Author: Will English

REGEN AG PODCAST EP 74: DALE STRICKLER

I’ve jumped over episode 73: John Fagan of HRI Labs, Iowa. Of course it was interesting, but there wasn’t much there for sugar beet in Sweden. Dale Strickler’s Books. I don’t think that it came from this podcast but from one of the Soil Sense episodes, but the guest said “when your car breaks down…
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REGEN AG PODCAST EP 72: NICOLE MASTERS

Another great guest. Another book. Another interesting ‘new’ topic. Nicole is a Kiwi, so that is already endearing. Throw on top of this her outlook on things and her clear way of discussing it, and her knowledge (again largely from a mix of experience and knowing the science) and you’ve got another classic RegenAg Podcast.…
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OpenFOAM – FIFTH ATTEMPT. AIR FLOW THROUGH A VENTILATED SUGAR BEET CLAMP

It’s a very idealised version of a clamp, but it feels pretty OK. The clamp is 8m wide, 2.4m high, and the cross section is 3m broad. The ventilation pipe is 20cm in diameter, and 5.5m long, from x = 0. There are 12 holes in the pipe, each 6cm in diameter and centered at…
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REGEN AG PODCAST EP 71: HARRIET MELLA (plus note on ep 68-70)

Episodes 68, 69 and 70 were, of course, all interesting and worth the listen, but I just didn’t get any great take-aways from them that felt would be appilcable to sugar beets in Sweden in the near future. Some general things that were nice hear though: Steven Bierlink (ep 70) mentioned that he is no…
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Brendan Rocky. Keynote at Soil Heath Workshop, Utah Conservation Districts.

The presentation is on YouTube. Brendan is a farmer. That’s the full extent of how he introduces himself. It is also why I like listening to him – he’s doing this stuff, with his own skin in the game. The punchline of Brendan’s presentation is that he is replacing a system dominated by death with…
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REGEN AG PODCAST EP 67: JESSE FROST AND MARKET GARDENS

Jesse runs his own podcast, and while I don’t know anything about his face, he’s definitely got a voice for radio. A pleasant listen, if not a long one. He’s also got a book coming out: “The Living Soil Handbook: The No-Till Grower’s Guide to Ecological Market Gardening”, and has a website notillgrowers.com This was…
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REGEN AG PODCAST EP66: JON STIKA, AUTHOR OF “A SOIL OWNER’S MANUAL”

More of the same, but all worth hearing. The same: A gently spoken, yet clearly wise, guest. North Dakota/ Wisconsin (or maybe I’m getting confused with the guests on the Soil Sense podcast?) Soils are a biological system, not a chemical one. Too much chemistry gives plants a bad upbringing – they don’t build the…
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REGEN AG PODCAST EP65: JAY FUHER OF MENOKEN FARM

The regenerative agriculture podcast, hosted by John Kempf. Episode 65 Jay Fuher of Menoken Farm, North Dakota. A good, enjoyable, long chat this one. Not a lot of made me think “sugar beets”, or was totally new, but it was another good example of people putting the thinking into practice. Things discussed but which I…
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Review: Preventing and Treating Flea Beetles and Aphids on Canola and Sugar Beets with Nutrition Management

This is my review of a publicly available recording of a webinar (without the images), available on the Kind harvest website, with hosting and presentation from John Kempf and presentation from Tom Dykstra. So easy, yet maybe so hard. HEALTHY PLANTS The punch line from this presentation is that healthy plants will naturally defend themselves…
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MEASURING AIR SPEED INSIDE OF SUGAR BEET CLAMPS – THE SET-UP.

To verify my CFD model of a sugar beet clamp, measurements of air speed inside of the clamp are desired. It’s something that I have not been able to do with a simple, post-clamp-construction method. In 2021, it is time to test a more embedded, set-up-at-harvest method. To this end, I’ve turned to do-it-yourself electronics.…
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