Follow Joel Benson

Holistic management: it’s not just for land

Joel Benson studied Holistic Management, but he didn’t have any land to farm. So he turned the principles toward what he was doing: first his own business, and then the town of Buena Vista, Colorado, where he was mayor for eight years. The results were striking – a thriving business, and a dramatic reduction in corruption. Joel is the founder of the Paratu Institute, which works on good governance and thriving business through integrative policy and practices.

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More Episodes

Episode 50 – Graeme Hand

Episode 50 – Graeme Hand

Graeme Hand teaches Holistic Management, and how to restore grasslands with cattle–and his techniques might surprise you! ‎

Episode 48 -Rodrigo Sierra Corona, Conservation Cattle on the California Coast

Episode 48 -Rodrigo Sierra Corona, Conservation Cattle on the California Coast

While cows can be destructive, they can also be effective management tools for improving land health. We talk to Rodrigo Sierra Corona about his work to improve grasslands and preserve species at the Santa Lucia Conservancy.

Episode 47 – Kate Greenberg, Colorado Commissioner of Agriculture

Episode 47 – Kate Greenberg, Colorado Commissioner of Agriculture

A long-time Quivira Coalition leader and proponent of regenerative agriculture, Kate Greenberg is now the Commissioner of Agriculture for the state of Colorado. We talk about what it means to take a regenerative and “Radical Center” approach from her position in government.

Episode 46 – Richard Teague: the Science of Holistic Grazing

Episode 46 – Richard Teague: the Science of Holistic Grazing

Industrial agriculture looks like it’s alive, but often the soil is dead, animals are living in excruciating conditions, and the food looks good but is not as nutritious as food grown from living soils in humane circumstances.

Episode 45 – Mountain and Prairie host Ed Roberson on innovative approaches to water in the West

Episode 45 – Mountain and Prairie host Ed Roberson on innovative approaches to water in the West

Industrial agriculture looks like it’s alive, but often the soil is dead, animals are living in excruciating conditions, and the food looks good but is not as nutritious as food grown from living soils in humane circumstances.

Episode 44 – A regenerative farmer in Kenya

Episode 44 – A regenerative farmer in Kenya

Industrial agriculture looks like it’s alive, but often the soil is dead, animals are living in excruciating conditions, and the food looks good but is not as nutritious as food grown from living soils in humane circumstances.

Episode 43 – Envisioning a post-carbon food system

Episode 43 – Envisioning a post-carbon food system

Industrial agriculture looks like it’s alive, but often the soil is dead, animals are living in excruciating conditions, and the food looks good but is not as nutritious as food grown from living soils in humane circumstances.

Episode 42 – Incentivizing healthy soils through sensible policy

Episode 42 – Incentivizing healthy soils through sensible policy

Industrial agriculture looks like it’s alive, but often the soil is dead, animals are living in excruciating conditions, and the food looks good but is not as nutritious as food grown from living soils in humane circumstances.

Episode 41 – Zombie Agriculture

Episode 41 – Zombie Agriculture

Industrial agriculture looks like it’s alive, but often the soil is dead, animals are living in excruciating conditions, and the food looks good but is not as nutritious as food grown from living soils in humane circumstances.

Episode 40 – Farming While Black

Episode 40 – Farming While Black

That’s the name of Lean Penniman‘s new book, and it’s a profound and wide-ranging exploration of everything from the practical details of how to start a farm, to the rich history of African-heritage farming.

Episode 39 – Rounding up the evidence on Roundup

Episode 39 – Rounding up the evidence on Roundup

Carey Gillam is a veteran journalist, researcher and writer with more than 25 years experience in the news industry covering corporate America. Since 1998, Gillam's work has focused on digging into the big business of food and agriculture.

Episode 38 – The little rodent that could…

Episode 38 – The little rodent that could…

"In Eager, environmental journalist Ben Goldfarb reveals that our modern idea of what a healthy landscape looks like and how it functions is wrong, distorted by the fur trade that once trapped out millions of beavers from North America’s lakes and rivers."

Episode 37 – Regeneration in the rockies

Episode 37 – Regeneration in the rockies

If we were left to our own devices with a large selection of healthy food choices, how would we choose? Would we make healthy choices? What about livestock, and wildlife?

Episode 36 – Reawakening our instincts for healthy eating

Episode 36 – Reawakening our instincts for healthy eating

If we were left to our own devices with a large selection of healthy food choices, how would we choose? Would we make healthy choices? What about livestock, and wildlife?

Episode 35 – On Pasture Magazine: bringing science to the farm

Episode 35 – On Pasture Magazine: bringing science to the farm

We talk this week to On Pasture magazine founder Kathy Voth, whose mission is to make science accessible to people who need it–and to help keep them from being bamboozled by the latest agriculture fads.

Episode 34 -Why is so much topsoil disappearing, and how can we reverse the trend?

Episode 34 -Why is so much topsoil disappearing, and how can we reverse the trend?

Research scientist David Johnson from New Mexico State University tells us. He’s a leading soil scientist, and he knows what we need to do to reverse soil loss patterns–and what the many benefits are to restoring healthy soil on farms and rangelands.