SEYMOUR, Mo. — Ray Archuleta is on a mission to improve the health of our farms, our rural communities, our planet and ourselves. “But to do those things, we must first improve the health of our soil,” he said.
So to help his farming colleagues unlock the secrets in the soil, the Seymour, Missouri farmer is hosting a three-day, Soil Health Academy grazing school at his farm October 15-17.
Archuleta, along with Allen Williams, Ph.D., Shane New and Gabe Brown, are among the cadre of instructors slated for the three-day school. These Soil Health Academy instructors are widely considered to be among the most preeminent pioneers, innovators and advocates in today’s soil health and regenerative agricultural movement. Brown is also the author of Dirt to Soil, One Family’s Journey into Regenerative Agriculture.
“During the course, we will examine all aspects of regenerative farming and ranching, soil health, plant health, and animal health,” Archuleta said. “The school is tailored for beginning graziers and participants will work in teams to solve real-world grazing problems and sharpen their skills under the guidance of highly experienced, expert instructors.”
According to Archuleta, who is also a retired USDA agronomist, the school’s profit-building topics will include:
- Principles of Soil Health & Adaptive Stewardship
- Restoring Vibrant Ecosystems Through Adaptive Grazing
- Making Grazing Highly Profitable & Desirable
- Successful Marketing: Strategies for Enhanced Net Margins
- Economics and Finances of Grazing
Specifically, Archuleta said, he wants attendees to leave the school with a deeper understanding of how nature can work to the benefit farms and farmers. “I want the students to become observers and nurturers of nature—to mimic its beautiful design, which will change their farms and their lives,” Archuleta said.
Archuleta said he’s hosting the school to help teach others what he, himself, has learned about regenerative farming in the years since he graduated from college. “When I left college, my thought process was to control in order to get yield, no matter how much fertilizer or chemicals were needed to get that yield. Now I look for every opportunity to collaborate with nature, to see what I can do to create more synergy through diversity. I am no longer driven by fear-based ecology which tries to force, control, and kill life on the farm. Now I look for opportunities to mimic life,” Archuleta said.
“Regenerative agriculture is the future,” he said. “This type of agriculture gives me hope about the future. I’m looking forward to sharing that hope—and how to make regenerative agriculture work profitably—with other farmers and ranchers.”
To learn more about this Soil Health Academy School, as well as available scholarships, visit www.soilhealthacademy.org or call 256/996-3142.
–Soil Health Academy