Final report for ONC24-146
Project Information
Amidst the pressing need for climate action in the lush, high-rainfall regions of the American Midwest, the nonprofit, Kalona Regenerative Network (KRN), is dedicated to forging a future where farmland has deep soil with no erosion, clear water, and increasing biodiversity while production is occurring. This proposed endeavor integrates a groundbreaking approach that enhances profits and holistic success, dispelling uncertainties around the financial feasibility of addressing ecological concerns through systematic monitoring.
Supporting predominantly Amish dairy producers across the Midwest, KRN is catalyzing sustainability in the dairy industry by offering dairy producers an innovative premium market pathway. This pathway incentivizes adoption of contextually relevant, regenerative practices that enhance ecological health, ensuring economic viability while addressing local challenges. The project empowers farmers through ecological outcome verification (EOV) monitoring, fostering confidence in their ability to drive positive ecological changes that lead to improved profitability. Initially driven by market incentives, farmers' empowerment will eventually catalyze grassroots adoption of regenerative practices, preserving the Midwest's agricultural fabric and economic vitality.
Expected outcomes include: improved landbase EOV scores, increased farmer confidence in decision-making, and establishment of a reference point for impacts of regenerative methods in the dairy industry - sparking curiosity and awareness amongst farmers and consumers.
OBJECTIVE 1
Provide a premium market pathway and support Midwest dairy farmers to incentivize managing for improved ecological health.
OUTPUTS
1A Conduct EOV monitoring on 56 dairy farms.
1B Quarterly visits with participating farmers establishing a baseline for, and continually gauging, farmer optimism, openness to addressing ecological concerns, and perception of their social and financial situations.
OBJECTIVE 2
Draw conclusions to inform next steps for KRN (and other networks) to improve farmer social, financial, and environmental well-being and better understand how the three pillars impact one another.
OUTPUTS
2A Written summaries
2B Findings disseminated locally, within industry, and to consumers
Cooperators
- - Technical Advisor (Educator)
- - Technical Advisor
Research
No research was conducted.
No research was conducted
Educational & Outreach Activities
Participation summary:
Kalona Regenerative Network hosted and or was involved in the following for 2024:
- Nine presentations. These presentations focused on primarily supporting those dairyment that were already implementing regenerative ag and needed ongoing support with EOV scores and monitoring. However, time was also allowed for helping organic dairymen that were seeking more information concerning regenerative ag and the market/production benefits from adopting those practices. These session ranged from 2024 through 2025, three session in winter 2024, fall 2024, and three sessions in 2025.
- There is a distinct learning curve associated with the move to regenerative dairy. Not only is there a need to develop a holistic context to manage from, but also there is a need to gain the skills to create a holistic financial plan, plan the land base for the future, and also develop a holistic grazing plan. Regenerative grazing is different than normal dairy grazing in that the recovery of the grazed plant is paramount, while maintaining milk volume. One of the biggest struggles is the development of the holistic context - the context by which one wants to have as reality. Usually this context is not the context of the moment, but it is the context by which one wants to achieve at some point. Management then moves, through decision-making, towards that context. Context can be many things, but most importantly it is a description of how you want your life to be, what is valuable to you, how you want to engage with work, family, community, and even spirituality. It could mean where you want to live, how much you want to work, or even how long you want to work. It's a description of your optimal life.
- Nine pasture/farm walks - spread over two years: These walks were designed to help interpret environmental indications as they were occuring in real time with the intent to assist the farmer in understanding what was happening on the ground and what management techniques or approaches would be the most beneficial in implementing to achieve desired outcomes. These pastures walks were extremely helpful in demonstrating how differing management techniques (animal density, for example) plus plant recovery times impacted regrowth and new grass establishment. A significant amount of time was focused on litter accumulation through animal impact (which is a good thing) and how to obtain it.
- These nine pasture walks involved over the course of two years involved four dairymen that adopted regenerative practices, especially regenerative grazing. The improvement over the course of two years was significant for three of them, with one dairyman who didn't experience much improvement - mostly due to an expectation that wasn't met in the first year. Regenerative grazing, done properly, usually will result in improvement over time given the vagaries of weather and changing climate.
- Two farm tours in partnership with the Iowa Organic Association: These farm tours were designed to encourage farmers to consider organic transition, and served as an introduction to regenerative dairy. There was a diversity of attendees, from university dairy professors, consumers, local dairymen and Kalona SuperNatural customers. Many had not been on a dairy farm before, especially a dairy farm run by an Amishman and his family
- One webinar presenting to prospective Kansas dairy producers that might want to convert to Organic: this webinar was designed to introduce prospective conventional dairymen to consider the benefits of transition, in terms of land and operational health and potential financial gains. There was some interest, but much of the Kansas dairy population is large conventional farms who have scale.
