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The conversations shaping the future of agriculture rarely happen in the same room. Farmers gather with other farmers. Scientists present research to fellow researchers. Food companies focus on supply chains and consumer trends. Policymakers debate legislation. Technology companies build new tools. Consumers, meanwhile, are left trying to make sense of a food system that feels increasingly disconnected from the people who grow their food.
That's exactly what the Kansas Creekside Retreat was designed to change.
"I truly believe that agriculture is the backbone of America, and right now we're carrying a debt load for everything, and we can't carry much more," Josh McClain, co-founder of Creekside Carbon and Firebolt Ag, told attendees as he welcomed them to his family farm. "Those conferences in New York, London, and Harvard—they're important. Those talks are needed. But the front line is here on the farm. If we're all going to stay in the forts and never come to the front line, we're never going to solve this."
For three days in northwest Kansas, people from every corner of the food system came to the front line. Regenerative farmers, agricultural technology companies, consumer packaged goods companies, policymakers, researchers, conservation organizations, and agribusiness leaders gathered where agriculture actually happens—in fields, on ranches, and in small rural communities where generations of families have stewarded the land.
Together they tackled some of agriculture's biggest challenges and opportunities: the future of carbon markets, the promise of perennial grains, nutrient density and human health, and the realities of farming above the Ogallala Aquifer. They walked through kernza and corn fields, climbed into soil pits to examine healthy soil, watched drones seed cover crops from the air, and gathered before sunrise to discuss what it means to farm in one of the most water-stressed regions of the country.
The goal was to create the conversations that can only happen when everyone leaves the fort and comes to the front line.
Understanding Begins with Proximity
It's difficult to appreciate the complexity of modern agriculture until you spend time on a farm.
Walking fields with the people who manage them changes the conversation. Discussions about soil health become tangible when you're standing in a freshly dug soil pit. Conversations about water conservation carry more weight when you can see the effects of years of improving soil structure. Carbon markets become less abstract when you hear directly from farmers weighing both the opportunity and the financial risk of adopting new practices.
The retreat created space for people with very different perspectives to ask questions they don't often have the chance to ask.
Farmers spoke candidly about rising input costs, unpredictable weather, volatile commodity markets, and the long timelines required to see returns from regenerative practices. Policymakers shared the growing demand from consumers for greater transparency and food that contributes to greater health and wellbeing. Experts discussed the latest science around soil biology, water cycles, ecosystem function, and nutrient density. Technology companies demonstrated new ways to measure what is happening beneath the soil's surface and in the air.
Each conversation revealed another piece of a system that is both remarkably interconnected and often misunderstood.
Water: The Future of the Ogallala Aquifer
The retreat took a deep dive on one of the defining issues facing agriculture in the High Plains: water. Standing beside an irrigation pivot as the sun rose over northwest Kansas, Kansas Secretary of Agriculture Mike Beam, Katie Mendoza of Indigo Ag, and fellow panelists explored the future of the Ogallala Aquifer—one of North America's largest groundwater resources and the lifeblood of farming across much of the Great Plains.
“Essentially that aquifer itself encapsulates 30% of the crop and animal production within the United States. So it is a large challenge. It's not necessarily that we're fighting alone in Kansas, but it's something we need to take very seriously,” said farmer Jon Berning of Scott City, Kansas. ”Historically, I believe the state got us into this mess by the “use it or lose it” idea. It wasn't that long ago, in the 80s even, you have to pump everything to keep your water rights. You just had to abuse it. And now we're trying to put the toothpaste back in the tube.”
The conversation ranged from decades of groundwater depletion and the remarkable gains farmers have made in irrigation efficiency to the role regenerative practices—such as no-till, cover crops, crop rotations, and building soil organic matter—can play in helping soils capture and hold more water. Panelists discussed how precision agriculture, sensors, and better data are giving farmers new tools to make smarter water management decisions, while acknowledging that no single technology or policy will solve the challenge on its own.
"We're taking far more from the Ogallala Aquifer than nature can ever put back,” said Mendoza, a meteorologist for Indigo Ag working on water cycle modeling. "Ninety-four percent of the water withdrawn from the Ogallala Aquifer is used for agricultural irrigation. We only recharge one to two million acre-feet each year, while withdrawing about sixteen million."
What emerged a shared understanding that protecting the Ogallala will require continued innovation, thoughtful policy, and markets that recognize the value of conservation. The discussion made one thing abundantly clear: conserving water isn't simply about protecting a natural resource. It's about protecting the long-term viability of family farms, rural communities, and the nation's food supply.
From Soil Health to Human Health
One of the retreat's most engaging conversations brought together Gimmie Jo Jansonius of the USDA, Colton Lowry, a regenerative cattle producer, and Max Dubuisson of Indigo Ag to explore the growing connection between soil health and human health.
