
Living Soil vs. Lifeless Dirt: Earthworms, Tillage, and Regenerative Agriculture
Soil health takes center stage as Trent Loos welcomes Damian Buckley from New Zealand and Howard Vlieger from Iowa. Vlieger explains why Sioux County, Iowa, a top-ranked livestock producer, still leans on chemical-heavy industrial agriculture. He urges farmers to understand soil microbes and the soil food web instead of treating living soil like lifeless dirt. Buckley says New Zealand farmers reach for similar bag-and-can fixes. Guests share earthworm facts, including nutrient-rich castings and the power to neutralize pathogens. Buckley uses a spider web to show how heavy tillage destroys soil fungi, while tight farm economics push regenerative agriculture forward.






