Regenerative by Design

Joanna, hello, everyone. You are
listening to the regenerative by

design podcast where we will be
getting to the root of health,

climate, economics and food. I
am your host. Joni quinwell

Moore, join me on this journey
as we explore the stories of

individuals and organizations
who are working to realign our

food system with both human
health and the health of our

planet. Welcome everybody. I'm
so glad you're here with us

today on the regenerative by
design podcast, I have a

fantastic guest today that I've
really gotten to know over this

last year because of his
incredible story and passion for

building regenerative systems.
And so if you're a listener of

our podcast, you know that
design thinking, and how we

actually apply design thinking
to build regenerative systems is

is a key and often overlooked
piece of the puzzle as we

transition the world to this
model that aligns food and

agriculture with human health
outcomes that are positive and

climate resiliency. So Merlin
yog stick, thank you for joining

us, and I'm so happy to have you
here today.

What a delight to be here as
well. And of course, what a

delight to get to know you over
the past year or so that we've

been talking and dialoguing. So
this is a real treat. And thank

you for inviting me. Yeah, yeah.

We're overdue, because I
remember the first time I really

heard your story, I thought
we've got to get you on the

podcast and and tell the story
so we can share it and others

can be inspired by your life's
work and what you're doing right

now at this point in your life.
So Merlin, like I love that you

grew up in Iowa and that you are
now back in Iowa, like Iowa has

a real special place in my
heart, as I've told you, because

my dad was born and raised in a
very small town in rural Iowa,

Albert city, and I spent a lot
of time there growing up as a

kid, and I just have a heart for
the people of Iowa and the

communities of Iowa, and from An
agricultural perspective, boy,

Iowa is like, literally, an
incredible agricultural

powerhouse. However, a lot of
that has been really exploited.

So tell us a little bit about
your upbringing and and just

your life story and how you came
back to be in Iowa passionate

about serving the people of
Iowa.

Where do I start there? I mean,
obviously, born in Iowa in the

late 40s, quite frankly. So
that'll tell you how old I am,

and grew up in a small family
farm. The Last of five kids went

to a one room country school for
the first four years of my

education, which was quite
interesting. It's kind of like

the Little House on the Prairie
story. Well, I kind of lived it

only as a boy and with our
family. So I got the best, as I

now have realized, I got the
best that Iowa had to offer back

then, small state, a flyover
state, as we all know. I mean,

that's the Iowa, Idaho, Ohio
syndrome that you and I are

connected to. Whatever that
state is. Yeah, nobody knows

where they are. No, it's out
there somewhere, exactly. But

anyway, so I got my start on a
small family farm around third,

fourth grade, my parents decided
to sell the farm because, quite

frankly, they could not feed and
take care of five kids. You

know, just farming back then. So
they bought a business in a

small town locally, and we moved
into a big town of almost 1000

people back then, but it was
still very much. Yeah, it

definitely was culture shock in
one sense, and yet it was just

kind of a natural transition to
what rural Iowa was all about,

still, everything very closely
connected a real community, the

kinds of things that we're all,
I think, looking for today to

get back to. So I grew up in a
small town, get an education,

got a degree at the University
of Northern Iowa. Started out

with business because I thought
that's what I wanted to do, but

then realized that I really
wanted to work with kids and

decided to change my major,
which I did as I look back now,

it was all part of the design
and divine plan that I was on,

and continue to be on, I taught
one year and realized that that

was not actually for me. While I
loved working with the kids,

between the parents and the
administration, it was not so

much fun, so I had an
opportunity to go to work for.

An educational publishing
company, and they were selling

Iowa history materials. I
applied for that job, was hired,

and so 1971 1972 I'm on the
road, calling on every

elementary school in the state,
introducing them to some

supplemental curriculum
materials that we had. And while

I was making all of those
contacts at the schools, I

realized that there was a
tremendous need for more

adequate materials to study
about Iowa, Iowa history, Iowa

geography. The textbook was
about 25 years old, and by every

school I called on and said,
Look, your company needs to

publish a new book for it. Ours
is falling apart. We need an

update. And this is our state.
The kids need to know about

their state. After I heard that
about the 100th time, I said,

Okay, maybe I need to pay
attention here. So I put my

creative hat on, looked at the
textbook and said, well, first

of all, that's not a good way to
teach kids read the chapter and

answer the questions at the end,
which is the way I was taught

Iowa history. Not only was it
not any fun, but it didn't

really teach kids anything other
than to memorize facts and

concepts. And it was pretty
boring because the teacher was,

you know, doing all of the
teaching up front, and we had to

follow along as best as we can.
So make a long story short, I

decided to reinvent the textbook
for the social sciences, and I

created a hands on interactive
multimedia, multi discipline

approach that I knew was the
best way to teach kids and the

best way for kids to learn.
However, it did not look like a

book. And so every publisher
that I took it to, in fact,

including the company that I was
working for, they said, What is

this? Yeah, no, which is, of
course, what we're doing here in

terms of farm food and ag, but
so this will blend in later on.

