REGEN AG PODCAST EP66: JON STIKA, AUTHOR OF “A SOIL OWNER’S MANUAL”

More of the same, but all worth hearing.

The same:

• A gently spoken, yet clearly wise, guest.
• North Dakota/ Wisconsin (or maybe I’m getting confused with the guests on the Soil Sense podcast?)
• Soils are a biological system, not a chemical one.
• Too much chemistry gives plants a bad upbringing – they don’t build the (biological) relationships they need.
• Traditional agronomy is about chemistry, so we need to throw a lot of this out, and that’s hard.
• This tradition stands a good deal in the way of change – we stick to what we know, there is a lot of money in the chemistry side of things, etc
• Economics is also a big part of change – it’s not until people see these systems work (be that the neighbour or they stumble across an economic success for some other reason) that the practices are first tested, then adopted.
• Change is slow – took 6 years for big changes to be visible in the systems he worked with, and 15 years for any signs of real change in the broader community.
• This change took the whole system: absentee owners, young, old, bank managers, insurance, etc.

Maybe a little new:

• Need more women in ag, for lots of reasons but mainly to reduce the dominance/ increase the nurture mentality.
• Tools without understanding can be trouble.