May 12, 2018
This week, I had the pleasure of interviewing a great farmer and friend of mine, Klaas Martens. Klaas has been farming for more than 30 years and has driven the adoption of sustainable farming practices through his work with numerous national organizations and advisory committees. This episode contains some really great information from Klaas’s many years of experience developing sustainable farming systems.
In this episode, we talk about the cultural practices that form the basis of weed control, how Klaas thought he had discovered a pathogen that could become a new herbicide, and what it turned out to be, how to see and monitor field variables, crop rotations, and how Klaas has managed the weed control on his farm in upstate New York for the past 30 years.
Support For This Show & Helping You Grow
This show is brought to you by AEA, leaders in regenerative agriculture since 2006.
If you are a large-scale grower looking to increase crop revenue and quality, email hello@advancingecoag.com or call 800-495-6603 extension 344 to be connected with a dedicated AEA crop consultant.
Episode 8 - Klaas Martens - Highlights
2:50 - Going from conventional farming to completely organic
3:40 - Having to unlearn some things from a university education
4:20 - Klaas was noticing that his observations in farming were contradicting his learned models and assumptions
5:15 - What have been the memorable moments that have lead Klaas to where he is today?
10:20 - Why was Klaas looking for info in books written before 1945?
12:00 - How does this relate to how Klaas manages crops and weeds on his operation?
15:00 - The weed that frustrated Klaas and made it seem organic farming was going to be impossible
18:00 - John’s experience with Canadian thistles
21:30 - What advice would Klaas give to growers to emulate some of his success?
24:50 - What practices lead Klaas to this result?
27:00 - Healthy Soils, Sick Soils by Dr. Franz Sekera and Margareth Sekera
31:00 - Klaas’s experience with producing dry beans and mustard
36:00 - How did Klaas’s weed profile change after incorporating these changes?
37:40 - What is Klaas’s crop rotation?
41:30 - What are the variables Klaas is monitoring?
45:40 - How has Klaas seen the ecosystem evolve in regards to disease and insect resistance?
51:00 - Putting on a nutritional application resulting in all insects disappearing.
52:30 - Most nutritional imbalances are not a result of deficiencies, they are the results of excess of products that growers apply.
53:40 - What does Klaas believe to be true about modern agriculture that others do not believe to be true?
56:00 - What are some books or resources that Klaas would recommend?
1:00:45 - What is a question Klaas wishes John had asked?
Feedback & Booking
Please send your feedback, requests for topics or guests, or booking request have a Podcast episode recorded LIVE at your event -- to production@regenerativeagriculturepodcast.com. You can email John directly at John@regenerativeagriculturepodcast.com.
Sign Up For Special Updates
To be alerted via email when new episodes are released, and get special updates about John speaking, teaching, and podcast LIVE recordings, be sure to sign up for our email list.