A true soil health and regenerative farming pioneer
There’s an old saying that if you want to solve a problem, tell a farmer it can’t be solved. David Brandt was the personification of that adage.
On May 21, 2023, David died from complications resulting from an automobile accident, and in his passing, the soil health and regenerative farming movement lost a pioneer, a mentor and a force for positive change. The many who personally knew him also lost a caring and giving friend.
The 76-year-old’s on-farm experiments and unique innovations are now world-renowned. Scientists, policy makers and politicians from across the globe visited his farm to see for themselves how David’s cover cropping innovations were literally regenerating and transforming his soil — and, with it, his farm’s profitability and viability. The successes and failures along the way became the basis for teaching his fellow farmers how they, too, could transform their soil and their futures.
Though he did not set out to do so, David became one of the soil health movement’s most respected and credible teachers. Donned in his trademark overalls, David hosted countless workshops on his farm through the years and served as an inspiration and mentor to far too many to count. He travelled throughout the country, sharing his practical experience with fellow farmers. His ability to entertain while educating was unparalleled, making people laugh even while questioning the way they farmed. He was truly a joy to listen to.
When the agriculture “experts” and university professors questioned David’s methods, his on-farm results spoke for themselves, teaching all of us — even the skeptics — that by using nature’s tools we can regenerate our living and life-giving soil and breathe new life into our family farms and rural communities.
In recognition of his cover cropping and soil health practice innovations, USDA chose David’s farm to be the kick-off site for the Natural Resources Conservation Service’s “Unlock the Secrets in the Soil” soil health awareness and education campaign in 2012. Even then, his soil rejuvenating prowess had become so legendary that NRCS Chief Dave White referred to David as “the Obi-Wan Kenobi” of soil health.
Along with Ray Archuleta, Gabe Brown and Allen Williams, David was an original founding partner of Understanding Ag, LLC, and the non-profit Soil Health Academy, which he served as president of for two years. His vision and leadership were instrumental in establishing these organizations as leading advocates and educators in regenerative agriculture.
After serving his country in combat in the U.S. Marine Corps during the Vietnam War, David came home to take over the family farm, and his life-long service firmly establishes a legacy that will live on for many generations to come. In a series of interviews for Soil Health Academy in 2022, David recalled how his wife of 55 years, Kendra Brandt, helped him to focus and kept him from “jumping off the deep end” through his many cover cropping experiments and challenges. After her death in 2020, SHA established a scholarship fund in Kendra’s honor for qualifying women and/or new and beginning farmers who are committed to growing the regenerative agriculture movement (soilhealthacademy.org/scholarships). The organization has plans to add David’s name to that fund in further tribute to the pair’s impact on the soil health and regenerative farming community.
David had a positive and lasting impact in the lives of many and was a sincere and faithful steward of the land God blessed him with, transforming it from a degraded resource into an ecological wonder. He transformed dirt into soil and in the process transformed the future of agriculture, giving us hope through healthy soil.
Ron Nichols and Dr. Allen Williams are the communications director and co-founder, respectively, of Understanding Ag and Soil Health Academy.
