1000 Farms Initiative: A New Paradigm of Science in Service of Farmers

Entomologist, agroecologist, farmer, rancher, and beekeeper, Dr. Jonathan Lundgren, was a scientist with the USDA Agricultural Research Service for 11 years. He left to undertake regenerative agriculture science studies that embraced a larger paradigm, looking at the interconnection of all living beings on the farm and in the community, from the soil microbiome to the insects to the plants and animals — and the farmers. He’s founder and director of the Ecdysis Foundation, and CEO of Blue Dasher Farm, which work as a partnership. The 1000 Farms Initiative is producing extremely detailed agricultural data from farms across North America — and giving the data away for free.

TIMELINE
2’50 how Jonathan got interested in insects
3’34 working as research scientist for USDA
4’17 the problem with the USDA framework for solving insect problems and human problems
5’36 as society evolves science has to evolve too
7’04 the importance of biodiversity above and below the soil surface
8’55 the importance of seeing our connection to the natural world, starting in our bodies
9’28 Jonathan’s definition of regenerative agriculture
11’35 improving land health and human health at the same time by removing oversimplification through monocultures
12’27 the problem with extraction as a paradigm in agriculture
14’24 the problem of industrial systems based on cheap energy
14’45. Ecdysis foundation — what “ecdysis” means
15’59 1000 Farms Initiative — rethinking how science is applied in agriculture
17’02 a new vision of agricultural science as opposed to the mainstream vision — the metrics of success is one of the main differences
19’08 they’re measuring a continent’s food system on an intimate level
20’26 they’ve identified tens of thousands of species in the food system, from soil microorganisms, invertebrates, birds, plants — the first time this has ever been done
21’47 regenerative soils in row crops alone could sequester twice the amount of carbon we emit per year
23’08 this is a climate change reversal strategy, the best option he’s seen
24’20 armchair ecologists making global food policy decisions — many scientists don’t go out into the field any more
25’57 scientists were never meant to be the experts on farming — this is a humbling realization. The farmers are the experts and they’re developing successful systems
27’23 thinking about scale of regenerative farms for good stewardship
27’46 need more farmers farming smaller and better, not bigger and simpler
28’27 vision of farmers farming smaller farms for communities and families
29’18 crisis does a good job of pushing that shift — struggles of cash grain production
30’14 dispersion of human population to other parts of the country and the cultural shift that goes with it
31’26. the problem of the middleman
33’15 the intuitive sense of good and bad farming
33’53 the promotion of efficiency happens when the farming system is male-dominated. But when women and families come into the picture there’s a shift and things improve
36’10 physiologically we know what good, regenerative farming is — there’s more laughter, more productivity, less stress
37’18 farmers are doing things that science says can’t happen, like growing soil fast, increasing biodiversity, increasing resilience
41’07 how people transition out of poor grain farming, stacking enterprises, returning marginal areas to nature
41’48 being on the Roots So Deep series
43’06 Blue Dasher Farm
44’10 Ecdysis and Blue Dasher Farm are a partnership
45’23 focusing now on what the future looks like and putting data behind the farmers who are doing the best practices in regenerative agriculture
47’08 providing data to decision-makers and policy-makers
48’55 the problem of industrial systems based on cheap energy​

How to Listen

iTunes • Sticher • I heart Radio  • Google Play • Spotify • RadioPublic

More Episodes