The Regenaissance Podcast

I speak with Jade Koyle of Grand Teton Ancient Grains about ancient wheat, regenerative farming, the economics of growing food, and why so many people are trying to understand what has changed about modern bread.
Jade is a sixth-generation farmer who runs Grand Teton Ancient Grains in eastern Idaho, where his family grows, mills and sells ancient grains including einkorn, spelt, emmer and khorasan, alongside other grains grown through regenerative organic practices.

We get into what makes a grain “ancient,” how the modern seed and commodity system evolved, and why Jade has invested in cleaning, storing and preserving his own seed. We also talk about farm subsidies, insurance, land prices, leasing farmland and why finding a viable business model matters more than simply owning acreage. From there, Jade explains how Grand Teton approaches crop rotations, companion crops, soil fertility and profitability, along with the reality of weather, pests, diesel costs and losing crops.
Towards the end, we get into modern bread and wheat more directly: glyphosate, grain storage, milling, the removal of bran and germ, fortification, preservatives and why Jade prefers whole-grain, fresh-milled bread.
What we cover:
Ancient grains, einkorn, spelt, emmer and khorasan
Seed saving, subsidies and how modern grain farming became centralized
Land prices, leasing farmland and the economics of starting a farm
Regenerative grain farming, crop rotations, soil health and profitability
Modern bread, milling, additives, glyphosate and whole-grain flour
Timestamps:
Links:
Grand Teton Ancient Grains — Website
About the farm — About Grand Teton Ancient Grains
Shop grains and flour — Shop
YouTube — Grand Teton Ancient Grains YouTube
Farm story — How Grand Teton Ancient Grains Began
Jade's X - X handle
Resources mentioned:
Grand Teton Ancient Grains — farm, grains and shop ancientgrains.com
Grand Teton Ancient Grains — grain guide — einkorn, emmer, spelt, khorasan and other grains Ancient Grains Guide
USDA FSA Beginning Farmer & Rancher Loans — the type of farm ownership financing Jade mentions for newer farmers Beginning Farmers and Ranchers Loans
USDA FSA Farm Ownership Loans — land purchase, development and down-payment programs Farm Ownership Loans
USDA Whole-Farm Revenue Protection — the farm-wide revenue insurance Jade discusses as an alternative when individual ancient-grain crops are harder to insure Whole-Farm Revenue Protection

I chat with Chaz Self of Grassway Organics about his fight to keep selling raw milk in Wisconsin, the decline of small dairy farms, and what the future of farming might look like amid consolidation, regulation and new technology.
Chaz is a first-generation dairy farmer who runs Grassway Organics with his wife in East Troy, Wisconsin, managing roughly 640 acres and milking around 50 cows in a grass-based, seasonal dairy system.
A lot has changed since Chaz was last on the show. Grassway is now in an ongoing dispute with Wisconsin’s Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection over how the farm sells raw milk, with Chaz preparing for a legal fight that he believes could become extremely expensive. We get into how his ownership model works, why he believes the farm has operated legally, and why he has decided to keep pushing rather than step away. 
We also look at what has happened to Wisconsin dairy more broadly: fewer farms producing more milk, increasing consolidation, overproduction, subsidies and whether relatively simple changes like putting more young cattle back onto pasture could begin moving the system in another direction. We talk about Farm Bureau, social media and the growing political divide around food, before getting into the future of agricultural technology. 
Thanks for listening. 

What we cover:
Grassway Organics’ raw milk fight with Wisconsin
The decline and consolidation of Wisconsin dairy
Subsidies, grazing and possible paths forward
Farm Bureau, social media and polarization around food
AI, farm technology and what farming is actually for
Timestamps:
00:00 – Catching up with Chaz Self
02:01 – The raw milk fight in Wisconsin
10:07 – The cost of fighting regulation
19:48 – Lobbying for raw milk
26:28 – What happened to Wisconsin dairy?
29:23 – Could grazing help fix dairy?
34:31 – Does Farm Bureau represent farmers?
37:28 – Social media, politics and agriculture
44:52 – Rebuilding community around farms
53:41 – AI and technology on the farm
57:58 – Agricultural data and automation
1:01:29 – What is farming actually for?

Links & resources mentioned:
 
Website
Instagram
Facebook
Raw Milk Institute (RAWMI) — rawmilkinstitute.org
Mark McAfee / RAWMI team — RAWMI team page
Vernon Hershberger raw milk case — Wisconsin Court of Appeals case
Green Lake Association / John Strauser — Green Lake Association team
Joel Salatin / Polyface Farm — Polyface Farm
Wisconsin DATCP — Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection
Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation — Wisconsin Farm Bureau
Wisconsin Farm Bureau policy page — Farm Bureau agricultural policy