But anyway, I had one choice,
and that was to give up on my

idea or publish it on my own.
Fortunately, I was married at

the time, and my wife suggested
that I do that. So we took what

money we had saved the previous
years for my educational sales,

published this Iowa book, or
this Iowa studies program, and

it was very successful in Iowa.
I then started taking it to

other states, and here again,
make another long story short, I

spent about the next 20 years
designing state studies programs

for all 50 states, the provinces
of Canada. Did very, very well

and but the late 80s, I had
every publishing company in the

business trying to buy me
because we had literally led the

entire industry with this
program that really preceded

them the benefits of the
computer. I didn't know that at

the time, but we were using
graphic, you know, teaching kids

with pictures, graphs, charts,
narrative, teaching them reading

and comprehension and critical
thinking skills and all that

kind of stuff built into one
program. Thus, the teachers

loved it. The kids really
learned a lot, and it became a

standard for the entire
industry. And I ended up selling

that company in 1990 and wrote a
book, and then started a couple

of other companies since then,
and basically between 25 and the

age of 50, I built and started
three different companies, sold

them all, and I have been
retired since, since that time,

but you've been a

busy, retired guy. I have been

anybody that retires to know
that you don't really retire. I

mean, if you've got any spunk of
energy or life in you, that's

when you really go to work. But
you go to work on things that

you really care about and that
you have passion for well,

and you establish that the love
of learning is every bit as

important, is the content and
the delivery. And you know, when

you're teaching kids to learn,
to love, to learn, I mean,

that's like a mindset, you know?
And I feel like your your

materials probably had that
heart in place, like was like,

learning should be fun. Learning
is a lifetime endeavor, and it

never stops, not it, not when
you get done with school, not

when you retire. Learning is a
lifelong endeavor. It should be

fun.

Yeah, it is. And of course,
right now we're probably

learning way too fast to even
comprehend some of the things

that we're learning given, you
know, there's so much

information out there, and you
gotta, you know, dig through

what really is important, what
is true anymore. Or in today's

world, that

can be hard.

Yeah, it can be hard, but you're
absolutely right. I mean, I

think that's what life is all
about, learning even our

failures, our learning
experiences. And think most of

society is woken up to the fact
that we really don't fail. We

just have a door that may get
closed on us or something

doesn't work out the way we
thought it was going to work

out. But if we don't take it
personal and stay focused on

what it is we thought we had or
what we could do, then another

door will open and you look back
and you say, okay, that failure

was really about a step that I
needed to learn that I wasn't

aware of. And so now I can add
that to my, you know, resume, if

you will, and take my idea to
another step and another level,

absolutely

and keep your eye on the prize,
like the big picture.

Yes,

that's awesome. So you know,
you, you've lived in a lot of

different places through all
these adventures. I know you've

spent a lot of time in Colorado,
California, but you came back to

Iowa. Like, when did that happen
and what motivated you to move

back to Iowa?

