Farms for Tomorrow

The American Story of Corn

Episode 2:

A Partnership Between People and Plants

Corn breeder and researcher Walter Goldstein traces the long arc of corn’s evolution, from its Indigenous origins to modern breeding challenges. He explores corn’s deep history on the American continent, a story of the living relationship between people and plants. Walter describes his work at the Mandaamin Institute, where he breeds corn for organic farming with desirable qualities: high nutritional value, nitrogen-fixing capability through a relationship with bacteria, and resistance to GMO pollination. These excerpts are taken from Walter’s 2016 presentation at the American Dream Conference, hosted by the MaaViva Institute.

Part 1 Listen

Corn and Its Indigenous Origins | Length: 3:08

Wild corn didn’t have a cob. The corn cob was created by Indigenous people over thousands of years.

Part 2 Listen

Corn as an Ancestor | Length: 1:01

In many Native cultures across the Americas, corn is much more than food; it’s experienced as sacred, a living relative.

Part 3 Listen

The Anatomy of Corn | Length: 2:04

Corn’s unique reproductive system came about through Indigenous cultivation, observation and care.

Part 4 Listen

The Diversity of Corn | Length: 1:23

Corn comes in many colors, shapes, and sizes—each one formed by different cultures and environments.

Part 5 Listen

The Breeder’s Intuition | Length: 3:37

Good breeders rely on intuition and sensory experience to understand and guide the living, evolving nature of corn.

Part 6 Listen

Breeding for a Better Future | Length: 1:45

The aim is to improve nutritional value, enhance yield, strengthen resilience and reduce chemical inputs.

Part 7 Listen

Competing with Big Ag | Length: 1:02

Mandaamin’s goal is to produce higher quality alternatives to the seed from major agrochemical companies.

Part 8 Listen

Hybrids, Inbreds, and Open-Pollinated Varieties | Length: 2:04

Walter explains the difference between hybrids and open pollinateds and why most organic farmers want hybrids.

Part 9 Listen

Restoring Integrity to Corn | Length: 2:30

The focus is on breeding corn that remains true to its nature, emphasizing nutrition and cultural tastes and yields as well as conventional.

Part 10 Listen

Keeping Corn Clean: Cross Incompatibility | Length: 2:25

Cross incompatibility is a natural tool breeders use to stop unwanted pollen and protect the purity of their corn.

About Walter Goldstein

Walter Goldstein is a corn breeder and founder of the Mandaamin Institute, a nonprofit dedicated to developing nutrient-rich, nitrogen-efficient, GMO resistant corn for organic farmers. After earning his MSc and PhD in agronomy from Washington State University, Walter spent 25 years leading research at the Michael Fields Agricultural Institute before launching Mandaamin in 2011. more

Transcript

Mandaamin Institute

The American Story of Corn (video)

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Why We Should All Save Seeds

Episode 1:

A Call for Local Resilience

Lifelong seed-saving advocate Bill McDorman discusses the centralization of the seed industry, its impact on biodiversity, and the loss of traditional seed-saving practices. He explains the historical role of farmers in breeding resilient crops and how corporate patents have restricted seed-saving. Bill advocates for local seed-saving, regional food systems, and grassroots movements to reclaim agricultural sovereignty and biodiversity.

Part 1 Listen

Who Owns Our Seeds? | Length: 2:48

The seed industry has become highly centralized, with a few corporations controlling most commercial seeds, limiting diversity and farmer autonomy.

Part 2 Listen

The Consequences of Seed Centralization | Length: 2:03

Industrial seed control has led to a dramatic loss of crop varieties, threatening global biodiversity and long-term agricultural resilience.

Part 3 Listen

10,000 Years of Seed Selection | Length: 3:01

Humans domesticated wild plants over thousands of years through seed selection, creating diverse, resilient crops tailored to local environments.

Part 4 Listen

From Farmers’ Rights to Corporate Control | Length: 4:17

Legal changes, including patents and corporate mergers, transformed seeds from a shared resource into a privatized, profit-driven industry.

Part 5 Listen

How Patents Changed Agriculture | Length: 9:29

Supreme Court rulings enabled corporations to patent living organisms, accelerating the loss of farmers’ rights to save and breed seeds.

