The Soil Revolution Conference2025 Conference

As a long time conservationist growing up in the Dakota’s on a small grain and livestock farm, Jay Fuhrer built a career taking care of the soil.

Working at the Natural Resources Conservation Service/USDA from 1980 – 2020 out of Bismarck, North Dakota, Jay particularly enjoyed working from the pickup end gate on the field edge, with a spade and the client. Conservation planning one field at a time.

Currently, Jay spends his time supporting soil health efforts through the Menoken Farm. The Menoken Farm is a conservation demonstration farm and is Jay’s favorite place to work. Here, the 5 Soil Health Principles can be applied while monitoring plants, animals, and soils.

Jay continues to share the soil health principles and how healthy soil serves as a foundation for cropping systems, grazing systems, cover crops, wildlife, gardening, pollinators, insects, soil food web, and quality of life. His work in this field allows him - and others - to farm forever.

Dr. Mary Lucero, a former USDA scientist, teaches Life Sciences at New Mexico State University–Alamogordo and conducts independent research at End-O-Fite Enterprises LLC. She and her husband, David, apply her findings to regenerative beef and produce production at JAL Farms LLC.

Dr. Lucero is especially committed to developing low-cost, farmer-friendly testing and amendment strategies that guide profitable transitions to regenerative farming practices. Across her research, teaching, and practical farming, she equips growers and consumers with tools and knowledge to advance healthier, more sustainable food systems..

Dr. Stephan van Vliet is the Director of the Center for Human Nutrition Studies at Utah State University. Dr. van Vliet’s research is performed at the nexus of agricultural and human health. He routinely collaborates with farmers, ecologists, and agricultural scientists to study critical linkages between sustainable agriculture, the nutrient density of food, and human health. His work has been published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Scientific Reports, the Journal of Nutrition, and the Journal of Physiology.

Esther Perez is a Native Mexican woman dedicated to restoring traditional lifeways and reconnecting Indigenous peoples with their ancestral roots. Through ceremonial practices and community education, she works to heal the intergenerational wounds of colonization and strengthen cultural identity. Her passion lies in uplifting Indigenous voices, honoring the wisdom of her ancestors, and fostering a future where Native traditions thrive once again.

Lewis TallBull is a proud member of the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes of Oklahoma, deeply committed to the restoration of the bison as a symbol of cultural survival and ecological balance. He works to reconnect Indigenous communities with the sacred buffalo through conservation, education, and ceremonial practices. Grounded in traditional values, he leads efforts to preserve ancestral knowledge, strengthen spiritual ties to the land, and ensure the future generations inherit tradition and ceremony.

Jason Condon’s family has been farming in Boulder County since 1859, giving him unique insight into the area’s agricultural roots and evolution. He grew up working on the family farm, and throughout middle and high school, he worked on a conventional hay/wheat/corn and cattle operation.

In 1999, Jason joined the US Navy as a Seabee. After some valuable lessons earned through two combat deployments, Jason’s five-year commitment was up. When he came home, he went to work for Shaw Construction, where for several years he was a project superintendent. By 2005, he and his wife had saved up enough to buy 40 acres in east Boulder County, and they’ve been running their own operation ever since.

Currently, Jason and his family farm 585 acres of land in Boulder County, comprising a combination of City of Boulder Open Space, Boulder County Open Space, and privately owned land.

With an arts and humanities background, Mark came to full-time farming in 2014 after years of travel, cultural study, and artmaking. He was fortunate to catch the wave of information about no-till farming practices which was just starting to be available at the time, and believes that the commitment to no-till growing has been transformative in securing the sustainability and quality of the process.

Relentlessly curious about plants and developing relationships with the widest possible diversity of plants across the seasons and years, he has been focused on discovering and implementing the most regenerative practices that can consistently improve the health of the garden over time. The growth of the farm has provided an opportunity to share this knowledge and practice with the next generation of farmers and support them as they learn their craft. With a team of over a dozen farmers each year, Esoterra is a place for farmers to cultivate their relationship with plants and the land.