Yeah, well, to go back to my the
story that I just told you, when

I saw that the publishing
business that I had started was

going to take off, my wife and I
headed to Boulder, Colorado

immediately. I mean, truthfully,
we did not want to get stuck in

Iowa. We just had bigger visions
and dreams, and we had fallen in

love with Colorado from the
skiing, and I used to be in a

folk group, and we used to have
an agent back there, so we got

booked there a lot of times
during the spring breaks and

holiday vacations and summer
breaks. And so fell in love with

with Colorado, as so many people
have and do once they visit the

state. So from like 1974 to 2004
I lived in Boulder and got

boulderized, as they say, which
there was always this joke back

then that it was 26 miles
surrounded by reality, because

that's a good Boulder, really.
Yeah, Boulder really was, you

know, speaking of thinking out
of the box. That's what Boulder

is about. And it really was a
Mecca, a lot like Portland,

Oregon, kind of like Austin,
Texas, some places back in

Massachusetts and so forth.
North Carolina, another, another

community or state with with a
lot of aggressive and

progressive people and thinkers.
But anyway, Boulder treated me

very well, because all three of
the businesses that I started

really took off there, and so I
the night in 2004 I kind of

figured, okay, enough of
Boulder. Maybe it is time for me

to get in touch with reality or
what was going on in the rest of

the world. And always kind of
wanted to live in in California,

so I picked up and moved to
California. Initially, moved to

LA, and that lasted about 90
days because there was nothing

in LA that I could relate to, no
nature, no mountains or anything

like that, and way too much
traffic. So I started looking

around where I wanted to live,
and I decided actually to move

to Phoenix for a few years. That
worked out well in the winter

time, not so much in the
summertime. And

summer, Phoenix is pretty rough.
It's it's brutal,

and even more so today, as we
are, you know, dealing with

global warming and so forth. So
anyway, ended up in Northern

California, just north of the
bay, and thought that's probably

where I was gonna hang up my
spurs. I had a mountain in the

backyard and an ocean in the
front yard, and that was a cool

place to live, yeah, but it
really is about that time, this

was like 2010 I was living
there, and what took me back to

Iowa, this will answer your
question, is I got a call from a

friend of mine who actually
lived in San Diego, and he said,

You got to take a look at this
company or this organization

called the world, the World
Business Council for Sustainable

Development. I had not heard of
them before. When I first went

on and checked them out, I
thought, why would I want to be

associated with these guys?
These are the bad guys. They're

all multi billion dollar
corporations. They own the

world. And then as I looked
deeper and saw what they had

created, which was a vision. For
2050 starting in 2010 a four

decade process of using business
to design, speaking of design

work to design a world that
could work for everybody in

their vision, by 2050 we would
live in a world where there is

no waste, where there was plenty
of food for everybody. Economics

worked for everybody, kind of
this blissful world that we had

in in mind back in Boulder. And
I thought, well, maybe these

guys are not the bad guys after
all. So I started looking into

them further. And because I was
not far from, from Stanford, I

found out that one of the
persons in charge of all of the

graphics that they had designed
was in Stanford, and so I

reached out to him, connected
with him, and here again, with

my publishing background, which
was based on A highly graphic

approach, we put our heads
together and decided that we

needed to develop a K 12
curriculum around this world

design that the Business Council
had put together. So we started

working on that, and at some
point, he knew the president

quite well, and he got the
president on the phone, and we

told him what we wanted to do,
and the President liked the

idea. And he said, so how much
money do you need? And we said,

Well, we think we need about ten
million and little relay on the

phone. But he said, Okay, guys.
He said, get me a proposal. And

he said, I'll find you the 10
million so that in then, along

at that same time, the state of
Iowa had elected a new governor,

and one of the things that he
was focusing on was education

reform. When I graduated from
high school, and for many, many

years, Iowa was number one in
education across the country,

the Iowa Test of Basic Skills
was used by every state to test

their kids. So we were the
standard, because we were number

one, and thus we got a really
quality education with our

public education back then. So
with all of those factors coming

together, I went back to Iowa,
had a meeting with the

Department of Education. Turned
out that they had just hired a

new department head, ironically,
from Colorado, I shared with him

my idea along with Stanford's
idea, and he loved it, and so we

started down that road putting
that together. However, the

governor's commitment to
education reform, I found out,

was really a political ploy. He
had no interest, nor did the

legislature have any interest in
funding it. So ultimately, my

friend from Colorado with the
Department of Education there

resigned, went back to Colorado,
and so my idea and vision of

what we could do with an
environmental K 12 program died.

But here I was back in my home
state, and what I realized in

the times that I had been
visiting is that it was not the

same state that I left after 40,
nearly 50 years. So much had

changed in the state, primarily
due to the way we do

agriculture, conventional AG,
had come in and taken over. You

know, the small communities were
dying. In fact, many of them had

already died. Big corporate
America came in, took over and

did to what we have done. We
have seen happen all across

rural America. And I just, you
know, could not believe my eyes.

Shortly after that time, the
Governor did launch a really

great program that I got
involved with called the

healthiest state initiative.
Here we are, I don't know we're

24th or 25th in the nation at
that time, and the governor and

a few key business execs in the
state said, Hey, we need to

create a goal that I will become
number one in the nation. And

they set a goal of doing it
within five years. Well, five

years later, not only did they
not go forward, they went

significantly backwards. And as
I then was put on the healthiest

state committee for a number of
years, and watched how they were

leading that I realized that
they were completely missing the

boat. They was trying to fix
healthcare with healthcare. And

as you know, better than
anybody, having spent many years

in the healthcare business,
that's. Never going to happen.

