Six Inches of Soil - The Podcast

EPISODE 20 Un-Herd of Benefits: Regenerative grazing restores soil health
Host/Producer: Richard Tufton
Co-host/Producer: Claire Mackenzie
Editor: Meg Chatham
Score: Matt Griffin (poet & farmer) | Instagram: @neidpath_farms
Six Inches of Soil Links
YouTube: Podcast episodes & clips
Website: sixinchesofsoil.org
Book: sixinchesofsoil.org/book
Instagram: @sixinchesofsoil
LinkedIn: Six Inches of Soil
This episode explores the vital role of soil health, grasslands, and regenerative agriculture across the globe. Featuring experts from Kenya, the US, New Zealand, and the UK, it highlights innovative practices that enhance resilience, profitability, and ecological balance.
Guests
Silas Hedley Lawrence Currently based in the UK, Silas is positioned to work with farms and organisations globally. He dreams big, with a mission to achieve landscape & community regeneration on 5 million hectares over his lifetime. Over the last fifteen years, he has strategically integrated practical farming experience with a broad network across the supply chain, and extensive training in agroecological systems. His farming journey began on the family dairy farm and kiwi fruit orchards in New Zealand. In the UK, he has managed farms in both commercial and direct selling models and was farm manager at FAI Farms during their seminal “AMP Grazing” research project. He now farms in the Cotswolds with his business partner at “Cotswold Cattle Company”, focusing on collaborating with landowners to increase natural capital through integrating cattle into arable systems.
Website: grassfedfarmer.com
Instagram: @grassfed_farmer
LinkedIn: Silas Hedley Lawrence
Dr. Jason Rowntree The faculty coordinator for two research facilities at Michigan State University, The Lake City Research and Upper Peninsula Research and Extension Centers. His current research and outreach focus on applying holistic management principles to agricultural settings. Jason and his wife Cara have three children. They have a small 10-acre farm that allows for his family to raise grass-finished beef, pastured poultry, and eggs for their friends and church family.
LinkedIn: Jason Rowntree
Grassfed Exchange: Jason Rowntree Profile
Dr. Leigh Ann Winowiecki The Global Research Lead for Soil and Land Health at Landscape Alliance, based in Nairobi, Kenya. Her work focuses on landscape restoration, identifying drivers of land degradation, and quantifying how land management practices influence soil health and ecosystem resilience.
LinkedIn: Leigh Winowiecki
Landscape Alliance: Leigh Ann Winowiecki Profile
Instagram: @lawinowiecki
COP27 Presentation: YouTube Link
Matt and Lynley Wyeth (Spring Valley Farm) Matt and Lynley Wyeth established Spring Valley Enterprises Ltd in 2002. From their deep connection to the beautiful Wairarapa region of New Zealand, they’ve built a privately owned, highly successful, and innovative sheep and beef farming operation. Each day on Spring Valley farm reminds them of the profound responsibility they carry to nurture this land and the animals that call it home.
Matt's LinkedIn: Matt Wyeth
Business LinkedIn: Silver Fern Farms Ltd
Business Website: Spring Valley & Silver Fern Farms
Facebook: Silver Fern Farms
Instagram: @silverfernfarms
Key Topics
Soil as the foundation of ecosystems and food security
The importance of grasslands and their role in carbon storage
Innovative soil monitoring and land degradation surveillance
Global perspectives on regenerative farming practices
The link between soil health, resilience, and profitability
Youth engagement and education in sustainable agriculture
Policy and community actions for soil and land restoration
The role of consumer choices in promoting sustainable farming
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Host & Producer: Richard Tufton

Co-Host & Producer: Claire Mackenzie

Editor: Meg Chatham

Score: Matt Griffin (poet & farmer) | Instagram: @neidpath_farms

Guests:

• Joanna Bowen & John Cherry – The Groundschool

• Hannah Thorogood – The Inkpot Farm

• Rachel Phillips – Apricot Centre

• Special Outro Guest: Cath Conlon – Blackwood Educational Land Institute

Six Inches of Soil
• Website: https://www.sixinchesofsoil.org/

• Book: https://www.sixinchesofsoil.org/book

• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaC7dt2Hu528Xs7HL9V8OeQ

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sixinchesofsoil/

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/six-inches-of-soil-b75059234/

Intro
This special episode features many good friends of Six Inches of Soil. Our journey started at Groundswell in 2021, and we are delighted to be joined by Groundswell co-founders Joanna Bowen and John Cherry.

Before making the film, we produced a teaser featuring farmer, teacher, and advisor Hannah Thorogood, who works in a truly agroecological way. In the film, we feature the Apricot Centre (founded by the late Marina O’Connell), and we are thrilled to speak with Rachel Phillips, who now runs the centre.

Stay tuned until the end for a special guest from the USA, Cath Conlon, who works tirelessly to remind students of humanity’s intrinsic bond with the land.

