that to be honest those of us in regenerative agriculture we do need to prove that first and there's no company out there that's really going to pay for that yeah you know right it's up to us to to fund that well yeah there is there is if you're in that you're listening and you're in the food business uh you you need to be you need to be watching this and um getting getting involved position yourself because it's a revolution and that is you know there's no better time to position yourself before a revolution that's that's when you can ride the weight yeah that's that's exactly right and that's what i was gonna say you know those of you thinking of going down the direct marketing path you need to start on it now you need to work on regenerating your soils that doesn't happen overnight but but but the higher quality and more advanced your soils are the higher the nutrient density in the products that you're going to produce so if you want to position yourself now for a wave that we all feel and see coming stuff on the soil yeah that's what makes it's like the it's like the dark horse secret effect to a lot of these businesses that you know will grow quickly and it's what happens in the marketplace you get in at the right time yeah you know if you're doing business in a market that is on the decline that's like trying to surf with no waves right so it's as we talk about this that's a challenge so now's the time there's a wave growing with regenerative back yeah so i think that's a great overview of kind of where we're at with regenerative act i think it'd be cool to kind of take a sidebar to end this by talking a little bit more about nurse by nature i know that's your son paul's deal pretty close working with that but just as far as what's happened this year it's been a wild wild year with covid what are some of the biggest obstacles and challenges that you guys have had to overcome this year with the direct marketing realize nourished by nature as you said is paul's business and he's direct marketing primarily north dakota but he has shipped throughout conor continental u.s and that was moving along with steady growth and then covet hit and it's like all of a sudden we couldn't keep up the biggest challenge realize where we're at in north dakota uh grass finishing is pretty seasonal obviously you know we only have 110 frost free days a year so it's pretty seasonal so so we're harvesting the majority of our animals in that season in order to get peak nutrient content in those proteins and we just quickly about ran out of product and then the challenge became with with finding the processors etc and you know our options there just isn't that many in north dakota now uh happy to say we've worked through it and and we've been able to if we're out of stock it hasn't been for very long so we've been able to supply one of the nice things our ranch is long enough large enough we can produce a lot of animals and so yeah we had the capacity already to fill excess demand uh i would i would have to talk to paul as far as increase but minimum 500 percent yeah so you almost feel like that that the coved this leap flop leapfrogged you guys ahead at least five years and really the whole the whole industry all of us in the direct marketing that's right i've heard most people are up you know 200 to 1200 percent or even higher you know and yup and you compound that with awareness that's coming with regenerative agriculture plus what covid has accelerated not only with getting people thinking more about how to boost their immune system and what their you know diet has that kind of effect but even just the awareness now with people who've bought perishables online you know that uh you know i think we were looking at a report from kroger from a conference we were listening to virtually last week that they i mean it's you know uh i forget what the volume was that they're seeing that people ordering online but just an incredible incredible search yeah and overnight curbs things like curbside and ordering online have become the norm i mean yeah people who originally never were going to try it just want it their habit you know we as people were people of habits and there's just a certain amount of the population who just weren't going to order online they were always going to go in store but once they make that first purchase online they experience it and they know it works those habits you know in a certain percentage of those people it's going to be retained through yes convenience they're going to experience the convenience exactly and and for those wanting to head down the direct marketing path i tell them this i live in north dakota okay north dakota is a long way from about anywhere and we can easily successfully direct market to consumers doors from our ranch in north dakota you know what were you saying how many million customers do you have access to i think 44 million in our one day ground fedex zone yeah we have 730 000 in the whole state and also but but think about it you're doing it you're ready to do it and you're doing it successfully and and the thing of it is it's it's profitable it's a lot of work but it's profitable and there's real satisfaction that comes to providing value to your customers yep yep well what you you work with a lot of uh beginning regenerative farms that are trying to make a transition what are uh and if and there's a lot of farms are gonna be listed in this podcast that that uh um that are going down that path what are some of the biggest mistakes that maybe you see made by um people just going down this path yeah there's there's a number of them and i know this because we made them start now uh some of the things we're not being well enough educated now yes you learn things along the way but you really need to go seek out other farmers ranchers who are direct marketing learn from them one of the things i like most about this regenerative movement is everyone's willing to share you know it's totally almost totally opposite of the conventional agriculture you know and that's a good thing learn from others why why make the same mistakes one of them is they try to get too