Farm4Profit Podcast

Your Soil Matters w/ Contiuum Ag - Mitchell Hora

Episode Summary

Fresh on to the Forbes 30 under 30 list and excited to be a part of this podcast episode. Mitchell Hora share his experiences with understanding soil nutrients and the productivity potential they have. His profit boosting advice is just what we needed to share with you!

Episode Notes

Mitchell Hora

• The 7th generation Iowa farmer, Mitchell founded Continuum Ag in 2015 to help farmers quantify and improve their soil health. The company's TopSoil Tool helps farmers garner agronomic insights and profit from environmental outcomes, like carbon sequestration. Since launching TopSoil in 2020, Continuum Ag has amassed a footprint of 36 states and 14 countries and one of the largest private soil health databases. The market efforts have expanded via the more than 350 TopSoil Network Consultants.

What is Continuum Ag?

• Continuum Ag was started as an agricultural consulting company, with its agronomists supporting their farmers through services such as soil sampling and fertility recommendations. 
• Today, Continuum Ag operates by deploying its soil health-focused RightWay program on farms across the Midwest with a footprint throughout the country and as far away as South Africa. 

What is Ecosystem Service Market Consulting?

• Corporations, non-profits, farmers, and more all need an understanding of emerging ecosystem service markets. 

Our listeners listen to us to be entertained but also to learn how their farms can improve profitability.  What do you guys do to help improve yield and profitability?

• We offer an array of services to get you started on the right foot with regenerative, sustainable ag that will boost your yield and boost your profits.

What are some key ways to begin improving Profitability?

• As agronomists and farmers ourselves, our initial goal is to drive instant farm profits. 
• With soil health data and unbiased recommendations, the TopSoil Tool helps farmers start their crop production system on the right foot. 
• Users can create custom recommendation algorithms, factor in soil biology, and assess opportunities to improve regenerative farm management.

Tell us more about the TopSoil Tool 

• Data Management
• Review test results, organic carbon, biological activity, and plant-available nutrients.
• Live Tracking
• Track your GPS location and toggle field parameters for optimal decisions.
• Interactive Features
• Drop pins, create scouting reports and track as-applied data while in the field.
• Farmer-Owned Data
• Data is owned by the farmer, we help to create ROI.

How are you saving more than $112.42 per acre on fertilizer? (Amount from his website)

• Our RightWay soil sampling helps farmers avoid overapplying (and wasting money on) environmentally-unfriendly fertilizer that is never used by the plant.

What is your recommended soil sampling method?

• Our RightWay Program replaces the current grid soil sampling system with an up-to-date detailed analysis that improves on-farm fertility management. Using data layers of soil type, slope, elevation, and crop suitability rating, we run an in-field variability analysis on your farm to form 10-acre zones. From these zones, we take a representative sample and send it to a lab where we’ve teamed up with the world’s leading soil scientists for Haney Testing.

A lot of the talks that you give and content that you produce is focused on regenerative farming practices.  As part of your role and your company do you help others with their farming practices?

• Step-by-step regenerative ag guidance.
• What is the Regen Roadmap?
• A detailed custom-made document with your prescription for how to implement regen ag to ensure best practices field by field. 
• Do you help create customized prescriptions?
• When regenerative practices are incorrectly implemented, this often results in lost yield and lost profits for farmers. The Regen Roadmap gives you expert agronomic advice on practice changes to give you confidence in executing regenerative ag for better yield and better profits field by field.

What is the process to getting started?

1. Fill out your farmer profile on TopSoil.
2. Meeting with your customer success representative to understand objectives.
3. Delivery of Regen Roadmap, detailing recommended practices.
4. Monthly check-in from your customer success representative – continually updating profile.
5. Annual review to highlight value and plan next season.

What’s the latest insight you can provide us on the carbon credit market place?

If listeners haven’t signed up for a program yet, what suggestions do you have for them?

What do you think the future holds for carbon credits and farming practices?

What is the best advice you have every been given?

Summarize

Challenge