Inside EcoFarm Aotearoa: Soil, Water & Herbage Testing
The EcoFarm Aotearoa Podcast

Testing is often discussed in agriculture, but rarely done in a way that truly guides decision-making. In this episode, Stephen and Ewan walk through the practical process of soil, water, and herbage testing, showing how accurate sampling, consistent GPS points, and year-on-year comparisons reveal what is really happening on a farm.

From collecting soil cores and tracking carbon through the soil profile, to interpreting herbage and water results alongside animal performance, this episode shows why testing works best when it is used to understand the whole system, not just individual numbers.

We discuss:• How to collect repeatable soil samples and why depth matters• What soil carbon, bulk density, and mineral balance reveal over time• How boron, calcium, silicon, copper, and zinc influence soil and pasture function• What herbage and water testing can tell us about animal health and nutrient flow

This episode is about learning to read your own farm, identifying limiting factors, and making informed decisions based on observation, data, and experience over time.

Hosted by: Stephen Brunton & Ewan Campbell
Powered by: EcoFarm Aotearoa – ⁠⁠www.efa.nz⁠⁠

Our FREE E-Book:
https://www.ecofarmaotearoa.nz/download-our-ebook/

Listen To An EcoFarmers Discovery:
https://open.spotify.com/show/3wIgUUghlsKIje76E5tjBA?si=c2fde76b54c44e62

Subscribe for weekly episodes exploring soil biology, testing, and regenerative farming in New Zealand.

An EcoFarmers Discovery Chapter 11: Rock Hounds

Welcome to An EcoFarmer's Discovery: The Companion Podcast, where every Friday we dive deep into one chapter of Ewan Campbell's journey.

You're invited to read along – get the audiobook via Spotify (search An EcoFarmer's Discovery) or grab it on Kindle – and explore each chapter with us as we unpack the stories, ideas, and principles of regenerative farming.

A new episode drops each Friday, covering 26 chapters across 26 weeks.

In This Episode

Chapter 11, Rock Hounds, is where curiosity turns into full-blown experimentation.

Ewan unpacks what happened when basic slag disappeared from the fertiliser market, how silicon was quietly stripped from key inputs, and why farming systems began to unravel as a result. From disastrous springs and animal health breakdowns to sheep chewing clay banks and grass thriving where road dust falls, this chapter reveals how nature keeps leaving clues, if you’re willing to notice them.

This episode dives into silicon’s critical role in soil structure, animal health, plant strength, and mineral availability. We explore why weeds like thistles, gorse, and willow weed are not the enemy, but messengers, and how biology, electricity, and rock dust intersect in ways modern agriculture has largely ignored.

We explore:• Why removing silicon from fertiliser inputs caused widespread animal health issues

• How weeds act as remedial plants, restoring what soils are missing

• Why sheep chew banks, cows reach through fences, and grass thrives near roads

• The role of silicon in bone structure, plant strength, and soil resilience

• What marine clays, rock dust, and cyanobacteria reveal about soil electricity

• Why proper trials must start with a baseline — or they mean nothing

Packed with insight, humour, and hard-earned lessons, this episode reinforces a powerful theme: if the numbers don’t match what you see on the farm, the numbers are wrong.

Useful links:• Learn more at EcoFarm Aotearoa (⁠efa.nz⁠)

Our FREE E-Book!⁠⁠

https://www.ecofarmaotearoa.nz/download-our-ebook/⁠⁠

Listen To An EcoFarmers Discovery:⁠⁠

https://open.spotify.com/show/3wIgUUghlsKIje76E5tjBA?si=4caf7169d6eb4d97⁠⁠

Inside EcoFarm Aotearoa: Late Spring Open Day

The EcoFarm Aotearoa Podcast (Ep. 11)

Many farmers are feeling the pressure of rising fertiliser costs, tightening margins, and systems that no longer seem to deliver what they promise. In this Late Spring Open Day, Stephen and Ewan are joined by farmers, orchardists, and lifestyle block owners who are actively questioning the status quo and exploring what happens when you stop following the rulebook and start listening to the land.