So when I you know, when the
light bulb started going off, I

said the real issue is not about
health care. The real issue is

about the soil and the food that
we're growing or not growing,

the health of that food, the way
we're practicing agriculture,

the quality of the water in the
state and, of course, across the

country and the world. And I
said, until we fix the soil and

get healthy soil back again,
we're only going to continue to

get worse and more sick and
never go forward in healthcare.

So anyway, at that point. This
is around 2015, now, and I

realized that I cannot let go of
this idea. One, I think I have

some some solutions. And
secondly, it's like, if the you

have an idea and somebody needs
to create the change for it, you

know it's like, if not me, who?
Right? So I said, Okay, I guess

it's me. And while I have no
clue as to how I'm gonna go

about this, it's like any thing
you start, you just take that

first step, and then you take
the second and you you figure it

out. We talked about that way
you're raising your kids. Yeah,

it just unfolds.

It unfolds. You have to take
initiative and start somewhere

and figure it out as you go.
Yeah, exactly.

So. Anyway, I then about that
time, was invited to an event

that took place in Irvine,
California. It was a global game

changing conference, and there
were 25 of us that had been

selected to participate in that
because we had all had global,

game changing ideas, at least,
determined by the people that

put the event together. So in
May of 2015 I put my stake in

the ground and I said, Okay,
here's what I'm doing. I'm

building a model in agriculture,
soil, food, ag and health for

the rest of the country, I think
I was the perfect place to do

it, because we're 1% of the
population. I learned

metaphysically that if you
change 1% of anything, it's a

matter of time before the entire
thing will change and get on

board or become transformed. So
that had some meaning for me,

and also, given my experience in
publishing, I realized that if

my idea would work in Iowa, it
would work any place across the

country. So that's what took me
back there. That's what kept me

back here. I had no intention of
moving back because I really

love Colorado and California and
the Northwest where you live,

and all of those kinds of
things. But I have been here,

and now, as you know, our
statewide initiative here is now

a 50 state initiative, and we're
talking with you and some of

your people about that. And of
course, as you also know, a

couple of years I got connected
to the World Food Bank out in

Denver with my good friend
Richard lackey, saw what he was

doing in Africa. We, we

met one of these days too. Yeah,

no, definitely have to get him
on because, you know, he, he

shares the vision that you and I
do, and is really doing some

great things around the country.
And so now we're we're helping

him focus on the US, because
when he and I connected about

two and a half years ago, he's
told me, he said, I want to do

the same thing here in the US
that I'm doing in Africa,

because we're having such a
success with your generative ag

and raising people out of
poverty, like a million and a

half people out of poverty a
year, with their their

television program, and
everything else that they're

doing. And so I said, Well,
strategy, I think your model at

the top, along with my model at
the bottom, in the middle is

where we can probably get a lot
of traction and make a lot of

change you and I probably need
to talk about that, that middle,

because that's that's where
you're at, and a number of

things that you're talking
about. But anyway, we started

down this road a little over two
and a half years ago, and now

we're really starting to crank
up. And as you know, little over

a year ago, we birthed the farm
hero project, which is a mass

marketing campaign. So we could
talk a little bit about that

when we think we

definitely, yeah, we need to
have, like, a whole session to

unpack the farm HERO program,
because it is a it's a big deal,

and it's a really important
initiative. And you know,

honestly, I love that it, it's
part of that iteration process

of you coming back to Iowa
seeing that there's a major

disconnect between soil health,
human health, and. And economics

in rural communities in
particular. And you know how we

start bringing that narrative
all together? Because we

literally can't solve this using
any reductionistic focus on one

piece of that puzzle, like it
always fails when we don't look

at the whole the holism of of
that, of that riddle. And you

know, so many, every rural
community really is in the same

position when it comes to this.
And I, I love Iowa being ground

zero for a number of reasons.
Also, one that you didn't touch

on is the fact that Iowa has
incredible, you know, has had

some of the richest soil ever
anywhere in the world. I mean,

historically, it's unparalleled
as far as perfection when it

comes to AG, it gets great
rainfall. It has beautiful

native soils, but as we know,
those soils have been horribly

eroded, and the soil degradation
in Iowa is significant. But

because of this beautiful
rainfall, it has great power to

restore very, very quickly.

