About Us
We envision a world that is renewed and revitalized by a grass roots movement of regenerative agriculture led by people restoring the life of our soils. To that end, we promote the use of open source, accessible technologies that restore microbial/plant partnerships. Through these partnerships microbes supply nutrients in just the right amounts to plants for their optimal growth. The biological processes maximize plant and soil health through increased water and carbon cycling capacity, and greater soil nutrient availability and aggregate stability. Farms become more profitable with reduced input costs and more resilience to extreme weather events. These technologies, including incorporating multi-species cover crops and applying fungal rich inoculant from Johnson-Su compost, mobilize these biologically driven and synergistic processes by reintroducing to the soil a wealth of diverse soil fungal and bacterial communities.
In 2021 we were inspired to construct our first batch of Johnson-Su bioreactors after seeing a presentation by Dr. David Johnson and Hui-Chun Su Johnson and realizing the potential of this open-source technology to jumpstart the benefits of regenerative agriculture. Our goal is to produce high quality Johnson-Su compost, provide excellent customer service, and continue to promote the benefits of regenerative agriculture, through development and outreach both within and beyond the regenerative agriculture community.
About Steve
Steve grew up as a southern Iowa farm boy and attended Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois earning his BS in Mechanical Engineering degree. He worked for years as Chief Engineer and also as CEO of Shivvers Manufacturing of Corydon, Iowa, which manufactures Shivvers Grain Dryers and Country Clipper Lawnmowers. He also spent a few years as an organic sweet corn farmer serving the central Iowa fresh market. Steve is dedicated to using his time, talents, skills, and resources in assisting the movement to regenerative agriculture; thereby helping the world to gain its multiple benefits.
About Kari
Originally from a small town in northwestern Wisconsin’s dairy farm country, Kari was inspired by the faith and service of her parents who worked together at her father’s optometric practice. Her own interests led Kari to advocacy, both for midwifery licensure and disability awareness. Kari obtained her bachelor’s degree in social work in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and found most professionally meaningful her position working with Native elders for a small nonprofit in South Minneapolis before moving to Iowa in 2018. Learning about Johnson-Su compost and regenerative agriculture started Kari on a journey of discovery about the life of the soil and how to give back to it, something she learned was important during her work with the Native elders in Minnesota. Kari finds joy in spending time with her family and is passionate about finding connections with the natural world which also lead to greater understanding of ourselves.