Across paddocks, fences, and soil pits, the conversation moves from conventional inputs to biology, minerals, energy, and observation. This episode captures real questions, lived experiences, and practical insights from people transitioning away from chemical dependency and toward systems that build soil, support animals, and improve resilience over time.

We discuss:

• Why many farmers are rethinking fertiliser, sprays, and conventional advice
• How soil biology, minerals, and energy influence pasture, weeds, and stock health
• The role of silicon, calcium, copper, and carbon in building functional soils
• Why feeding the soil changes animal performance, meat quality, and resilience
• How observation, testing, and curiosity can replace costly guesswork

This episode isn’t about perfection or overnight change. It’s about learning, questioning, and building systems that work with nature rather than against it, one paddock, one decision, and one season at a time.

Hosted by: Stephen Brunton & Ewan CampbellPowered by: EcoFarm Aotearoa – ⁠www.efa.nz⁠

Our FREE E-Book!

⁠https://www.ecofarmaotearoa.nz/download-our-ebook/⁠

Listen To An EcoFarmers Discovery:

⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/3wIgUUghlsKIje76E5tjBA?si=4caf7169d6eb4d97⁠

Subscribe for weekly episodes exploring soil biology and regenerative farming solutions transforming the way we farm in New Zealand.

An EcoFarmers Discovery Chapter 10: ScienceWelcome to An EcoFarmer's Discovery: The Companion Podcast, where every Friday we dive deep into one chapter of Ewan Campbell's journey.You're invited to read along – get the audiobook via Spotify (search An EcoFarmer's Discovery) or grab it on Kindle – and explore each chapter with us as we unpack the stories, ideas, and principles of regenerative farming. A new episode drops each Friday, covering 26 chapters across 26 weeks.

In This Episode:

Chapter 10 dives into the “simple” observations that led Ewan to uncover one of the biggest missing pieces in modern farming: soil is electrically driven. By revisiting school science, comparing reactivity charts, and talking with engineers, Ewan realised why minerals move the way they do, why plants absorb nutrients in different ratios than the soil holds, and why water-soluble fertilisers often create more problems than they solve.

From potassium corrosion to aluminium toxicity, cation exchange capacity, humus, and seasonal electrical switches inside trees, this chapter exposes the hidden electrical currents that shape soil health, plant growth, animal performance, and even the weeds that appear on your farm. Once you understand the electrical language of nature, the whole system starts making sense.

We explore:
• Why nutrients flow through plants electrically, not by solubility
• How water-soluble fertilisers trigger animal health issues
• The real meaning of CEC and why humus transforms soil capacity
• How electricity reveals toxicity, mineral imbalance & soil weakness
• What poplar trees, Redwood giants & solar-charged greenhouses teach us about natural electrical flow

Packed with humour, clarity, and practical insights, this episode shows why understanding electricity in the soil changes everything about how we farm.

Follow along: Watch full episodes on YouTube and Spotify Video.
Useful links:
• Learn more at EcoFarm Aotearoa (efa.nz)

• Our FREE E-Book! HERE• Listen To An EcoFarmers Discovery:

Cyanobacteria: The Hidden Engine Driving Your Soil The EcoFarm Aotearoa Podcast (Ep. 10)

Most farmers know about clover, fungi, and fertiliser… but very few understand the microscopic lifeform that actually built the planet and is still driving soil fertility today. In this episode, Stephen and Ewan uncover the extraordinary role of cyanobacteria, the organisms that oxygenated Earth, created the first soils, and remain the biggest untapped force in New Zealand farming.

Building on last week’s conversation, we explore why farmers who understand cyanobacteria gain deeper topsoil, stronger nutrient cycling, explosive winter growth, and long-term fertility without expensive inputs. From tissue salts to nitrogen fixation, worm castings to carbon gains, this episode connects the smallest biology to the biggest on-farm results.