All of the activities were geared to support current organic dairymen that were either wanting to move into regenerative ag dairy (and hence EOV monitoring), or were currently implementing regenerative dairy already and needed on-going support, or even some producers that were contemplating the move to organic dairy as a first step.
Learning Outcomes
Financial planning: farmers were shown how to construct and implement a financial plan with holistic principles. The key to holistic financial planning is to plan for profit, which the formula consists of Income - desired profit = expenses. This approach will result in a profit every year, as expenses will not exceed the level necessary to obtain the desired return. Normal profit expectations for the holistic management approach is 50% - well above the norm for most farms and ranches. This is achieved through a strict adherence to managing expenses.
Ecological monitoring skills to include pasture assessment and the techniques/skills necessary to make improvements. Each farm is assessed according to an EOV (ecological observation verification) monitoring event, whether this be short-term monitoring (annually) or long-term monitoring (every 5 years) by a secondary assessor, each farm can also monitor their own progress during the year. The skills to monitor accurately were taught in various sessions and during pasture walks conducted over 2024 and 2025.
Quality of life assessment, personal goal development, personal context development. This activity is probably the most crucial to develop for holistic management to be a success. Holistic management is not a grazing approach, nor a financial perspective but the development of a context that each producer must formulate. How we want our life to be is the foundation of holistic management, and once that is developed ALL decisions are geared to arriving towards that context. It doesn't mean one must climb the mountain and eventually "get there", but it does mean one must articulate what one "wants" one's life to be. Once this is developed, grazing skills, financial and land plans all have the necessary direction that the producer can use to work towards one's desired context.
Regenerative grazing. Probably the most visible skill to be developed, and usually the first thing one does when starting on the journey with Holistic Management. Regenerative grazing is a tool for those producers who have animals that graze and land they can graze upon. Using the skills that regenerative graziers develop producers can begin the process of achieving production and land outcomes that fit the desired context.
Project Outcomes
The EOV monitoring that was conducted spanned the course of 2024 and 2025. There were two monitoring events that occured - Short-term monitoring (conducted annually) and long-term monitoring (conducted every 5 years). Every new farm must go through a baseline monitoring for both types, which includes a short-term monitoring event and a long-term monitoring event that establishes the baseline for positive or negative trends to be observed through subsequent monitorings in following years.
There were 42 existing farms in the Kalona network that received short-term monitoring in one of the two monitoring years, with 36 farms received monitoring in both years (2024 and 2025). We initially believed there would be 42 farms where short-term monitoring could be done in both years, but there were some farms that went out of business, but we also had some farms that came on. There were a couple of the new farms that received a long-term monitoring assessment (along with short-term monitoring as well).
EOV is an acronym for "Ecological Outcomes Verification". This term is unique to the Savory Institute and the Land to Market verification program. EOV was established in order to assess and track progress in terms of regenerative agricultural practices that were done in order to achieve quantifiable progress towards sustainability goals. EOV monitoring follows an established protocol for both short-term and long-term monitoring. The following details out both protocols, how each event is conducted, what is monitored and how scores are given.
EOV SHORT-TERM MONITORING:
For each site, there are 10 monitoring points selected during the baseline event that adequately cover the property or area that is designated as the monitoring area. Each monitoring point is located through GPS, and that GPS point is logged in a database for retrieval at each subsequent short-term monitoring event. The goal is to stand directly on the exact spot for each point, plus or minus 2 feet, so that observations that are done are done on the same land point at generally the same time year over year. This eliminates the variability that comes with haphazard monitoring in general areas. The goal is to remove as much subjectivity from the process as possible in order to obtain an objective a result as possible by which management decisions can be made.
EOV short-term monitoring will give a snapshot of leading indicators - indicators that tell the producer if the farm or ranch is moving in the right direction or not.
Each point then is assessed for the following criteria on a scale ranging from 10 to (10):
Live Canopy Abundance: % of site potential. Plant volume is assessed with emphasis on perennial plants.
Living Organisms: Evidence of insects, spiders, earthworms, rodents. Whereas insects can be counted, this is more of an observation that is honed over time doing many monitorings
Warm Season Grasses: Vigor, reproduction and crown integrity of key species. In Iowa, the warm season grasses most prevalent are switchgrass, big bluestem, or indiangrass.
Cool Season Grasses: Vigor, reproduction and crown integrity of key species. Usually the emphasis on dairy pastures is orchard, brome, or fescue.
