Uploaded May 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
"It's simplified everything."
Today on the podcast, Tom Cotter shares how his journey into regenerative agriculture has reduced his workload, improved yields, and increased his enjoyment of farming.
Tom manages a Minnesota farm consisting of 340 acres of certified organic ground, 430 acres of conventional no-till ground, and an 80-acre pasture. Driven by a desire to cut input costs and work with nature, Tom has successfully integrated a five-way crop rotation with multi-species cover crop mixes and intensive grass-finished livestock grazing.
Today on the podcast, John and Tom discuss:
🪱 Finding 30 earthworms per shovelful after integrating a 40-way cover crop mix and livestock.
➕ Balancing organic and conventional no-till acres using a simple plus-minus grading system.
🐂 Grazing livestock on crop ground for up to 10 months out of the year.
🧘♂️ Shifting to an adaptive multi-crop rotation to distribute the workload and reduce seasonal stress.
🌾 How designing smart crop sequences and planting winter rye to completely eliminate fungicides and insecticides on his conventional acres.
🎧 Listen: loom.ly/hq5ecBw
"It's simplified everything."
Today on the podcast, Tom Cotter shares how his journey into regenerative agriculture has reduced his workload, improved yields, and increased his enjoyment of farming.
Tom manages a Minnesota farm consisting of 340 acres of certified organic ground, 430 acres of conventional no-till ground, and an 80-acre pasture. Driven by a desire to cut input costs and work with nature, Tom has successfully integrated a five-way crop rotation with multi-species cover crop mixes and intensive grass-finished livestock grazing.
Today on the podcast, John and Tom discuss:
🪱 Finding 30 earthworms per shovelful after integrating a 40-way cover crop mix and livestock.
➕ Balancing organic and conventional no-till acres using a simple plus-minus grading system.
🐂 Grazing livestock on crop ground for up to 10 months out of the year.
🧘♂️ Shifting to an adaptive multi-crop rotation to distribute the workload and reduce seasonal stress.
🌾 How designing smart crop sequences and planting winter rye to completely eliminate fungicides and insecticides on his conventional acres.
🎧 Listen: loom.ly/hq5ecBw
