Regenerative Agriculture establishing a cycle of healthier soil, healthier food, healthier people

When people think about regenerative agriculture, most of them think about regenerating the soil. But for Dan Lockwood, founder of Plenterra, an agronomy company in the PNW, Utah and Nevada—it’s also about regenerating public health.

The key lies in healing the soil first, which then has the remarkable effect of building “plant immunity”. When farmers grow in healthy soil they produce healthy nutritious plants that are naturally resistant to illnesses and pathogens, the crops can then transfer that immunity to the livestock and the people who eat them. The more nutritious foods increase the function and performance of our body’s immune system, and they reduce our susceptibility to degenerative diseases and chronic illnesses.

Comptom Rom, the team's microbiologist, explained that plants have an immune system much like ours. Plants have the ability to be resistant to diseases and insects and all types of pathogens as long as their immune system is supported with good nutrition and with a good microbiome.

Modern agriculture uses genetic modification and fertilizers to facilitate significant crop growth. However, those plants often lack the nutrition needed to develop a functional immune system. Much the same as people can consume empty calories, plants in the field can do the same. Plenterra's mission statement, in part, is to restore agriculture from the ground up by delivering biology-driven solutions that cultivate soil health—while enhancing grower profit- ability. “Better fields, better yields, better economics.”

“...long-term research has shown that integrating organic carbon sources like biochar and compost in low-rainfall wheat systems improves soil function and water-use efficiency. We’ve documented increased microbial activity, better nutrient cycling, and yield stability even in dry years.” — Dr. Stephen Machado, Oregon State University, Columbia Basin Agricultural Research Center Plenterra’s system builds directly on this science—using custom blends of natural mineral inputs, fertilizers and biologicals. All of these inputs are used to bio-activate soil health..

After several years of working to make soil healthier and therefore plants healthier, the Plenterra team takes advantage of the fact that healthy plants accelerate regenerating the soil as they grow. Lockwood says we should be having a real conversation about growing food as medicine. Eric Hutchings, Plenterra's policy director, says that more than two trillion dollars of the federal budget goes to healthcare, so growing better food is a good way to start that conversation. Regenerative agriculture doesn't just regenerate soil health and ecosystems—it can also regenerate public health.

But what will really make growers take a hard look at this, is economics, Lockwood says. “When you have really healthy soil, yields increase.” The current administration is bringing about a shift in conversations about food policy, placing agriculture in a unique position to let the public see what growers do, while also enhancing public health. Instead of a cheap food policy, perhaps agriculture can now shift to a quality food policy, where we focus on producing food with exceptional nutrition. Plenterra's team feels inspired that the Make America Healthy Again movement is an opportunity to adopt regenerative agriculture on a really big scale. Plenterra's agronomy team is unique as it is built by growers, mine operators, and scientists, owning every part of their supply chain from the mine to the field. Plenterra operates their own SKM and humate mines in Nevada and California, with crushing, milling and blending occurring on site. They also offer direct-to-farm shipping, so growers pay only for the product. The result? Custom OMRI-certified blends that regularly pencil out 10–20 percent below conventional synthetic programs—while rebuilding soil fertility, biology and water-holding capacity.

Plenterra offers:

•Soil sampling and full-season field scouting.

•Custom fertilizer blending and biological activation.

•Seed sales.

•Drone-based scouting, mapping, and applica tions

•“A first” a fertilizer, Amendment and Biological package all in one

“We're not selling bags of fertilizer—we're hand ing growers the keys to long-term profitability,” said Dan Lockwood. “Give Plenterra one field and one season to earn your business through our First-Time Grower Offer: free custom blend design, compli mentary drone scouting pass, and preferred-pricing lock on all fall inputs.” For more information, visit Plenterra.com or call (877) 756-8772.