Blain Hjertaas has been farming 50 years, the last 25 regeneratively. He has also been measuring and monitoring carbon sequestration on a number of farm fields in SE Saskatchewan and SW Manitoba. Blain is passionate about soil health and the role that it can play in mitigating the effects of climate change. He speaks on this topic at many seminars and conferences. He also works as a soil health consultant for Understanding AG. In this role he has been working on the General Mills Oat Pilot Project. This the largest agro-ecological study ever conducted and its purpose is to assess carbon sequestration and ecological function by farming more regeneratively. He works with 45 farms from Foam Lake, Saskatchewan to the Red River Valley in Manitoba. Blain does individual consulting and teaches the occasional Holistic Management course. Blain is married to Naomi and they have 3 children. The oldest son does most of the day to day operations on the farm and Naomi and Blain have moved off the farm to the lake to their retirement home. They have 4 grandchildren.
Resource:
General Mills Oat Pilot Project
Blain Hjertaas - Understanding Ag
Bronwyn [00:16]
For Our Soil’s Sake is brought to you by Holistic Management Canada.
My hope is to feed our soils by having meaningful conversations with farmers, producers, and experts in agriculture — to get a greater understanding of management practices that mitigate climate change, improve water quality, build soil health, and enhance habitat and biodiversity on agricultural landscapes.
To give those of us who live in the city a better understanding of how what we consume directly affects our health — and the health of the land.
My name is Bronwyn Green, and I’ll be your host.
So for our soil’s sake, let’s dig right in.
Today on the show, I’m speaking with Blain Hjertaas. Blain has been farming for 50 years — the last 25 regeneratively. He has also been measuring and monitoring carbon sequestration on a number of farm fields in southeast Saskatchewan and southwest Manitoba.
Blain is passionate about soil health and the role it can play in mitigating the effects of climate change. He speaks on this topic at many seminars and conferences. He also works as a soil health consultant for Understanding Ag. In this role, he’s been working on the General Mills Oat Pilot Project — the largest agri-ecological study ever conducted. Its purpose is to assess carbon sequestration and ecological function by farming more regeneratively.
He works with 45 farms from Foam Lake, Saskatchewan, to the Red River Valley in Manitoba. Blain also does individual consulting and has taught the occasional Holistic Management course.
Blain is married to Naomi, and they have three children. Their oldest son does most of the day-to-day operations on the farm, while Naomi and Blain have moved off the farm to their retirement home by the lake. They have four grandchildren.
Blain is also one of our mentors and consultants for the Regenerative Accelerator Program that we have here in Manitoba.
Thank you so much for joining us, Blain — happy to have you here today.
Blain Hjertaas [02:39]
Thank you very much, Bronwyn. I’m honoured to be asked.
Bronwyn [02:43]
Okay, so I like to start off with a little icebreaker — just for fun, to get the brain juices going.
What is your superpower? What do you do best — what comes second nature to you that you're just really good at?
Blain Hjertaas [03:00]
Well, I think one of the things that gets me challenged is when somebody says, “That won’t work here.” That usually gets me trying to figure out either why it won’t work — or more likely, that it will work, you just haven’t done it correctly.
That’s probably the one that challenges me the most. And I also use that when I do consulting work — I challenge people to push themselves. It’s important. You don’t learn unless you fail once in a while.
Bronwyn [03:33]
Right — so your challenge is also your superpower — challenging other people.
Blain Hjertaas [03:38]
Yes, yes.
Bronwyn [03:43]
Awesome. That’s great.
Okay, so what do you want to do in this life? You might already be doing it, but just for our listeners — what’s something that you’re trying to do with your time on this planet? Something that comes from you, not someone else’s influence?
Blain Hjertaas [04:03]
Well, Bronwyn, that’s sort of a humorous question — I mean, I’m in my 75th year of life, so… probably on the downward swing.
But I guess I still enjoy teaching people. Showing them that it is possible to make changes. And usually, when we move down a more regenerative path, it also becomes more profitable.
So I think that’s what keeps me motivated every day.
Also, I have grandchildren — the oldest ones are teenagers now — and their future doesn’t look particularly bright unless we make some fairly radical changes in the way we treat our environment.
So that’s my passion: trying to get people to become more regenerative in their approach to agriculture.
Bronwyn [05:02]
Right. Have you always been interested in teaching and educating?
Blain Hjertaas [05:08]
I think I have been for a long time. When I first started farming, I used to work as an educator — a totally different program at that time.
Then farming, marriage, and kids all happened, and I didn’t really do any educating for maybe 30 years.
