Ch.12 Regenerative Agriculture College Campuses (2029)

Serializing Experiential Insight Colleges, how Women In Congress redeemed liberal arts college curriculum and teaching methods

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Another interest group, the Regenerative Agriculture (RegenAg) people, were also very stimulated by the Program. Inspired by both the Summer Conference 2028 and Service year activity, they sponsored their own spring 2029 forum, “What’s next for Regenerative Agriculture?” In a meeting hall seating 500, there was standing room attendance only.

The big problem in RegenAg was obvious to manny. The keynote speaker addressed it head-on. By 2025 RegenAg experts were mostly unanimous on how to teach new farmers how to build soils:

- You build healthy soils from the minerals and microbes up,

- You educate new farmers to appreciate healthy soils have a wide range of diverse microbial life,

- You educate farmers to add soil amendments and fertilizers only strategically, not wholesale,

- You get farmers measuring-analyzing soil, microbiome and sap to identify specific deficiencies,

- You educate them to add mineral amendments and foliar sprays to address needs.

If you do this, healthy plants can send down up to 45% of the carbohydrates (sugars) they make from photosynthesis, down to the root system to stimulate microbial life.

For example, if the plant needs more potassium, it makes the sugars microbes who poop out potassium prefer to eat. The potassium-eating microbes etch away at the rocks on the soil, extract the potassium; then, poop it out. The plant then has the big benefit of potassium in plant-friendly, uptake-ready form.

Yes, plant intelligence can do this. The healthier the plant is — as determined by carbs in the plant sap (brix) — the more of this intelligence it exhibits.

Understanding the above and explaining it theoretically to students was NOT the problem.

The big problem was academic and corporate resistance to this newer model of Best Practices in plant stewardship from the existing Old Order Ag colleges, Ag faculty, chemical fertilizer salesmen and lobbyists. They remained wedded to chemical fertilizers and pesticides. They remained wedded to plowing the soil even when unnecessary.

Newer Best Practices were not discussed by the Old Ag Order; nor, were Regen Ag practices given fair trials. Lobbying pressure from Big Fertilizer Big Pesticide and Big Tractor was starving the growth of Regenerative Agriculture.

In several days of brainstorming and proposals, the Spring 2029 Conference came to consensus on their best chance of a solution. It was to start two or more new RegenAg Colleges, based from the outset around RegenAg Best Practices.

In summer 2029, Women In Congress elected from farm states put forth legislation to establish and fund three RegenAg Colleges in three different states. After public hearings on the proposal, Women In Congress said, “Why not? This is a good use of government investment in infrastructure. It supports making our country more self-sufficient in food production. It supports the health of our population. The site criteria of new campuses was populated rural areas on or near federally controlled land including one National Park. We can as well, use these colleges as a pipeline for new generations of young farm owners. This will make our country more food sufficient.”

Women went further. They took great inspiration from Abraham Lincoln’s 1862 Land Grant Colleges — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land-grant_university — These were the first institutions focussed altogether on developing and conveying Best Practices in agricultural and animal husbandry, since the failure of the Green Revolution (over-use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides and tilling the land; also, the belief only sterile soil was healthy soil).

- They passed legislation to to mandate one or more core courses in RegenAg Best Practices be taught in ALL ag colleges,

- Online certificate and diploma programs in RegenAg mandated for all ag colleges were mandated within three years at each and all Ag colleges.

Since many Ag colleges already received a large per-cent of funding from the federal government, leverage to enforce these new laws was already in place.

Regenerative Agriculture Pilot Program Colleges were tasked with:

- Documenting, researching, improving on, and teaching Best Practices in human-Nature plant propagation starting from the microbial and mineral levels of soil health,

- As the basis of ag theory, the Reams/Albrecht/Callahan approach to fertility management was to be taught. The triumvirate referred to is Dr Carey Reams, Dr William Albrecht and Dr Philip Callahan,

- Simplify, streamline and spread the practice of low-cost home soil-testing,

- For large farms, simplify, streamline and spread the practice of overnighting plant sap samples for analysis and recommendations,

- Invite “growing partners,” farmers with large acreages, willing to partner with the Colleges in large-scale crop growing experiments, testing combinations of amendments and sprays based on current conditions and testing,

- Train the next generations of famers, gardeners and RegenAg consultants; based on restorative principles, starting from the microbial level of soil health, the most sustainable approach yet uncovered,

- Expand the topic of animal husbandry to focus on the major contributions of animal manures to soil microbiology.

Since 55% of new farm operators, 2022–2070 were women, optional classes in an ecumenical spiritual frame for human-Nature cooperation were mandated. Unexpectedly, this one small change was to have huge repercussions in the 2070s-2080s.

The Paid Year of National Service for 18–25 year olds had natural synergy with the start-up of RegenAg Colleges. After five years of both programs, Women In Congress began to see the number of small farms and farming families increasing at the fastest rate since the 1930s.

In the second year of operation, after positive buzz began circulating, these three new Ag colleges became well-attended in their third year. Within five years they were drawing away students from traditional Ag colleges, causing these older colleges to update their curriculum to RegenAg Best Practices.

Next: The Day Colleges Died