Guest Details & Resources
Joanna Bowen & John Cherry (The Groundschool)

John Cherry has farmed for four decades and co-founded Groundswell. Joanna Bowen is a teacher, actor, director, and writer focusing on the Groundswell Outreach programme. GroundSchool is a non-profit learning centre sharing knowledge and teaching skills in regenerative food systems.

• Groundswell: https://www.groundswellag.com/

• Groundswell YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNI_ZA1T4n5dIbB1kO57QIQ

• Groundswell Film: https://fionacunninghamreid.com/groundswell/

• Granville Farm Hub: https://granvillecommunitykitchen.org.uk/farm-hub/

• Groundschool Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/groundschool_/

• Irongate Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/irongate.farm/

• Granville Farm Hub Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/granville_farmhub/

Hannah Thorogood (The Inkpot Farm)

A permaculture designer and senior tutor in the British diploma system since 2004, Hannah teaches PDCs, Permaculture Teacher Training, and other courses at her home farm, The Inkpot in Lincolnshire.

• The Inkpot Shop: https://openfoodnetwork.org.uk/the-inkpot/shop

• Pasture for Life: https://pastureforlife.org/

• Permaculture Association: https://www.permaculture.org.uk/

• Joe Polaischer Tribute: https://permaculture.com.au/joe-polaischer-tribute/

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/inkpotfarm/

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hannah-thorogood-7430b52b/

Rachel Phillips (Apricot Centre)

With 20 years in wellbeing and creative arts, Rachel develops ancestral, regenerative, and ethnobotanical practices to foster mental health, boost land biodiversity, and build climate resilience.

• Apricot Centre Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/apricotcentre/

• Rachel Phillips Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rachelphillips_apricotcentre/

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachel-phillips-6328aa4b/

• Marina O’Connell’s Book: https://www.hawthornpress.com/books/agriculture/designing-regenerative-food-systems/

Cath Conlon (Blackwood Educational Land Institute)

Cath founded Blackwood on family land to reconnect youth with nature. Starting in 1990 with her son’s school building a garden, the initiative expanded across schools, inspiring students to build a relationship with the land.

• Blackwood Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blackwoodland/

• Cath Conlon Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cath.conlon/

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cath-conlon-3295a938/
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What can a nomadic culture teach us about soil, livestock, food, community, and living within nature's limits?
In this special episode of Six Inches of Soil, host Richard Tufton travels to Mongolia to meet Amraa and Oggy—two people with deep connections to the country's nomadic traditions. Mongolian nomadic life is built around movement, observation, and adaptation, with families moving according to the seasonal availability of grass and water. Together with superstar producer Claire Mackenzie, they explore how nomadic practices offer a fresh perspective on land stewardship, food systems, and community resilience.
In This Episode

Seasonal Movement: Why Gobi families move 20–30 times a year while northern herders move just four times.
The Ger (Yurt): How traditional homes are dismantled and rebuilt in around 30 minutes.
Livestock & Land: How mixed herds (horses, cows, camels, sheep, goats, yaks) interact with grasslands.
Zero Waste Living: Fermenting milk, preserving meat, and using every part of the animal.
Stewardship Without Ownership: The cultural duty to care for shared land and water amidst rising desertification.
Community vs. Market: Moving from "How do we feed the world?" to "How do we feed our communities?"
Key Takeaways

Move when the land tells you to: Nomadic families follow grass and water rather than forcing the landscape into a fixed production model.
Diversity matters: Different animals interact with pasture differently, maintaining ecological balance across grazing lands.
Nothing goes to waste: Meat, milk, hides, and offal are all utilized—as Oggy notes, the only thing wasted from an animal is its breath.
Care for land you don't own: Traditional culture places immense value on protecting shared water sources and territory.
Feed communities first: Shifting focus from abstract global market production to local community nourishment builds true sustainability.
Timestamps
00:00 – Introduction: A different episode of Six Inches of Soil
00:34 – Amraa’s childhood and nomadic traditions
02:50 – The ger: Building a portable home in 30 minutes
05:40 – Livestock diversity: Horses, cows, camels, sheep, goats, and yaks
14:04 – Meet Oggy: Growing up as a Mongolian herder
16:04 – Moving with seasons: Gobi vs. Northern migration
19:03 – How livestock, soil, and grasslands interact
20:58 – Seasonal food systems, fermentation, and zero-waste meat/milk preservation
26:45 – Climate change, desertification, and the Billion Tree Project
32:18 – Caring for land and water without individual ownership
42:09 – Reframing production: "How do we feed our community?"
43:01 – Richard and Claire reflect on waste, consumption, and growth
51:43 – Finding balance: Ulaanbaatar vs. rural Mongolia
54:34 – How nomadic philosophy changes our perception of life
Hosts & Production

Host & Producer: Richard Tufton
Co-host & Producer: Claire Mackenzie
Editor: Meg Chatham
Original Score: Matt Griffin (Poet & Farmer) @neidpath_farms
Learn More About Six Inches of Soil

Website: https://www.sixinchesofsoil.org
Book: https://www.sixinchesofsoil.org/book
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sixinchesofsoil
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/six-inches-of-soil-b75059234

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A Regenerative future starts with HOPE not fear.