Yeah, no, absolutely. And of
course, I saw some of those

things again when I saw that.
You know, what could possibly be

done from what it had been
degraded to? So what you just

pointed out its rich history?
Yeah, the fact that, ironically,

conventional ag really got its
start in this state. The Cradle

of it all was between Des Moines
and Coon Rapids, Iowa. Our

second episode of farm hero, we
filmed Liz Garst and her

partner, Darwin, telling their
story, because Liz's history,

her grandfather, Roswell Garst
worked with Henry Wallace, who

really started the first plant,
new plant genetics, and helping

farmers increase their yield
with hybrid seed development. So

that all got started right here,
and then when synthetic

fertilizer came in, it looked
like a really positive boom to

provide that extra fertilizer,
to get that extra yield. But

now, of course, that fertilizer,
along with the pesticides, the

herbicides, all of those other
sides, which actually kills the

microbiome rather than restore
it. So it's just gone as far as

it can go, and thus the birth of
regenerative AG,

correct? I love that because,
you know, I always try to be

careful to not wrong the leaders
of innovation in agriculture

that we're responding to the
need to feed a starving world

after World War Two. I mean, it
was the global hunger epidemic

at that time was was
unbelievable, and fertilizers

and the modern Green Revolution
type methodology offered, like a

lot of hope to people, but we
didn't understand the

externalities. We didn't
understand the long term

ramifications. Because, quite
frankly, nobody had ever done it

before. So as you said, that's
where we're at now, like we've

we've capped out the
productivity we can get with

that model, and that is what is
really leading to this whole

regenerative transformation that
we're seeing now, where we're

starting to understand, Okay, do
we need to keep putting stuff

into the soil instead? Why don't
we utilize what's already there?

Why don't we work with nature to
try to really restore all those

natural buffer systems, the soil
microbiome, and create a more

balanced and holistic model that
still produces high yield, high

productivity agriculture, but
not at the expense of our health

and soil health. So it's
absolutely a beautiful story,

the story of regeneration, for
those of us who are all like

sipping the Kool Aid, and we're
already on the wagon like I

think everybody, by and large,
across the board, that I know in

this movement, is like in love
with the story and the hope that

regenerative agriculture really
provides for us as we look into

kind of a grim long term picture
for the planet with everything

that's going on. But there's
still this massive need for

storytelling, high quality
storytelling, and the

humanization of what's happening
in the regenerative movement.