We discuss:
• Why cyanobacteria are the true “regenerating motor” of the soil
• How they build carbon, release nitrogen, phosphorus & sulphur, and deepen topsoil
• The mineral imbalance (silicon vs aluminium) that determines pasture vs weeds
• Why chemical sprays collapse soil biology and stop carbon from recovering
• How worms, tardigrades & microbes digest cyanobacteria into long-lasting humus

Hosted by: Stephen Brunton & Ewan Campbell
Powered by: EcoFarm Aotearoa – www.efa.nz

Our FREE E-Book!

https://www.ecofarmaotearoa.nz/download-our-ebook/

Listen To An EcoFarmers Discovery:

https://open.spotify.com/show/3wIgUUghlsKIje76E5tjBA?si=4caf7169d6eb4d97

Subscribe for weekly episodes exploring soil biology and regenerative farming solutions transforming the way we farm in New Zealand.

An EcoFarmer’s Discovery Chapter 9: Electrifying

Welcome to An EcoFarmer's Discovery: The Companion Podcast, where every Friday we dive deep into one chapter of Ewan Campbell's journey.

You're invited to read along – get the audiobook via Spotify (search An EcoFarmer's Discovery) or grab it on Kindle – and explore each chapter with us as we unpack the stories, ideas, and principles of regenerative farming. A new episode drops each Friday, covering 26 chapters across 26 weeks.

In This Episode:

In this electrifying chapter of An EcoFarmer’s Discovery, Ewan and Stephen explore the pivotal moment when a simple observation on the farm cracked open an entirely new understanding of how the land really works. After noticing kelp meal lining up perfectly in a bin, Ewan followed his curiosity into the worlds of paramagnetism, UV-reactive silica, natural electrical currents, and soil biology, uncovering a hidden layer of nature’s design that most farmers never see.

From conversations with electrolytic engineers to experiments with magnetite, marine silts, gemstone UV boxes, and multimeters in the paddock, Ewan discovered that the soil isn’t just biological, it’s electrical. This chapter reveals how sunlight, silica, magnetic fields, and paramagnetism interact beneath our feet, shaping plant growth, nutrient movement, animal performance, and even how shells break down on a beach.

We explore:

• How a strange alignment of kelp meal sparked an investigation into soil electricity
• Why magnetite, UV-reactive silica, and paramagnetic soils behave like a natural solar panel
• How electrical currents amplify mineral movement, plant growth, and even toxins
• Why superphosphate destroys the soil’s electrical potential and how to fix it
• The link between electrical fields, livestock performance, and human health

Full of discovery, honesty, and real-world experimentation, this episode captures the moment Ewan’s journey shifted from soil chemistry to the unseen forces that drive life itself and how understanding those forces reshaped everything he believed about farming. 

Subscribe or follow to hear more from Ewan’s 26-chapter journey into natural farming wisdom from his book An EcoFarmer’s Discovery.

Watch us on video: Episodes are also published in full on YouTube and Spotify Video.

Useful Links & Info

• Listen / read along on Spotify (Audiobook): An EcoFarmer's Discovery: How the Soil Really Works — available here: On Spotify

• Book / Audiobook details: Visit the official page at EcoFarm Aotearoa (www.efa.nz)

The Carbon Trap: Why Pasture Renewal Is Costing You More Than You Think

The EcoFarm Aotearoa Podcast (Ep. 9)

Most farmers know carbon is important, but few realise just how fast it can vanish or what’s really driving the losses. In this episode, Stephen and Ewan break down a Grasslands Conference presentation by soil scientist Louis Schipper, and compare his findings with what’s actually happening on real farms.

From pasture renewal to maize cropping, chemical sprays to root systems, this episode takes you far beyond the theory. As Ewan explains, the numbers don’t lie, but the interpretation often does. Behind every carbon crash is a deeper biological story, and ignoring it costs farmers thousands in fertility, grazing, and long-term soil health.