big too fast you know you have to build your customer base and then concentrate on a few enterprises to start yeah you know too many people think they need everything from a goat to duck to cattle and and boy that's just you get overwhelmed get overwhelmed and you lose you lose focus that's right that's right and i like what you mentioned about uh you know how folks in this industry are willing to share what's working and working well because i don't think i think people overlook a lot just how much of a unfair advantage and benefit that is to those of us who are trying to do this because other industries are not like that we know from the software business of having race car we've been to some industry conferences and some coaching events and it's not the same they're entirely different everyone sits at the table they're quiet it's everything they're running the secret you know you're absolutely right and it's a joy to help someone and what's wrong with that why not help someone there's plenty of customers for everyone i never look at anybody as quote unquote competition we're in the beginning of this movement that the time we're everyone's gonna be better off to share the ideas and and and get further along in the beginning phases of this we were talking about the the power of shared ideas earlier today in the in the conference so cool yeah well this has been awesome speaking of uh knowledge sharing and learning from folks in industry so you have the book we'll put a link to that on the show sure wherever this episode is hosted yep um but uh we're understanding ag where can people learn more about what you guys do there yeah and what how do they how can they participate you've got the soil health academy yeah give it up the soil health academy is our non-profit educational arm and they can come there for learning opportunities we host these academies like we did this week at seven suns and their wonderful three-day event but we're also rolling out our first online course regen ag 101 will be rolled out here in december it's an affordable course you can learn at your your speed so you can watch it anytime and we're excited about that there will be more of those to come and then understanding ag you can go to understandingag.com that's our that's our consulting arm and you can look what we have to offer there and if you want to see what you guys are doing on the marketing side it's by nature dot us okay nourish by dot u s yes okay and and the book that you and alan are working on when when when when can we give us some inside information there we actually when covet hit we were alan and i were working on it a bit then it quickly became apparent we need an online academy because covid was uh affecting the ability for people to travel and come to academies so we had to switch our focus the books on hold for right now don't hold your breath but it'll it'll come down the road okay any other other things that you know what's what's the next five years for for you guys yeah one of the things we're working on both from on uh brown's ranch nourished by nature understanding ag soil health academy we're really working hard on the human health aspect how do we take soil health plant health animal health equate it to human health one of the things we've seen also from covet is we have a large number of the medical communities doctors nurses health care practitioners coming to us to learn about soil health and how does in advanced soil health improve human health and we're going to focus strongly on that okay that's that's exciting that's a whole another wave of influence is the medical community and we already know you guys know from nourish by nature we know but from our business seven sons how many customers come to us because their integrative doctor told them they need to get healthier right that's exactly right and on that note i'll just put a plug in on our understanding ag website we host a number of webinars and one of our technical advisors is sarah kiel she is a nutritionist who really focuses on the soil health human health connection and she'll be doing a webinar for us here in december so feel free to listen into that one awesome awesome wow yeah great we appreciate your friendship we appreciate you being here in roanoke this week um and the rest of the team at understanding ag and soil health academy it's been a lot of fun um yeah absolutely and we can attest to just you know intending you know to the schools now here in the last uh three years just uh the quality of the events that you guys put on and really the takeaways that people get from it you know because that's always the transformation i love the la i love seeing the last day everyone is bright-eyed they're just excited to get back home they've learned so much you can see it in their eyes they've learned so much and then everyone expresses you know the benefit of that they've you know a lot of people feel alone then they join these schools and they leave with a community and you guys really stress that too which i like at the end of your schools that it's something where now they're in the community and when they have questions you know there's people they can turn to well all of your team at seven sons it was fantastic working with you this week and and we've got a real good relationship and we look forward to working with you in the future well thanks for joining if you guys are listening to this and you've read gabe's book maybe just a and ask for engagement um let us know what's the biggest insight you've you've received from gabe's book or maybe just wherever you've listened to gabe before and what he's taught you about regenerative ag leave that in the comments section below and thanks for listening gabe we appreciate it and we'll have to do this again i would love it thank you sounds good thanks gabe

Channel: GrazeCart

Views: 7,343

Rating: 4.9043064 out of 5

Keywords: grazecast, grazecart, gabe brown, understanding ag, soil health academy, ray archuletta, kiss the ground, seven sons farms, regenerative agriculture, general mills

Id: vPJunp4lVII

Length: 45min 11sec (2711 seconds)

Published: Sat Nov 28 2020