Um, there's definitely a huge
propensity, and I'm one of those

people like, I get really
excited about the science and

that the agronomics and all of
the kind of nitty gritty detail

of of regenerative Ag, and that
doesn't translate out into the

wide world of people who don't
work in this world. And what you

guys are doing at Farm hero, and
I'm going to have you take a

minute to really deep dive about
what farm hero is. Is it really

rehumanizes the story, it puts
the people and the story of the

people and the nature and the
food right in the center of the

story. And everybody can relate
to that. Because, you know, food

is, is life. I mean, we all eat.
It's a part, critical part of

the human experience. And to re
humanize the eating experience

through the lens of regenerative
agriculture and the lens of

healthy. Nutrient dense food is
is very, very powerful, and I

feel like it's exactly what we
need. We've learned that through

kiss the ground and common
ground, that's been a world wake

up call and other great movies
and shows that are out there,

like farmers footprint. I know
all those folks really well, and

it's been incredible. And
there's a need to really

continue this so we can get the
story out. So I take a few

minutes, Marlon, and walk us
through how you and Richard came

up with the concept of farm
hero. And you know where you're

at now. What are your needs?
Because I've seen, I've gotten

to see a lot of sneak peeks of
this, and I know your crew, and

it's I'm so excited for this to
get out. So let our audience

know all about it, and then let
them know what they can do to

help

where it got started. I mean,
when Richard and I first started

talking, he shared with me the
success that they were having in

Africa. But truthfully, the
light bulb had not gone off in

my head that we needed to do
that immediately in the US. So I

spent about a year, year and a
half, going to a lot of Farmer

to Farmer events. My good friend
Liz Haney puts on an excellent

event, actually, back here in
Iowa, called the soil health

event. Ironically, she puts it
on in Cedar Falls, which is

where I got my education degree.
So it kind of takes me back home

every time I go to one of her
events. And it was actually

following her lead, and some of
the great things that she was

doing with a lot of regenerative
ag farmers that led me down this

path. And I went to, I don't
know how many of her events and

when the light bulb went off in
regards to farm hero, was

actually in Nebraska. I was
headed back to Iowa, and I just

attended one of her events, and
there was about 100 farmers

there. And for whatever reason,
as I'm driving back in my own

little world with, you know, a
few hours of windshield time, it

just dawned to me that going
that direction was not moving,

not only not moving the needle,
but we were never going to get

there. 100 farmers at a time.
300 farmers at a time was not

cutting it. It's not to say that
those events are not valuable,

because they are to the farmers.
They learn something from them,

and it's good. In fact, we need
a lot of those going on all over

the country, all over the state
of Iowa, but at the same time, I

realized that we needed to be in
front of millions of people,

millions of farmers, telling our
story, telling the regenerative

ag story, plus, we needed to
bring the consumer in to this

discussion as well, because
farmers, as we all kind of know,

they're pretty slow to change.
They've been doing their farming

practices the way they've been
doing them because their dad did

it that way and their
grandfather did it that way. And

so why should I change or listen
and look at something new? So

anyway, we were dealing with
that, and I was literally still

in the car. Had gotten had
crossed the Missouri River into

Iowa, and I called Richard up,
and I said, Richard, we have got

to take our story to the mass
market. Described a little of my

experience at that event, and I
said, it's time we do what

you've been doing in Africa,
your shamba Shape Up program. We

need to develop a television
campaign and really get our

story out there. And his
response was, okay, let's do it.

So we birthed the idea. Yeah,
exactly. So we birthed the idea

at that point together, we spent
a few weeks putting a deck

together our best ideas
together, we actually called our

first event, farm food X, the
name that I actually came up

with that we kind of liked, but
after we thought about it a

little bit, Richard came up with
the idea farm hero, our third

partner, who is our host, Laura
zaspel, who came along a number

of weeks later, but she liked
the idea. She had a partner that

was involved in the filming and
movie business and helped us

fund our idea. So that's how the
three of us came together from

the initial conception that I
created, the birthing that

Richard and I put together. And
here we are, a year later, with

nine episodes in the bank, so to
speak, and we're ready to go

national and global. And if our
producers

beautifully made, they're
beautiful like they're awesome.

Quality, great. Yeah. Great
materials.

They really are, and that's, you
know, to a testimony to the

producer that we got connected
with an organization called

AMERICAN STORIES entertainment
out of Florida. If his

projections are correct, he says
we will be in 100 million homes

by the first quarter of next
year through our distribution.

So that's going to make, I
believe, a big difference. No,

that will be a big difference,
because that is a lot of ears

and eyes that are feasting on
delicious food and like the

story of their fellow Americans
working like good, honest work

and go, Wow, we can have our
cake and eat it too. Like we can

have great food and great
American salt to the earth

livelihoods, and we can actually
be restoring planetary health

and soil health. And, you know,
climate doom and gloom isn't

something we're stuck with. Like
that is a powerful story.

Yeah, it is. And of course, as
we back to the the idea of

learning, the way we learn, the
key to learning is repetition.

As we all know, it's like
reading a book once while you

get something out of it, but
usually not very much. If you

really want to get the depth of
what a book has to say, You got

to read it about three, four or
five, maybe six times, maybe

seven, actually, I think, is the
magic number. And so that is

where we have to go with the
consumer and with the farmer.

It's like we got to be hit over
the head, you know, a number of

times before we finally feel the
pain or we wake up, which was my

case with the whole farm hero
idea. But so that's what we

believe we have to offer to the
marketplace and to this great

change that we we so desperately
need for the climate and for the

economy and for the health of
nature, people, planet, and all

of those things. So that's does
all work

together. I mean, I think that
that is like, literally, why

regenerative AG is like, and
regenerative food systems is,

um, you know, people hear it and
they're like, oh my gosh, this

is like, too good to be true.
And the reality is is actually,

the more we learn about it, the
better it is, the truer is, the

more things that we start to see
coming out of it that we've not

even fully comprehended or
understood yet, and we are going

to need that constant repetition
of getting that story out there

and telling the story of the
people who are doing it, so that

consumers have a way to support
the movement. I know that that's

been a constant source of
frustration with many who are

working in this regenerative
movement is, there's a lot of it

happening in the field. There's
very little happening in the

market. I mean, it's like
emerging, but there's still a

fundamental disconnect. Like,
and then consumers suddenly get

inspired about this regenerative
AG, story, but they don't really

know how to find it. Like, I
think if you live in a rural

area, it's a little bit easier,
because you can find a

regenerative ranch or
regenerative farm, but maybe if

you live in a really urban area,
you go to your local store down

the street and there's nothing
regenerative on the shelves, and

there's a lot of confusion
there. So by creating that story

and helping connect the impact,
it actually allows us to

catalyze the movement, because
then we're aligning consumer

awareness and consumer spending
with market development, which

then puts positive pressure on
growing the agricultural side,

because at the end of the day,
farmers will do what the market

tells them to do. And I grew up
around farming. I grew up

working on farms. My family had
a very small farm, and the

reality is, is that even the
most stubborn farmers will

change if the market puts enough
pressure on it to do so, um, you

know, like, if they're like,
hey, all of my neighbors are

growing better food and they're
more profitable. Well, there you

go. There. You know that's going
to even make the most reluctant

farmers pay attention. And we do
know that that's a lot of how it

works.