Together, Stephen and Ewan unpack the hard science, challenge long-held assumptions, and reveal why cyanobacteria are the missing link in New Zealand’s carbon cycle. Once you understand how soil biology really works, everything changes: carbon stabilises, nutrients rise, organic matter builds, and paddocks recover faster than anyone expected.

We discuss:
• Why pasture renewal causes huge carbon losses — and why recovery often never happens
• How chemical sprays wipe out cyanobacteria and crash soil fertility
• Why maize looks great the first year but drains carbon for years afterwards
• The surprising role cyanobacteria play in nitrogen, phosphorus, and sulphur availability
• Practical steps Ewan uses to lift organic carbon by 1–2% a year without expensive inputs

With clarity, humour, and decades of hands-on fieldwork, Stephen and Ewan translate complex soil science into practical solutions any farmer can use. This episode connects research, real soil tests, and on-farm experience into a roadmap for restoring soil carbon the natural way.

Hosted by: Stephen Brunton & Ewan Campbell
Powered by: EcoFarm Aotearoa – ⁠www.efa.nz⁠

Subscribe for weekly conversations exploring soil health, biology, and regenerative farming solutions that are transforming the way we farm in New Zealand.

An EcoFarmer’s Discovery Chapter 8: Results On The Hoof

Welcome to An EcoFarmer's Discovery: The Companion Podcast, where every Friday we dive deep into one chapter of Ewan Campbell's journey.

You're invited to read along – get the audiobook via Spotify (search An EcoFarmer's Discovery) or grab it on Kindle – and explore each chapter with us as we unpack the stories, ideas, and principles of regenerative farming. A new episode drops each Friday, covering 26 chapters across 26 weeks.

In This Episode:

In this episode of An EcoFarmer’s Discovery, Ewan and Stephen explore the game-changing moment when Ewan discovered that mineral balance and soil health don’t just grow better grass, they grow better animals. What began as an experiment with kibbled maize and home-mixed mineral blends soon revealed remarkable weight gains, improved livestock health, and, eventually, premium-quality beef that stood out in the marketplace.

As Ewan followed his curiosity from the paddock to the meat works, he uncovered deeper truths about food quality, animal nutrition, and the broken systems that often hide the realities of modern meat production. From early frustrations with butchers swapping carcasses, to selling high-Omega-3 beef into top restaurants, this chapter unpacks how soil biology, animal health, and human health are all intertwined and why good farming begins long before an animal reaches the gate.

We explore:

• How early mineral experiments boosted weight gain and animal wellbeing
• What really determines tenderness, taste, and fat quality in beef
• The shocking inconsistency of traditional meat grading and processing
• Why grain feeding raises Omega-6 and how grass-fed CLA turns into Omega-3
• The link between soil nutrition, animal fat profiles, and human health
• The challenges of dealing with industry research, standards, and resistance
• How practical trial-and-error shaped the EcoFarm approach to meat quality
• Why farmers must lead innovation when institutions won’t

Full of humour, honesty, and decades of experimentation, this episode shows how real food quality starts in the soil, continues through the animal, and ends with healthier people and healthier farms.

Subscribe or follow to hear more from Ewan’s 26-chapter journey into natural farming wisdom from his book An EcoFarmer’s Discovery.

Watch us on video: Episodes are also published in full on YouTube and Spotify Video.

So, grab the audiobook on Spotify or Kindle and read along with each chapter as we expand, reflect, and add context.

