MY GURUS
Many people ask me, “who mentors you?”
My favorite gurus are all going to be assembled in one place, at one time, and you can hear them too. I don’t know when I’ve been as excited about a speaker lineup as what we have for the Stockman Grass Farmer Gathering 2024 here at Polyface August 22-23. Let me introduce you to my mentors, the folks I would pay to go see and hear.
Darren Doherty, founder of Regrarians, protégé of P.A. Yeomans, Bill Mollison, and other iconic eco-experts, he is probably the foremost agriculture landscape designer in the world. Much of what I know, I learned from him. He’s done projects in 50 countries, from tropics to desert, from cattails to cows.
His 10 Layers of Permanence build on the work of Yeomans; you will never see your farm, ranch, or homestead the same way once you’ve encountered his thinking. With his deep resonant base voice in Australian accent and constant humorous quips, he’s one of the most engaging and enjoyable speakers you’ll ever hear.
Dan Kittredge, founder of the Bionutrient Food Association, leads the world in tying food quality to soil quality. He’s well on the way to a long term goal of creating a frequency meter using spectrophotometry to read nutrient density in food. His initial readings on carrots and broccoli show differences at a magnitude of 150 times between best and worst produce. Imagine being able to point a hand-held device at food and get a nutrient reading.
His first comprehensive product is beef, measuring 150 nutrients. While the data is still coming in and being compiled, initial findings show the single biggest influencer of beef nutrient density is the diversity of plants the bovine ingests. Anyone interested in producing or purchasing microbiome-satiating food will be spellbound by what he’s finding. Truly cutting edge.
John Kempf, founder of Advancing Eco-Ag, may be the most knowledgeable agronomist in the world. He’s one of the only people I know who has more agriculture books in his house than I do. He specializes in balancing soils, from basic nutrients like nitrogen to subtle elements like frequencies and energy.
Every other sentence he utters blows your mind with profound understanding and insight. You’ll never think about soil the same way after listening to him. He’s as at home talking about bacteria and fungi as he is addressing quantum physics; he even questions some universal laws of physics.
Kit Pharo, founder of Pharo Cattle Company, is America’s largest grass-based seedstock producer. He handles thousands of cows in multiple states and leases properties from 150 landlords. Perhaps no one in America has a better handle on genetics and low-input ranching and farming than this experienced producer. He’s a great marketer, too.
Few people in the farming industry have as quick a wit as Kit. A true word-crafter, he has a pithy saying for everything, making you scratch your head one minute in profound reflection and rolling laughing in the next from a humorous witticism.
Michael Godfrey, who lives near me in Swoope, is certainly at the top of American ornithologists. Why would he speak at an SGF gathering? As a renowned environmentalist, his cattle farm coupled with ornithology give him unique authenticity in the ecology-farming debate.
An avid lover of grassland wild birds, over the years he has developed credible protocols for grazing, mowing hay, or clipping pastures in a way that preserves grassland birds. In his professional featherflix postings, he explains that the only way to maintain wild grassland birds is with cattle, which gives good grass farmers lots of ammunition when dialoguing with folks who disparage cows. One of the most eloquent and thoughtful environmental-ornithological-grass farmers you’ll ever meet, he mesmerizes with eclectic understanding. He’s definitely not stuck in a silo.
Tai Lopez, quintessential millennial entrepreneur guru, founder of Knowledge Society and advocate of masterminds, will speak on The Anatomy of a Maverick. World traveled, with nearly a billion—with a b—hits on some of his posts, he has been at the lowest and highest levels of entrepreneurism. He has enjoyed the best and worst of business.
I don’t know anyone better suited to dig into what makes a maverick, how to be a better maverick, and how to enjoy being a maverick in the face of naysayers and opposition. All grass farmers are mavericks because we go against the grain (pun intended) of orthodoxy, from lower chemical use to pastured livestock. I’ve heard Tai speak multiple times and never came off the edge of my seat. Of all the people I know, he’s the closest to being as widely read as SGF founder Allan Nation, with an uncanny ability to connect dots from seemingly diverse fields. You won’t want to miss him.
ALL these folks will be at the SGF gathering August 22-23, assembled at one place, at one time, for you to hear, enjoy, and meet. I’m giddy over being able to host this group of gurus who inspire me and from whom I’ve learned most of what I think I know. If you don’t do anything else this year, come join us. Tickets are from SGF at 1-800-748-9808 or 601-853-7755 or www.stockmangrassfarmer.com. Don’t delay.
Who is your favorite mentor/guru/inspirational encourager?