I chat with Mark Ellison of Grandad Farms in Emmett, Idaho, about how a health-driven search for better food eventually led him to start raising his own chickens, pigs and laying hens.
Mark started with a borrowed patch of ground and a few hundred meat chickens. Today, Grandad Farms is raising animals on pasture, developing corn-and-soy-free feed, working toward organic certification and trying to build a farm to guide people to know exactly how their food was raised. 
We get into the economics behind his roughly $35 chickens and why comparing that directly with a $5 Costco rotisserie chicken misses a lot of what goes into each system. Mark explains his argument around subsidized corn and soy, labor costs and why he is willing to raise a slower-growing, more expensive bird.
We also talk about why he moved away from Cornish Cross chickens toward Freedom Rangers, what organic certification does and doesn’t tell you about how an animal was raised, the surprising reality of pasture-raised pigs, and what he has seen happen to his land after repeatedly moving poultry across it. 
Towards the end, the conversation gets into broader topics around raising children in a family business, Mark’s Christian understanding of stewardship, and why producing food for his neighbors is tied closely to how he thinks about faith and responsibility. 
Timestamps
00:00 – Intro: Mark Ellison, Grandad Farms
00:17 – Why Mark started farming
04:18 – Processing chickens and animal stewardship
06:29 – Corn-free, soy-free chicken feed
10:35 – Why a pasture chicken costs $35
18:47 – Labor and immigration in agriculture
25:01 – Stewardship and regenerative farming
27:00 – How chickens improve pasture
29:08 – Cornish Cross vs. Freedom Rangers
32:26 – What organic certification actually means
36:15 – Pasture pigs and factory pork
44:42 – Growing Grandad Farms
45:35 – Raising a family on the farm
48:00 – Farming, faith and Christianity
53:08 – Why customers seek out their food
Links
Website
X

I chat with Jesse Zimmerman, owner of Renick Valley Meats in Renick, West Virginia, to get into the butchering side of our food system - something I hadn't covered that deeply on the show yet.
They have a fascinating story: Jesse and his wife bought a struggling custom butcher shop four years ago and have since transitioned it into a state-inspected facility.
We get into the real differences between custom-exempt and inspected processing, the regulations that sound reasonable on paper but make no sense on the kill floor (the single-shot rule, a mandated 90-degree turn in holding pens), and why that complexity isn't accidental - it's a barrier that favors the big four packers over small shops like his.
We also cover the current imported-beef controversy, country-of-origin labeling, what actually happens to the 40% of an animal that isn't meat, and the specific questions you should ask any butcher shop before you trust them with your meat.
We debate whether policy alone can fix this system, and the importance of direct relationships built on trust in solving the matter.
Timestamps
00:00 – Intro: Jesse Zimmerman, Renick Valley Meats
04:45 – Custom-exempt vs. inspected processing
07:53 – The single-shot rule and inhumane-handling write-ups
15:23 – The real reason for the 90-degree pen turn
19:15 – Big four packer control and regulatory barriers to entry
22:20 – The 300,000-metric-ton imported beef controversy
26:46 – Country-of-origin labeling and how easy it is to skirt
38:58 – What happens to the ~40% "waste" of an animal
49:37 – Questions to ask before trusting a butcher shop
1:00:21 – Grass-fed/grass-finished nuance and imported "grass-fed" beef

Links
Website
Instagram
TikTok
YouTube
Facebook

Who's Jason?
Jason Hansen spent 14 years with the NRCS watching conservation rules bend for bigger, better-connected operators, and running cost-share programs structurally set up to fail the farmers they were meant to help. In 2018, he left USDA and founded Yield Unlimited.
What is Yield Unlimited?
Yield Unlimited is Jason Hansen's nonprofit that pays farmers directly, long-term, to run five core conservation practices - crop rotation, no-till/strip-till, cover crops, nutrient management, and (for a higher payout) prescribed grazing.
The model:
- Farmers apply for a land rental contract (30-second application, Jason's goal)
- Up to $2,000/acre over 10-30 years, 50% paid upfront
- Funded by donations, not federal money - pitch is $5/person/month covers the country
- Treasury notes lock in and grow the later payouts (years 10 and 20)
Why it matters:
USDA cost-share caps at 5 years, right when farmers hit the yield dip during transition.Yield Unlimited's long-term contracts are built to carry them through this period.
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Key Topics
14 years inside the NRCS, wetlands to DC headquarters
Uneven enforcement of drainage rules for connected operators
Why USDA's 5-year contracts fail farmers mid-transition
The 2018 moment that led to founding Yield Unlimited
The model: up to $2,000/acre, 10-30 year contracts
Funding it outside the federal system
Timestamps 
00:00 — Intro
02:15 — Jason's background
08:40 — Certifying wetlands in ND
15:20 — Drainage enforcement issues
24:00 — Utah, then district conservationist
31:10 — The moment with his daughter
36:30 — Why the RCPP grant failed
44:15 — Hawaii, then DC headquarters
50:00 — Leaving USDA, founding Yield Unlimited
55:30 — How the model works
1:01:00 — Funding conservation nationwide
1:07:00 — Where to follow along
Connect with Jason
Website
X
Linkedin