King Charles III has been a champion patron of the Soil Association since 1999. During this time has has funded hundreds of research trials, advocated for organic and nature-friendly farming, and been vocal about the benefits of biodynamic farming.
King Charles also set up Duchy Organics, an organic food seller, in 1990 following his own experiences transitioning to organic farming on Home Farm, Gloucestershire in 1985. All profits from Duchy Organics go to charitable causes.
Nicole Masters - USA
Nicole Masters is an agroecologist, and systems thinker. Embracing the complexity and life of force of nature, Nicole emphasises the synergies between all living organisms, including humans. Her research, passion and ideas are a guiding light to us and those in the regenerative agriculture movement. Her brilliant book, For The Love of Soil, covers strategies to regenerate our food production systems worldwide.
Angelika & URS HILDEBRANDT - Austria
Angelika and Urs are soil consultants advocating the Controlled Microbial Composting method, developed by Angelika Hildebrandt’s parents, the Luebkes, who worked with colleagues of Dr Ehrenfried Pfeiffer (who in turn had studied under Rudolf Steiner). They have an organic farm in Austria where use of this type of composting and compost teas has been shown to have impressive results including the increase in organic matter content on their farm from 2 to 15% over a ten year period.
Following the downwind fallout from the Chernobyl nuclear reactor accident, it was found that root vegetables across Austria were in danger of contamination. However, remarkably there were only two farms in Austria where root vegetables were found to be free of radioactive contamination in comparison to other farms in the region – one was the farm belonging to Angelika and Urs and the other was a farm which was following their aerobic method of composting.
Both Angelika and Urs have been advising us on our composting at The Land Gardeners and running workshops here in Oxfordshire and we have been following their controlled aerobic composting method and continue to work with them.
Grame Sait - USA
Graeme Sait is the inspirational co-founder of Nutri-tech Solutions. His passion is soil, plant, animal and human health and wellness. This has now expanded to include planetary health in recognition of the link between humus and carbon sequestration. His TEDx presentation in 2013 is a must.
Kay Baxter - New Zealand
Kay’s work was the starting point of The Land Gardeners’ interest in saving our soils and growing vegetables that were not only not tainted by chemicals but actually had positive health benefits containing high levels of nutrients.
She co-founded the Koanga Institute in 1997. She works tirelessly saving the heritage seeds of New Zealand, and finding practical solutions for home gardeners, for growing healthy soils and nutrient dense food.
The Koanga Institute maintains and distributes NZ's largest collection of Northern bio-region heritage fruit trees, and a national New Zealand heritage seed collection.
She has been a key source of inspiration to us at The Land Gardeners particularly her work on how to produce nutrient dense food and how to develop our capabilities in simple sustainable living.
Vandana Shiva - India
Vandana Shiva is a modern day revolutionary, and for forty years has been fighting a heroic battle on behalf of humanity and the ecologically besieged natural systems that support us. Her conversation farm ‘Navdanya’ in India is a beacon of resilience and agricultural education. Vandana’s background is as a physicist and she has published books with themes ranging from quantum theory to seed sovereignty.
Vandana famously fiercely defended indigenous seed varieties and farmers against the Green Revolution’s commercial seed and chemical fertilisers, which had firmly gripped Asia in the 80’s. Vandana is a powerful spokesperson warning about the Indian experience of the destructive impact of genetically modified crops and chemical inputs.
Rattan Lal - USA
Rattan Lal is a soil scientist. His work focuses on regenerative agriculture through which soil can help resolve global issues such as climate change, food security and water quality. His research diverged from the conventional 1970s soil fertility strategy of heavy reliance on commercial fertilizers. His research led a better understanding of how no-till farming, cover crops, crop residues, mulching, and agroforestry can restore degraded soils, increasing organic matter by sequestering atmospheric carbon in the soil, and help combat rising carbon dioxide levels in the air. You’ll have seen him appear in the recent Netflix hit Kiss The Ground, this man is the voice of reason when it comes to the role of carbon.
One paper to certainly digest is: ‘The Societal Value of Soil Carbon’ - published in The Journal of Soil and Water Conservation (2014)
School of Environment and Natural Resources - Ohio State University
Patrick Holden - UK
Patrick Holden is the founding director of the Sustainable Food Trust working towards more sustainable food systems. He was founding chairman of British Organic Farmers in 1982, worked for nearly 20 years at the Soil Association and is now Patron of the UK Biodynamic Association. He has a mixed community farm in Wales where he practices what he preaches.
“For the soil is the gut – the source of nourishment – for the plants we farmers grow. And it now seems there is a vital link between the microbiome of our intestines and the microbiome of the soil. Seventy years of intensive farming have decreased the microbiome of the soil to such low levels that now we urgently need to restore it. And this will mean changing the way we farm.”
“Only by changing our farming practices can we rebuild soil microbiological life and the soil carbon in which this resides.”
“We need to move away from chemistry to biology in the way that we farm.”
MARC VERHOFSTEDE - Belgium
Marc’s passion in life is to educate others to bring life into their soil. We first met him at the Garden Festival at Hex. Tucked in the large and beautiful walled garden he was educating visitors about composting and compost teas. We are now collaborating with him on various compost projects in the UK.
Marc advises gardeners, horticulturalists and farmers on different techniques to feed and improve the soil and consults on animal health issues in Belgium.
Charles Dowding - UK
Charles is the inspirational advocate of no dig, organic growing. He has a wonderful, productive garden in Somerset where he grows vegetables and salad leaves for sale. We are lucky enough at The Land Gardeners to have had him run a course with us in Oxfordshire. Not only do his methods produce an increased yield of crops, they also require less input in terms of time which is a blessing for all gardeners and growers.
PROF. KATE SCOW - USA
Kate Scow is Professor of Soil Science and Microbial Ecology in the Department of Land, Air and Water Resources and Director of the Russell Ranch Sustainable Agriculture Facility that hosts the Century Experiment.
Scow’s research program investigates relationships between soil microbial diversity and critical soil functions: biogeochemical cycling, soil structure, organic matter. Her work also explores connections between soil biology and the rapidly evolving concept of soil health.
One of Kate’s most notably paper is “Increasing soil organic carbon (SOC) via organic inputs is a key strategy for increasing long‐term soil carbon storage and improving the climate change mitigation and adaptation potential of agricultural systems.” Read Kate’s other articles here, hers is an entirely fundamental body of work.