Let me just add to that. And you
and I have talked about this

before, one of the reasons I'm
actually quite optimistic in

these times, especially in
regards to food systems

transformation is that we are
right now in a perfect storm.

Yeah, and the perfect storm I
will describe is right now the

farmers back in Iowa and the
Midwest and all across the

country are dealing with very
low commodity prices. I mean,

they're dealing with 350 cent
corn sub profitability

like you are not profitable with
this market exactly,

need about $4.50 to $5 I'm told,
to break even with their with

their corn. When it comes to soy
beans, they need 10 to $12 per

bushel and soybean. Greens are
hanging around 910, corns around

354, so the perfect storm is
that the only thing that farmers

really have control of is their
cost of inputs. Obviously, they

can't control the weather. They
can't control the pro the

commodity prices. They can't
control what the consumer wants,

but they can control what they
put into their soil and the cost

of it. So right now, the farmers
that are doing conventional

farming used to spending $4.50
to produce a $4 bushel of corn

have to rethink their model,
because they have got to cut

down on their expenses or
they're going to go out of

business. So the perfect storm
is to say, Okay, Mr. Farmer,

what if we could show you a way
to make money with $4 corn, or

maybe even $3 corn. I just did
my own farm here on action video

out here in Iowa a couple of
weeks ago, and I filmed an Amish

farmer that is growing organic
corn, but it turns out that he

had about $138 of input costs,
compared to $450 per acre input

costs that most other farmers
have, and so at $138 and and

with what he's going to be paid
somewhere in the neighborhood of

$6 for that organic corn,
because he already had a pre

soul. But the point I'm trying
to make is that if we could show

every conventional farmer how
they could stay under $200 per

acre with all of their input
costs. Thus, when corn is at

three and a half or four or
five, they can make some still

make a profit and make some
serious dollars, and not be

looking at going out of business
or having their bank call them

up and say, Look, John, we can't
lend you any more money. You

know, in fact, we want your
farm.

Yeah, exactly. And there's
another thing that just has

really inspired me to rethink
the values system, you know, the

Value channel system. So, like,
all the things that create a

revenue stream for the farm, you
know, we have, like, the price

per Bucha, Bucha per acre. But
like, you know, can we put a

price on soil health, water
conservation, reduction of

chemicals, biodiversity? And
there's a lot of great work out

there. Most people are aware of
carbon credits. It's kind of

part of this developing notion
around natural cap asset

capital. But then you look at
that too, where if a farmer is

like, Okay, I'm rethinking my
strategy. I'm reducing the cost

of my inputs, and through that
change in strategy, I'm actually

able to get tax credits or
cheaper, you know, cheaper

interest rates on my operating
loans, because I'm actually

proving that I'm doing things on
my farm that are adding value

beyond the bushels per acre
adding value to water,

cleanliness, ecosystem health,
erosion control, which saves

taxpayers a ton of money when
they're not having to dredge the

waterways because of all the
soil running into the waterways.

How do we track that and think
that about that actually as a

financial transaction that can
also benefit farmers and

incentivize them to change their
farming methodologies in ways

that have a lower cost of
externalities, like all those

externalities, and that's a
whole nother conversation we can

have on another session, but
we've, I'm really excited for

farm hero, and I'm going to just
take it back to that, because I

want Our audience who's
listening today to, you know, be

on the lookout for farm hero.
And what are the last few things

that you guys need to do to get
that launched out there on

network, like on, you know,
television where people can see

it. Where are you? Where are
you? And Richard at and Laura,

Well, right

now our producer is negotiating
contracts. In fact, we're going

to be in Las Vegas next week at
the American Film conference,

and we will be in front of
distributors. We've got some

major things in the works for
season two that I'm not at

luxury to present quite yet, but
we are looking at some very,

very exciting opportunities with
Season Two that will start after

the first of the year. But here
again, fortunately, our producer

has a lot of contacts. They have
a station of their own, and so

through those various
distribution channels, that's

how we will end up in those 100
million homes. And of course,

with the shows and the type of
sponsors that we are looking

for, obviously farm hero type
sponsors that are producing.

