The About Page
Hello, and welcome to The Regenerative Farmer!
My name is Isaiah, and I am a farmer – an eclectic agricultural entrepreneur who is madly in love with working on and with the creations on our planet.
I created this website for a few reasons:
- Information and knowledge for people who have the same fiery passion about farming, and who want to make money doing it (while healing their land, community, and environment)
- Somewhere to connect with and express your passion for agriculture in a place where it’s appreciated (who else out there is dying to talk about ag but has hardly anyone in their lives to share it with?)
My goal is to share relevant, practical, inspiring, and helpful information to be the transformation you need on your journey, wherever you are at – whether you’re just looking into ag, or have been doing it for decades.
How it all started…
I grew up working on my family’s very small and diverse farm, in the arid and agriculturally rich region of central Washington State. Through that exposure, I found out at an early age what I wanted to become: a farmer. I remember the first time that I heard that it was possible to make a full time living off of farming; that it didn’t have to be just a side hobby. I felt empowered, free to do what I wanted to do with my life.
Since I figured out that I wanted to be a full time farmer, I’ve poured my heart and soul into better understanding and mastering the diverse facets of agriculture. Managing the small family farm allowed me to experiment and learn the different techniques I heard about, setting the foundation of my exposure into ag.
Several of my projects ended up a little on the expensive side of things… which were funded by my poor parents. (Thanks for sharing the passion, having the patience, and allowing me to pursue it, Mom and Dad!) 
After a while, I began to apply for numerous internships to learn more and concrete the skills that I’d begun to acquire. This led me to my relatives’ farm in MO (Woods Fork Cattle Co.), a grass-fed dairy in NY (Dharma Lea), a pastured poultry operation in MO (Peace Valley Poultry), and a diverse farm in VA (Polyface Farm).
The learning experiences at these farms in combination with what I had learned growing up have fed an undying passion to care for the earth, the community, the people around me, and a genuine interest in those who are wanting to become responsible stewards of the land themselves.
As life continues, my goal is to use my learning experiences and information to transform YOU for the better in YOUR journey of regenerative agriculture. You, my friend, are the regenerative farmer.
What does it mean to be a REGENERATIVE farmer??
I could easily create a whole essay on this topic, but for now I’ll give you the Cliff Notes version. 
Let’s quickly define regenerative agriculture.
“Regenerative Agriculture is a system of farming principles and practices that increases biodiversity, enriches soils, improves watersheds, and enhances ecosystem services.
Regenerative Agriculture aims to capture carbon in soil and aboveground biomass, reversing current global trends of atmospheric accumulation.
At the same time, it offers increased yields, resilience to climate instability, and higher health and vitality for farming and ranching communities.
The system draws from decades of scientific and applied research by the global communities of organic farming, agroecology, Holistic Management, and agroforestry.”
The standard food systems in place are managed from a very atomistic viewpoint.
The decisions made in this system fail to recognize the long term impact of their actions. (Prescribed annual soil disturbance, the removal of livestock from the land, overgrazing, under-stocking, mono-cropping).
Some of these practices were initially developed with good intentions of increased efficiency and production. They failed, however, to look at – or didn’t know better at the time of their development – to imitate nature. These methods of production work against nature’s laws and principles.
As a result of not following nature’s principles, they are left with a constantly deteriorating environment. An environment that severely suffers from or knows no biodiversity. One that, in some cases, can no longer organically support a thriving ecosystem.
Regenerative agriculture focuses on imitating nature; we work with it’s principles, not against them.
Once we start working with nature’s principles, the environment responds positively, and the production/environmental health continuously INCREASES over time. We get overall better health, diversity, AND production than that of a conventional system.
Regenerative ag uses the word ‘regenerative’ for a reason – the purpose is to regenerate our lives. Our environment. Our farms. And our communities.
If our goal is to create regenerative lifestyles and landscapes, we must choose to make decisions from a holistic, rather than an atomistic, viewpoint. We look at everything that could be affected by our decisions.
If you think about it, we’re all connected, whether or not we like it.
Everything is connected in one, complex, and diverse whole.
For instance, our whole life system is dependent on photosynthesis (the energy cycle) – the ability for plants to capture the sun’s energy and convert it into a form other beings can use. Plants feed livestock and soil biology. Soil and plants feed livestock and people. Livestock feed people. And livestock and people feed plants and soil.
That in itself is very connected and complex!
Now consider the fact that we’re also connected by the:
- Water cycle
- Mineral cycle
- Energy cycle
- And community dynamics –
All of which are the basic building blocks that contribute to our health and well being.
When we DON’T manage from a holistic perspective, we don’t consider the health and well-being of everything else that brings us success. We “tunnel vision” – focus one one part that makes up the whole, rather than the whole itself.
As a result, this costs us TIME, MONEY, AND ECOLOGICAL/PHYSICAL HEALTH.
Take the classic weed management programs in the conventional soy/corn markets, for example.
The tunnel vision mindset is to ‘spray the weeds to get rid of them.’ However, a holistic analysis of the situation would be:
- The weeds are there because of poor management (tillage/exposed soil, lack of organic matter [which is largely caused by tillage and over-application of N fertilizer])
- Their solution to ‘fix’ the problem doesn’t solve the problem at the root. (An effective solution would be to minimize soil disturbance, diversify the plant species, and keep a layer of mulch/carbon over the soil to hinder weed populations)
- Their solution to ‘fix’ the problem creates only more problems (like loss of topsoil, organic matter, and water runoff [via organic weed management], Roundup Resistant pigweed, making nutrients unavailable in the soil, and extending the use of increasingly potent herbicides)
Eventually, this atomically-controlled type of management leads to environmental, economic, and financial ruin.
This makes Holistic Management a must if we want TRUE success.
(Allan Savory’s “Holistic Management – A Commonsense Revolution to Restore Our Environment” is the guide for anyone who wants to see better results in life. I recommend it as a must read!)
So, what does it mean to be a regenerative farmer?
To be a regenerative farmer means to manage from a holistic perspective.
This means that you are dedicated to improving your farm, ecosystem, production, profits, quality of life, and community.
It means that you value principles and practices that work with nature, not against them.
It means that you’re a REGENERATOR.
So fellow regenerator, welcome.
Get out there, and keep on regenerating. I wish you well, and will do my best to help serve you on your journey.
I’ll see you later,
Isaiah
P.S. – Do you want to learn more about what it means to be a regenerator? Then you may want to check out the WE ARE REGENERATORS page.