Together, they examined the emerging science behind nutrient density and the role biologically active soils may play in producing healthier food. Jansonius offered the perspective of ongoing USDA research, Dubuisson discussed how regenerative systems are being measured and understood in the field, and Lowry grounded the conversation in the day-to-day realities of raising livestock on healthy soils. Rather than making sweeping claims, the panel focused on where the evidence is strongest, where important questions remain, and how researchers can better measure food quality beyond traditional metrics like yield or calories.
The discussion also challenged participants to think more broadly about the role agriculture plays in our lives. Healthy soils improve water infiltration, strengthen biodiversity, and make farms more resilient. Increasingly, researchers are exploring whether they also contribute to more nutrient-dense food. It's one of the reasons the phrase "Food is Medicine" continues to gain momentum. If the way we farm can improve not only the health of the land but also the health of the people who depend on it, agriculture becomes more than an environmental conversation. It becomes a public health conversation.
Perhaps the most compelling takeaway wasn't that every question has already been answered. It was that farmers, scientists, and consumers are beginning to ask better questions—and those questions have the potential to reshape how we think about food, health, and the role agriculture plays in both.
Regenerative agriculture is about more than farming.
The phrase regenerative agriculture means different things to different people. For some, it begins with cover crops or reduced tillage. Others think about grazing systems, biological inputs, perennial crops, or carbon sequestration. It’s defined by a way of thinking.
The farmers hosting the retreat are constantly experimenting, adapting, and observing. They're looking for ways to improve soil health, manage water more effectively, reduce unnecessary inputs, strengthen biodiversity, and build operations that remain profitable for future generations.
Those decisions influence far more than crop yields.
Healthier soils hold more water during drought. They reduce erosion during heavy rains. They support healthier ecosystems above and below ground. Increasingly, researchers are exploring how healthier soils may also contribute to more nutrient-dense food, connecting agriculture to one of today's most important conversations: how our food influences long-term health.
The idea that food is medicine surfaced repeatedly throughout the retreat—not as a slogan, but as an emerging framework that links farming, nutrition, and preventative health.
When viewed through that lens, regenerative agriculture becomes about much more than farming. It becomes part of a broader effort to build healthier people, healthier communities, and healthier landscapes.
The biggest opportunity is education.
If there was one takeaway that surfaced repeatedly, it was this: most consumers already care about the outcomes regenerative agriculture can deliver.
People want clean water. They want healthier food. They want thriving rural communities. They want to know that the land producing tomorrow's food will be healthier than it is today. What many people haven't had is the opportunity to connect those aspirations with the decisions farmers make every season.
That disconnect isn't anyone's fault. Agriculture has become increasingly specialized, and fewer Americans have a direct relationship with the people producing their food. As that distance has grown, so has the challenge of understanding what it actually takes to build a healthier food system.
The conversations in Kansas demonstrated that education isn't simply about teaching consumers what regenerative agriculture is. It's about helping people understand why it matters, who is doing the work, and how the choices we make as consumers ripple all the way back to the farm.
That understanding creates something powerful.
It transforms consumers from passive buyers into active participants in the future of agriculture.
And that may be the most regenerative idea of all.
Bridging the gap
The retreat reinforced something we've believed since the beginning of Creekside Carbon.
The future of agriculture depends on more farmers adopting regenerative practices. But that won't happen if the people taking the biggest risks are asked to carry them alone.
Every cover crop planted, every reduced tillage pass, every new practice requires an investment of time, money, and uncertainty. Farmers make those decisions long before consumers see healthier food on grocery shelves or communities experience cleaner water and healthier soils. The benefits ripple outward, but the financial risk stays on the farm.
If we want regenerative agriculture to scale, we have to make that transition less risky.
That's why Creekside Carbon exists.
We're building a bridge between the people who benefit from regenerative agriculture and the farmers making it possible. By helping consumers directly support farmers, we can accelerate the adoption of practices that restore soil, protect water, improve the nutrient density of our food, and strengthen rural communities.
Just as importantly, we're helping people reconnect with the source of their food. When consumers understand what it takes to grow food in a changing world—and the choices farmers make every season—they don't just become better informed. They become partners in creating a more resilient food system.
The future of agriculture won't be built by farmers alone. It will take food companies, researchers, policymakers, technology innovators, and consumers all pulling in the same direction.
For three days in Kansas, we saw what that future looks like. People from every part of the food system learning from one another, asking hard questions, and building relationships rooted in trust.
Because when we reduce the risk for farmers, we accelerate the change all of us want to see.
Want to follow along?
• Follow us on LinkedIn
• Support regenerative farmers with a financial contribution of any size