A Devastating Drought Spurrs Change

So, what spurred Johnny Hunter II at Castor River Habitat & Farm to explore regenerative farming. "In 2012, we had a really bad drought here," he says. "What I found at the end of the year, is that the management system I had in place didn't work." He had huge losses that year and it was devastating -- Hunter says he "hit rock bottom." He knew he had to make a big change in the way he farmed.

"I had an insight and my insight was that I had destroyed my soil health," he says. "My reality had collapsed, because this is how I was taught to farm." That's when he started researching and happened upon Ray Archuleta, a renowned soil scientist, and began learning about soil, soil health and regenerative farming. After reaching out via email, Hunter and Archuleta connected on the phone and "that phone call absolutely changed my life."