Untold: Behind the Scenes at Groundswell

The Films Changing Agriculture: What story has the power to transform the way we think about food, farming, and the environment? In this episode, we sit down with the brilliant filmmaker, author, and activist Rebecca Harrell Tickell. As a premier climate communicator, Rebecca is driving vital global discussions around our current food and farming systems through the lens of impact cinema. We thoroughly enjoyed talking with her about the power of storytelling to heal our planet so please listen to the end where things get a bit emotional in the best way! We recorded the conversation live at Goundswell the Festival in July 2026.

GROUNDSWELL is the powerful third chapter in the soil trilogy, taking viewers on a breathtaking journey across the globe. As climate change, species loss, and soil degradation threaten our future, this film uncovers the groundbreaking solutions already restoring our planet, proving that regeneration is not just possible, it's happening now and it's all linked to FOOD.

Host, producer: Richard Tufton
Co-host, producer: Claire Mackenzie
Editor: Meg Chatham
Score: Matt Griffin (poet & farmer) Instagram: @neidpath_farms

Guest: Rebecca Harrell Tickell: Big Picture Ranch (Kiss the Ground, Common Ground, Groundswell)

Featuring Tilly & Oscar Tufton!

Six Inches of Soil:

Website: https://www.sixinchesofsoil.org/
Book: https://www.sixinchesofsoil.org/book
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sixinchesofsoil/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/six-inches-of-soil-b75059234/

About Rebecca Harrell Tickell:
Rebecca Harrell Tickell is an award-winning filmmaker, author, and environmental activist. Rebecca is the co-director and producer at Big Picture Ranch, the production company behind the revolutionary documentary trilogy Kiss the Ground, Common Ground, and Groundswell, which have brought the regenerative farming movement into the global mainstream. Her work bridges the gap between complex soil science and mainstream cultural awareness, mobilizing a global audience to support planetary restoration.

Based in California, Rebecca splits her time between directing high-impact environmental films, authoring books on climate solutions, and driving global advocacy campaigns to transition agricultural land into certified regenerative practices. She is also Mom to two awesome kids!
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Unite: Bringing Together Podcasters & Ideas in the Field

The Stories Changing Food: What story changed the way you think about food, farming, or the environment? Maybe it was from listening to one of our brilliant guests—all communicators creating vital discussions around our current food and farming system. Plus, we have a very special guest for the outro, so please listen to the end!

Host, producer: Richard Tufton
Co-host, producer: Claire Mackenzie
Editor: Meg Chatham
Score: Matt Griffin (poet & farmer) Instagram: @neidpath_farms

Six Inches of Soil

Website: sixinchesofsoil.org
Book: sixinchesofsoil.org/book
Instagram: @sixinchesofsoil
LinkedIn: Six Inches of Soil

Featured Guests

Abby Rose | Farmerama

Abby is a soil health advocate, part-time farmer, and co-founder of Vidacycle, creators of Sectormentor and Soilmentor—practical tools that help vineyards and farms track and build soil health (including the Regen Platform developed with Nicole Masters). She is also the co-creator of Farmerama Radio, an award-winning podcast sharing the voices behind regenerative farming. Splitting her time between her family farm in Chile and international farm visits, Abby was named one of the ‘50 Next’ young people shaping the future of gastronomy by The World’s 50 Best.

Ben Eagle | Meet the Farmers

Based in the east of England, Ben is a writer, podcaster, and rural communications specialist. As the founder of RuralPod Media, his passion is telling rural stories and building an extensive network of agricultural contacts across the UK. His podcast portfolio includes the Meet the Farmers Podcast and Rural Business Focus.

Clay Conry | Working Cow Podcast

A Western South Dakota native raised on a cow-calf operation, Clay recently relocated to West Central South Dakota. Alongside managing a small ranch with his family, Clay pastors Prairie Home Church—an independent congregation that has met on the prairies for 110 years. Over the last three years, Clay has used his platform to learn and implement paradigm-challenging agricultural practices.

Ffinlo Costain | Farmgate

Ffinlo is the Editor-in-Chief of 8point9.com and has worked in farming, land, and food policy for over 20 years. As Chief Executive of Farmwel (2016-2022), he provided evidence to UK parliamentary committees and advised ministers on agricultural climate gases. He founded the Food & Global Security Network, published Soil Health: A security threat profile ahead of COP26, and delivered the highly popular TEDx Talk, "We can't solve the climate crisis without cows."

Sheila Dillon | The Food Programme (Special Guest)

A food journalist for over four decades, Sheila moved from editing Food Monitor magazine in New York to BBC Radio 4’s The Food Programme, where she now serves as presenter. Throughout her career, she has produced groundbreaking, early coverage on BSE (mad cow disease), the rise of GM foods, the organic movement, and the globalization of the food supply via the WTO—shining a light on these critical subjects long before they entered the mainstream media.

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