Useful Links & Info
• Listen / read along on Spotify (Audiobook): An EcoFarmer's Discovery: How the Soil Really Works — available here: On Spotify

• Book / Audiobook details: check out the official page at EcoFarm Aotearoa (www.efa.nz)

What Your Weeds Are Saying | Part 2

The EcoFarm Aotearoa Podcast (Ep. 8)

When weeds explode across a paddock, most farmers reach straight for the sprayer. But as Ewan Campbell explains, every thistle, buttercup, dock, and gorse plant is actually doing a job and sending a message. From California thistles taking over dairy farms to ragwort covering entire hillsides, weeds aren’t the enemy… they’re indicators of deeper soil problems waiting to be fixed.

In this episode, Ewan and Stephen explore how weeds reveal the true condition of the land. Instead of fighting nature with chemicals, they show why the real solution lies in soil fertility, mineral balance, aeration, biology, and smarter grazing. What looks like a weed outbreak is usually a soil cry for help and once the limiting factors are corrected, the weeds simply disappear on their own.

We discuss:

• Why weeds don’t compete with healthy pasture once soil is corrected• How gorse, thistles, ragwort, buttercup, willow weed, and bristle grass each signal different mineral or drainage issues• Why chemical sprays create long-term soil damage and even more weeds• The role of biology, aeration, and cyanobacteria in fixing compacted or anaerobic soils• How livestock can be used strategically to control weeds without chemicals• Real on-farm before-and-after examples of weed-infested blocks turning into lush, productive pasture• The difference between constructive money and destructive money in farm management

With humour, clarity, and decades of hands-on experience, Ewan and Stephen reveal how regenerative farming turns weeds into teachers and how listening to them can transform your land far faster than spraying it.

Hosted by: Stephen Brunton & Ewan CampbellPowered by: EcoFarm Aotearoa – ⁠⁠www.efa.nz⁠⁠

Subscribe for weekly conversations exploring soil health, biology, and regenerative farming solutions that are transforming the way we farm in New Zealand.

An EcoFarmer’s Discovery Chapter 7: Going To The Source

Welcome to An EcoFarmer's Discovery: The Companion Podcast, where every Friday we dive deep into one chapter of Ewan Campbell's journey.

You're invited to read along – get the audiobook via Spotify (search An EcoFarmer's Discovery) or grab it on Kindle – and explore each chapter with us as we unpack the stories, ideas, and principles of regenerative farming. A new episode drops each Friday, covering 26 chapters across 26 weeks.

In This Episode:
In this episode of An EcoFarmer’s Discovery, Ewan and Stephen explore the pivotal moment when Ewan’s curiosity led him beyond the farm gate and straight to the world-renowned Brookside Laboratories in Ohio. Searching for real answers about soil biology and fertility, Ewan discovered a way to truly “read” the soil, unlocking a practical science that forever changed how he farmed.

Through insights from Dr. William Albrecht and his own hands-on testing, Ewan learned how every soil tells its own story and how New Zealand’s diverse volcanic landscape hides both challenges and incredible potential. Together, they unpack how science meets practicality, how “limiting factors” hold the key to productivity, and why true farming progress starts by going back to the source.

We explore:

• The journey to Brookside Labs and how it shaped EcoFarm’s testing philosophy

• The legacy of Dr. Albrecht and the science of balanced soils

• Why “if the book and nature disagree, throw away the book”

• What New Zealand’s diverse soils reveal about fertility and trace minerals

• The hidden relationship between soil health, animal health, and human health

• How practical, cold-face experience brings science to life

  
  

Full of humility, curiosity, and real-world learning, this episode shows how knowledge and observation can transform not only a farm, but the future of farming itself.

Subscribe or follow to hear more from Ewan’s 26-chapter journey into natural farming wisdom from his book An EcoFarmer’s Discovery.

Watch us on video: Episodes are also published in full on YouTube and Spotify Video.

So, grab the audiobook on Spotify or Kindle and read along with each chapter as we expand, reflect, and add context.

Useful Links & Info
• Listen / read along on Spotify (Audiobook): An EcoFarmer's Discovery: How the Soil Really Works — available here: On Spotify

• Book / Audiobook details: check out the official page at EcoFarm Aotearoa (www.efa.nz)