Regenerative Farming From a 15 Year Olds Perspective...
We just got back from the Eco-Ag Conference hosted by Acres USA, and let me tell you—it’s no small feat to send our three main farmers (Justin, Jenni, and Jules) away from the farm for a few days, especially in the middle of a snowstorm. To make it even more of an adventure, we pulled our daughter, Bella, out of school to join us.
We told Bella upfront: if she came with us, she had to play full in. No sitting on the sidelines—she was expected to participate, pay attention, and engage.
And wow, Eco Ag 2024 did not disappoint...
👉 Every day packed with sessions 7:30 AM - 8 PM.
👉 Breakouts featuring experts and farmers doing the work right now.
👉 Keynotes from leaders in regenerative agriculture.
👉 Networking with hundreds of regenerative farmers from across the globe.
👉 Conversations with top pioneers of the regenerative ag movement in the U.S.
👉 Breakouts featuring experts and farmers doing the work right now.
👉 Keynotes from leaders in regenerative agriculture.
👉 Networking with hundreds of regenerative farmers from across the globe.
👉 Conversations with top pioneers of the regenerative ag movement in the U.S.
Until this trip, I think Bella thought her parents were lunatics with a full time hobby chasing around farm animals and gluttons for unending work. 😅
But at the conference she dove right in. She sat through every session, brought her own notebook, and took pages of notes. In between sessions, she kept her phone in her backpack and engaged with the speakers and other farmers.
With great pride, I share her takeaways:
Her Mom and Dad Know Their Stuff
Since we started Rebel 5 years ago, farming has been the backdrop of Bella’s life. She’s heard Will Harris on Joe Rogan during car rides. She’s seen Gabe Brown and Joel Salatin books scattered around the house. We’ve even watched food documentaries as a family.
So for her to experience these mentors talking about these topics IN PERSON... her mind was blown. In fact the hightlight of her trip was captured in this photo:
Here we are, chatting with Will Harris, Gabe Brown, and Jeff Poppin—legends in this movement. Moments like these make all the effort worth it.
Learning and Education can Happen Outside the Classroom
At Eco-Ag, Bella heard repeatedly that some of the best education happens outside traditional classrooms.This is a topic near and dear to my heart because Justin and I are outside the box learners.
Speaker after speaker shared how their college agriculture degrees required them to unlearn conventional practices to embrace regenerative farming. Gabe Brown even offered her a scholarship to attend a Soil Health Academy!
Bella saw firsthand that success doesn’t mean being chained to hundreds of thousands of dollars in student debt. It’s about learning, doing, and growing—on your own terms.
Young People have a Future in Farming
Farmers have been backed into a corner by subsidies, regulations, and middlemen. Most farmers make so little that they have to work a part or even full time job just to farm... who would want to inherit this burden?
By changing the way we farm, we can change this future - farming regeneratively without subsidies, selling directly to consumer, cutting out the middle men - farmers can be paid for the true value they produce instead of what the government has decided to subsidize.
People are waking up—they want freedom in food choices, and Bella realized young farmers have a massive opportunity to lead that change.
To Sum it Up
It’s clear she soaked it all in. When you learn directly from people who live and breathe this work, who’ve spent their careers researching and advancing it, you can’t deny the impact of regenerative agriculture. It’s a growing movement that offers real solutions for health, nutrition, and community resilience.