The Women of Regenerative Ag: Transforming the Health of the Soil, Land & People

Dr. Cynthia Daley, a professor at the College of Agriculture at California State University, Chico. She serves as the Rawlin's Endowed Professor for Environmental Literacy, and the Director for the Center for Regenerative Agriculture & Resilient Systems. Cindy is originally from Illinois, where her family has been actively engaged in the farming profession for more than four generations. She completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Illinois, her doctorate at University of California Davis. She joined the CSU Chico, College of Agriculture faculty in 1997 and later founded the Organic Dairy Education & Research Program in 2006. Seeing the need to grow the ecological farming movement, Daley went on to co-create the Regenerative Agriculture Initiative in 2016 and guided this program to Center status in May of 2019. The new Center for Regenerative Agriculture & Resilient Systems is a consortium of interdisciplinary faculty and farmers who recognize the ecological benefits of regenerative farming practices including water conservation, soil fertility, and carbon sequestration. The Center's guiding principle is that agriculture, when done regeneratively, can be the solution to soil degradation and climate change.

Highlights of this episode include:

1. Why psycho/social fabrics are critical factors for transitioning into a new paradigm. 2. The goals of Center for Regenerative Agriculture and Resilient Systems and why academia has failed to be the cutting edge for the regenerative ag movement.

3. Where social justice fits within the regenerative ag movement.

4. Ideas for the public education on regenerative ag.

5. What is regenerative dairy and is it scalable.

6. The need for neurocognitive flexibility when shifting to regenerative ag, the economics of regenerative ag and the importance of producers learning from producers.

Winona LaDuke, is a rural development economist working on issues of economics, food, and energy sovereignty. She lives and works on the White Earth reservation in northern Minnesota, and leads several organizations including Honor the Earth, Anishinaabe Agriculture Institute, Akiing, and Winona’s Hemp. These organizations develop and model culturally-based sustainable development strategies utilizing renewable energy and sustainable food systems. She is an international thought leader in the areas of climate justice, renewable energy, and environmental justice. She is also a leader in the work of protecting Indigenous plants and heritage foods from patenting and genetic engineering. She has authored six books including; Recovering the Sacred, All our Relations, Last Standing Woman, and her newest work The Winona LaDuke Chronicles.

Highlights of this episode include:

1. Winona's Hemp and regenerative practices at Anishinaabe Agricultural Institute

2. Possibilities and impacts of Covid

3. The cultural burning practices by indigenous communities as land management strategy

4. Winona’s vision for sustainable fiber and the history and possibility of hemp

5. Being human, Cancel culture, haters hating and the power of connecting beyond our own cultural boundaries.

Renata Brillinger is the co-founder and Executive Director of the California Climate and Agriculture Network (CalCAN). She has more than two decades of experience in sustainable agriculture policy and programs and 30 years’ experience in non-profit administration. She serves on the steering committee of the Center for Sustainability at CalPoly University in San Luis Obispo and the advisory board of UC Davis Agricultural Sustainability Institute.

Highlights of this episode include:

1. The history and function of CalCAN

2. Why the dominant culture in California legislator must shift

3. Regenerative agriculture vs climate smart ag

4. The 2020 Farmer Equity Report

5. Why food from local farms and ranches not yet served at scale in schools, public institutions, throughout the CA prison system.

6. The House Select Committees Climate Crisis report, Biden’s Unity Taskforce, and why a methodology matters for carbon footprint accounting in these reports

7. Why doing what you love is what you are here to do

8. Why political leadership and campaign finance reform are paramount for regenerative ag to flourish

Misty West Gay is a mom, poet, gardener, herbalist, and regenerative rancher. She and her husband Jonathan own Freestone Ranch in northern California. They are a certified Fibershed Climate Beneficial Producer and are a member of the American Grassfed Association. Misty is also a member of the Sonoma County Food System Alliance. Following a stint doing Internet software production and technical writing, back when those things were fun, she circled back to her first loves: poetry and trees.

Highlights of this episode include:

1. Her journey from working in software tech to becoming a regenerative rancher.

2. Why scalability and growth mindset may be problematic for a regenerative ag.

3. Fragile food systems and mobile harvesting units.

4. Why the size of our communities disrupts coherence and interrelational integrity and sense-making.

5. Why restoring the relationship to animal harvest is vital for true connectivity and animal welfare.

Amber Smith the program director of Women in Ranching for the Western Landowners Alliance. Women in Ranching provides transformational space for women to support human synergy around re-envisioning what is possible in agriculture. Amber has been ranching in rural communities for 14 years with her husband and two young children. They currently steward 53,000 acres known as Antelope Springs Ranch in eastern Montana. Amber’s passion is rooted in building a future where rural families thrive, and all people are empowered and supported in pursuing work that aligns with their personal goals and deeply connects them to their community. Her time studying in the Middle East, and six years as Activity Director for a rural nursing home, helped her develop a unique passion for creating spaces of dignity, joy and acceptance.

Highlights of this episode include:

1. Her origins and the management strategy utilized on their operation

2. The bottlenecks of distribution and slaughterhouse access and why efficiency and high productivity create the “externalities” of social and ecological injustice.

3. Why transformation needs allies, strategy, and how intergenerational transmissions can actually hinder the process.

4. Why dynamics in a social fabric can stop progress, and why a sense of belonging and connection to self, community and the land is paramount for regeneration.

5. Why authenticity and openness about the human journey is critical for emotional development, wisdom and systems thinking.

PreciousPhiri is a small holder farmer, regenerative agriculture practitioner and trainer based in Zimbabwe. She is an accredited Field Professional for Holistic Management Education for Communities by the Savory Institute. She works with rural communities through her organization EarthWisdom, as well as other partners both in southern and east Africa to regenerate degraded communal lands. Precious is the African Coordinator for Regeneration International and is a part of their steering committee. Her role is to connect with other regenerative work going on in the African region, to continue bringing this work to the global movement.

Highlights of this episode include:

1. The impact of Covid on Zimbabwe and how the communities are managing.

2. Why holistic management requires a shift in consciousness and is not regenerative/high impact grazing.

3. The art of cohesive communal planning within diverse patriarchal cultures & tribes. 4. Why evoking power, honor, and nobility from a community is vital to creating their lasting sovereignty.

5. Why the biggest blockage in the regenerative movement is actually professional and institutional egos.