Part 6 Listen

Patents on Organic Seeds | Length: 7:41

Even organic seeds are now patented, preventing farmers from saving seeds, increasing costs, and undermining sustainability.

Part 7 Listen

Fewer Seeds, Bigger Risks | Length: 4:32

Corporate seed control prioritizes profit over biodiversity, limiting the adaptability of crops in the face of climate change.

Part 8 Listen

How Communities Can Take Back Agriculture | Length: 5:26

Rebuilding local food systems requires seed-saving networks, community engagement, and education to foster agricultural independence.

Part 9 Listen

Seed Saving – Where to Begin? | Length: 4:32

Farmers and gardeners alike should start with a crop they love, learning to grow, save, and adapt seeds to their environment.

Part 10 Listen

Debunking the Myths of Modern Seeds | Length: 5:15

Seed companies spread myths to discourage seed saving, but traditional methods remain effective, adaptable, and necessary.

Part 11 Listen

Rediscovering Einkorn Wheat – Why It Matters | Length: 3:04

McDorman highlights einkorn wheat as a resilient, nutrient-rich grain that has remained genetically pure for thousands of years.

About Bill McDorman

Bill McDorman, a lifelong seed saver and passionate advocate for seed sovereignty is dedicated to empowering people to save and share their own seeds. He has worked to preserve heirloom and open-pollinated seeds through education, activism, and community organizing. more

More Information

Transcript

SeedSave.org

Basic Seed Saving by Bill McDorman

Philip Howard, PhD, Michigan State University (seed industry centralization drawing)

Colin Khoury, PhD, Wageningen University & Research

What is Happening to Agrobiodiversity?

Seed Savers Exchange

Gregor Mendel, “Father of Genetics”

Bill Tracy, PhD, University of Wisconsin-Madison

John Deere Repair Controversy

Plant Patent Act of 1930

Plant Variety Protection Act of 1970

Ananda Chakrabarty, PhD, University of Calcutta

1980 Diamond v. Chakrabarty

Patent Act of 1952

AIB: Anti-Infringement Bureau for Intellectual Property Rights on Plant Material

SIPA: Seed Innovation and Protection Alliance

Jack Kloppenburg, PhD, University of Wisconsin-Madison

No Patents on Seeds

Bill Mollison, “Father of Permaculture”

Waltham Butternut Squash

Waltham Experiment Station

City of Waltham Purchases Waltham Field Station

Nash’s Carrots

John Navazio, PhD, Organic Seed Alliance

Terry Ring, Gila River Farmer

Flavr Savr Tomatoes

Walter Goldstein, PhD, Mandaamin Institute

Teosintes

Einkorn

Salanova lettuce

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Building Plants Cell by Cell

Episode 4:

Balanced Nutrition, Thriving Crops

Calcium is a central and often overlooked crop nutrient. Using examples to illustrate how it works, soil consultant Jon Frank introduces Carey Reams’ Biological Theory of Ionization as a framework to provide full-spectrum plant and animal nutrition. These improvements have huge implications for food quality and farm profitability.

Part 1 Listen

High-Brix Forage for Quality Milk Production | Length: 8:25

Switching to high-brix, high-quality hay improved the health, milk quality and yield of dairy goats, highlighting the importance of soil fertility in animal nutrition.

Part 2 Listen

Calcium as a Key Crop Nutrient | Length: 11:38

Yes, people will go out of their way for better food.

Part 3 Listen

Balancing Soil Nutrients – Reams’ Theory Simplified | Length: 9:32

Proper balance of soil nutrients, particularly calcium and potassium, is essential for optimal plant growth and reproduction.

Part 4 Listen

Optimizing Plant Performance Through Mineral Management | Length: 6:07

Your plant leaves feed the soil microbes that feed the crop. Optimizing leaf mineral content is necessary for efficient energy conversion and superior crops. It’s up to you.

About Jon Frank

Jon Frank currently serves as regional sales manager and soil specialist for Integrated Soil and Plant Technologies, working with growers across the Dakotas, Minnesota, Iowa and parts of Wisconsin. Over the course of his career as a soil consultant, Jon has focused on specialty crops, market gardens, home gardens, and greenhouses, and has worked with growers of broad-acre crops like hay, corn, and soybeans as well. Jon is a lifelong student of the soil and began his career in agricultural consulting in 2005.