Farm hero type goods that they
want the the rest of the

marketplace to know that they're
out there. We can help promote

those products. A lot of the
small organizations that you're

looking to help build in the
middle, which is another piece I

want to kind of tie in here, is
that when Richard and I came

together, I looked at his top
down approach, presented my

bottom up approach, and said, in
the middle is where we will come

together, and we'll really get
the traction. We'll create that

balance between what currently
exists and what needs to exist.

Well, lo and behold, here we are
talking to you, and that's

exactly what you're focused on.
Is that that middle part of the

equation that we haven't gotten
to or figured out yet. Certainly

our government has not figured
that out, and unfortunately, all

of us, whether we're consumers
or farmers at the bottom, I

haven't figured that out either.
So that's the brilliance that

you bring to the table, and that
Richard and I are really excited

about working with you and a lot
of key people that you have

around you. So that's kind of
where we're going and what we're

calling and I'm this, I'm going
to be, you're going to be the

first interview that I'm
announcing what we're calling

regenerative, AG, 2.0 because it
really is a less expensive way

to farm. It's a carbon intensive
farming program. It's a carbon

based program that we're
launching, and we've got some

really incredible materials that
we've discovered with other

agribusiness companies that
we're connecting to that can

lower the price of input costs
that all support nature. They're

all natural, and can help build
up healthy soils in that

microbiome. And we're literally
calling that regen, AG, 2.0

which is a version beyond the
current version, even though we

haven't been able to define what
our current version is, but here

we are moving to the to the 2.0
and maybe to the 3.0 version on

down the road. But I'm happy to
announce that, because if any

farmers are listening and want
to know more about that, they

know how they can contact you or
get back with us at Farm Herod,

we'd be happy to tell them about
that wonderful

Yeah, and thank you. I mean,
most people who follow my work

are they know I'm the queen of
the messy middle. It's like, how

do we really remove a lot of
that friction so that we can

create a smooth, holistic cycle
between supply and demand? And

it's the messy middle that gets
in the way every time. And I

really feel like there's some
ways that we can navigate that

way more efficiently and much
more cost effectively. We're

just not thinking about it. We
don't think about we don't have

the right design thinking in
place, and we've ignored a lot

of the tools of the 21st century
that make us able to navigate

complex markets more
effectively. And so we'll have

to do another session and just
totally deep dive on that down

there, down the road. And it's
really exciting. I love how all

of this work is coming together
to really just supercharge up

this regenerative movement and
and really leave a better future

and a better long term history
that will be written about what

we did today, instead of just
doom and gloom and we're

throwing it all away, there are
a lot of great people out there

that are dedicating their lives
to leaving a better future for

for, you know, future
generations, and for nature and

for our planet. So thank you for
your work, Merlin. And I'm

really proud to know you guys,
and proud to know you. And how

can people reach out to you? My
guess is that people might go,

Oh my gosh, I want to help, or I
have questions, how does

somebody get in touch with you?
What's the best avenue?

The best is farmhero.com, I've
had a website for regen Iowa. We

recently took it down because
regen Iowa is now regen Iowa

global, given our 50 state
initiative and committed to the

five continents that Richard has
been committed to for quite some

time. So we're going to take
Iowa global, but that means we

also want to take every one of
the other states that we work

with global as well, because
every state has something to

offer. You know, every state
does agriculture a little bit

different. They have different
soils, different markets, all of

that kind of stuff. So the goal
is to, you know, build this 50

state initiative so that we can
tell everybody's story, and of

course, everybody's most in love
with their own state. So we want

this to be state centered, and
not just about Iowa or Idaho or

Ohio, although we might have to
bring those three up every,

every now and then,

I think we should fly over.
States have to stick together,

after all, especially when no
one, when the average person

from you know wherever they are.
Doesn't know the difference

between the three. It's always
shocking to me that there are

people who really don't know. So
we have to talk about that

Merlin every time, so people can
bring that up. Yes, exactly. And

then I will make sure that we
put a link to the farm hero

website, and, you know, just any
other work that you've done

where people can learn more. And
I'm, I'm just super excited

about this. It's, um, it's
fantastic progress, and thanks

for your hard work, and thank
you for joining

Well, thank you for having me,
and I look forward to our next

steps.

Beautiful. So listeners out
there, please take a minute to

share this. Share this to your
education communities and your

friends and family who are
passionate about education,

because this is, again, this
crossroads between, you know,

the work that's being done in
the field to change the world,

and how we bring in that concept
of education, deep structural

changes in educational theory,
and using modern mixed media to

get the message out. So I feel
like this is a great story to

share outside of just the
regenerative community, and it's

very inspiring. So please take a
minute to rate and review and

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