Forbes & Legumes: Vigor, reproduction and crown integrity of key species. Clover and alfalfa is the most desired in dairy pastures
Contextually desirable rare species: Vigor, reproduction and crown integrity of key species.
Contextually undesirable species: Vigor, reproduction and crown integrity of key species
Litter abundance: % cover. Looking for litter from dead or decaying plants that cover ground not actively growing live plants
Litter incorporation: Litter/soil contact. The evidence of decay in litter is assessed
Dung decomposition: Dung age structure. Dung beetles are looked for, as well as the evidence of biological activity that would decay a cow patty, etc.
Bare Soil: % bare soil
Capping: Surface Soil resistance
Water Erosion: Litter movement, active rills, active water flows, active gullies
Each monitor is trained by a EOV verifier in the appropriate scoring for each category, noting that "the eye" of each monitor will vary from person to person. The goal is to be consistent, so that scores represent as accurately as possible to condition of each monitoring point over time so that progress or lack of progress can be readily observed and quantified.
EOV SHORT-TERM MONITORING RESULTS
For all the farms we monitored over the course of 2024 and 2025 in terms of short-term monitoring, 100% of them (36 farms were active in both 2024 and 2025) were deemed regenerating, with 77% were improving while 22% were not improving but staying level with the prior year's score. We would attribute this to improved organic farming management, adoption of regenerative practices by at least 1/3rd of the pool base (adoption was caused through our teachings, trainings and pasture walks), and an overall increase in knowledge about practices that are sustainable by nature.
There were a total of 1767 acres in the program spread over 36 farms. In 2024 the overall EHI score was (213), and in 2025 the overall EHI score was 277. During the 2025 growing season, heat and humidity were prevalent from June through early September, more than usual. Data shows that Iowa was 1.1 degrees hotter, with rainfall 2 inches below normal. This is important in relation to EHI scores, which showed improvement for most of the farms monitored. As noted before, the EHI score was significantly improved through an increased awareness of regenerative practices and an enhanced understanding of practical organic management - all of this was conveyed through the workshops and pasture walks that were held. Even more important, scores improved even with the elevated heat and relative reduction in timely rainfall for 2025.
EOV LONG-TERM MONITORING:
Step 1: Installing an LTM site
Step 2: Taking photographs of the photographic plot
Step 3: Installing ring infiltrometers
Step 4: Reading water infiltration rate
Step 5: Reading Transects 1 and 2 – Line Point – Soil and vegetation cover
Step 6: Searching for total list of plant species using Flexible Area (2 x 25 meter belt
and further the area between T1 and T3)
Step 7: Reading Transect 3 – Ecological Health Index, plant spacing (nearest
perennial) and 10 photos
Step 8: Evaluating tree density and regeneration. Only for areas of open forest,
savanna or dehesa (type of agroforestry in Spain and Portugal)
Step 9: Soil profile description
Each farm received a baseline Long-term monitoring assessment, but unlike short-term monitoring there is a five year interval between monitorings. Long-term monitoring tests for lagging indicators, whereas short-term monitoring assesses leading indicators. Long-term monitoring will reveal the results of management over time, whereas short-term monitoring gives the farmer or land manager the information to make on-going corrections to achieve regenerative goals.
Most of the current success stories revolve around organic dairymen located in Kalona and Bloomfield Iowa. There is a core group of like-minded producers that see the value of regenerative agriculture, particularly as it pertains to organic dairy, and are implementing the principles while experiencing a steep learning curve. Their willingness to serve as "guinea pigs" has enabled others to observe outcomes and begin the process of adopting these practices themselves.
Two dairymen in particular warrant description. Both of these producers are located in Kalona, Iowa. Both are 100% grassfed. They both adopted regenerative practices, especially in regards to grazing management and plant recovery targets. They both saw an increase of overall plant density and desirable plant species, but did also see a drop in milk volume. To their credit, they viewed the drop in milk volume as an issue yet to be solved, but their increase in forage allowed them to graze longer in the season - offsetting the dollar loss of milk volume with the dollar increase of grazing versus feeding purchased forage. Keeping or increasing milk volume while implementing regenerative grazing practices is a key issue to be solved so that mainstream adoption by dairyment, especially organic dairymen, will occur.
Regenerative agriculture is a new paradigm that will sweep through organic dairy in particular at some point. Distributors and stores are starting to require it, because ultimately the customer WILL demand it. The sooner producers realize this, the sooner they can begin the process of implementing practices, adjusting to initial outcomes, and progress along the path of success.
The SARE grant funds have enabled us to implement EOV monitoring and supplement other funds to help train farmers in these practices.