More about Jon Frank >

More Information

Episode Transcript

Integrated Soil and Plant Technologies

Grow Your Own Nutrition

Carey Reams

Carey Reams Agricultural Concepts

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Restoring Soil Vitality

Episode 1: Day Two
Joe Scrimger:
Bio-Systems II

Restoring Soil Vitality | Length: 1:01:50

“Nitrogen’s not the issue. It’s putting on too much at one time… But even organically, we have to have nitrogen from someplace… What we try to do in the conventional world is get those farmers to use at least three different sources of nitrogen that release at three different times.” – Joe Scrimger

Joe Scrimger connects the dots between nitrogen use on the farm, soil health and water quality.

More Information

Transcript – Day One

Transcript – Day Two

Joe Scrimger: LinkedIn

Imlay City Mucklands

Rex and Glenn Spray – Organic Row Crop Farmers

Rex Spray Honored for Decades of Sustainable Farming

Edward H. Faulkner: The Father of No-till

The Plowman’s Folly – Online PDF

Gabe Brown

Brown’s Ranch

Eliot Coleman: Four Season Farm

Richard Harwood: Kellogg Biological Station

Mike Bronkeema

Carey Reams

Carey Reams Agricultural Concepts

Nature Conservancy Video: Saginaw Valley Farmers Learn from Each Other

Andre Voisin – Soil, Grass & Cancer: The Link Between Human Health and the Mineral Balance of the Soil.

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Food as Medicine

Episode 3:
Sally Witkowski:
Cross W Ranch

A Ranch on a Mission

Rancher Sally Witkowski describes how she and her husband Jim Witkowski got their entire family into grass-fed, grass-finished organic cattle ranching. Includes a look at regenerative practices, humane animal care, revenue streams, market trends, and the importance of a mission-driven mindset.

Part 1 Listen

Powerful Motivations | Length: 7:42

What’s it take to go from 0-60 in cattle ranching, coming from a non-farming background?

Part 2 Listen

Clean Food: Meeting the Market | Length: 7:11

Yes, people will go out of their way for better food.

Part 3 Listen

Multiple Revenue Streams | Length: 7:16

With a main emphasis on cattle ranching, Cross W continues to build out other revenue streams to secure their operation and meet community needs.

Part 4 Listen

Ag Tourism as a Revenue Stream | Length: 4:00

How barn weddings became an important additional revenue stream for Cross W Ranch.

Part 5 Listen

A Regenerative Approach to Food Quality | Length: 6:29

Animal and human health start with soil and plant health. Two practices can help jumpstart this process: building diverse plant communities in the pasture, and using foliar feeding when needed to strengthen pasture and hay productivity.

Part 6 Listen

Animal Care and Management | Length: 2:13

How does nature do it? A quick snapshot of animal handling practice and philosophy at Cross W Ranch.

Part 7 Listen

Family, Succession, and Land Conservation | Length: 3:18

How the family component works in the management of Cross W Ranch, and how land preservation fits into the long-term picture.

Part 8 Listen

Ranch Evolution and Plans | Length: 10:29

Business growth at Cross W Ranch: a step-by-step process of getting the needed equipment, adapting farm practice, and planning with a long-term vision in mind.

About Sally Witkowski

Sally Witkowski is a rancher and co-founder, together with husband Jim Witkowski, of Cross W Ranch in Howell, Michigan. A Michigan native, Sally completed a dual degree program in Fine Arts / Industrial Design from The University of Michigan before meeting Jim and starting a family together.

More about Sally Witkowski >

More about Cross W Ranch >

More Information

Episode Transcript

Cross W Ranch Website

Bionutrient Food Association

Advancing Eco Agriculture

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Organic Apples – Mindset and Methods

Episode 2:
Jim Koan –
Almar
Orchards

About Jim Koan

Jim Koan was born into a family that had been growing apples in Michigan’s Genesee County since the mid-1800s. After completing degree programs in psychology and education at The University of Michigan and beginning a career teaching, Jim and his wife Karen – also an educator – continued working on the farm during their off hours to supplement their income.

In 1978, Jim and Karen left their teaching careers to help run the orchard, with Jim ultimately becoming a full partner and then owner of the family’s conventionally managed operation, Almar Orchards. more

More Information

Episode Transcript

Almar Orchards

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