But now at this stage of life, it’s kind of become a passion again.
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Bronwyn [05:31]
Nice. Cool. You mentioned a few reasons already — like leaving a better place for your grandchildren — but what are some of the reasons you practice, or want others to practice, regenerative principles?
Blain Hjertaas [05:54]
I think it just makes very sound ecological sense. We have to live within our means — within the planet’s boundaries.
I think we’ve exceeded them greatly in the past, and still are today. The planet is showing signs of stress.
But I believe if we farm regeneratively, we can begin to fix a lot of those things. By sequestering carbon into the soil, the soil becomes less compacted, there's more life in it, which supports more life above the soil.
And interestingly enough, that makes food more nutrient-dense — which is much better for our health.
If we were all eating nutrient-dense food, our health costs would go down incredibly — collectively. That’s a huge win for society.
Regenerative farmers also provide ecological goods and services like water retention — holding water where it falls instead of letting it wash off fields, flood infrastructure, or erode land.
And there’s biodiversity — people enjoy seeing birds and insects. On industrial fields, there’s silence. On regeneratively managed land, it’s alive. You can barely hear yourself think for the insect and bird life.
Bronwyn [08:03]
So good. After 50 years of experience, what barriers really stand out that made it hard for you to implement regenerative principles — or educate others? For folks in the city who don’t farm, what don’t they realize are barriers?
Blain Hjertaas [08:37]
I think the biggest barrier is… ourselves. We put up roadblocks. We say, “I can’t do that.”
Another big one is peer pressure in farming communities. You step out and do something different, and suddenly you’re a bit of a pariah.
People say, “What’s this idiot doing?” For some, that’s hard to deal with.
In my case, I didn’t really give a damn whether they liked it or not. I was once told, “You’re doing the community a service — people are so busy talking about you at the coffee shop, they don’t have time to talk about anyone else.”
It’s not as bad as it was 30 years ago, but it’s still there.
Bronwyn [09:57]
Absolutely. It even happens in the city. The easiest example I can think of is our yards.
If you let your grass grow too long, or plant native wildflowers instead of Kentucky bluegrass, the neighbours start whispering. People want uniformity.
Blain Hjertaas [10:42]
Yeah, I agree.
Bronwyn [10:51]
Okay — so is there something you’re particularly proud of in the way you ranch or farm? Maybe a specific example?
Blain Hjertaas [11:07]
A couple things come to mind.
When I first got into this, I was on the edge of either declaring bankruptcy or quitting farming. This was in the late ’90s. Then I was exposed to the teachings of Holistic Management.
Within a short time, I became profitable. That was nice.
But even more important — I’ve always been interested in carbon, and I started measuring carbon sequestration. I’ve got plots now that have been running 12 or 13 years.
It’s incredible how much carbon can be sequestered on a well-managed farm.
Bronwyn [12:07]
Right.
Blain Hjertaas [12:08]
And we all know carbon emissions are a problem — from burning oil, for example. But we can put that carbon in the soil.
The average farm can put 1 to 2 tons per hectare per year into the soil. If that happened worldwide, it would solve the problem. That’s how simple it is.
Bronwyn [12:38]
And that brings me to something that seems like a sensitive topic — especially in the city. Animal impact is a key part of regenerative agriculture, but people often believe animals add to emissions. Any thoughts?
Blain Hjertaas [13:15]
Oh, I may have one or two.
I've been farming with methane-belching ruminants for a long time.
Yes — cows do belch methane. But what people don’t understand is that when cows chew their cud, they're usually lying down, close to the soil.
On healthy soils, there are single-cell bacteria called methanotrophs — they consume methane.
Also, pastures release water vapor through transpiration. That creates hydroxyl radicals in the atmosphere, which destroy methane.
Well-managed pastures with cattle have negligible methane emissions.
If you look at the methane curve over the last 300 years, it stayed basically the same — even when 80–100 million bison were roaming North America. They were wiped out by the 1870s, and methane levels never budged.
Later, cattle numbers went back up — and again, no change in methane levels.
That tells me the methane problem isn’t from cattle. It’s from rice paddies, landfills, industrial gas processing — that kind of thing.
Bronwyn [16:10]
Nice.
Blain Hjertaas [16:11]
And those well-managed pastures also give us nutrient-dense, grass-fed beef — which is better for our bodies.
Bronwyn [16:16]
Absolutely.
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Bronwyn [17:20]
So in Holistic Management, we often talk about managing the "three legs of the stool" — land, finances, and people.
Could you share any boundaries or routines that you and your family use to stay grounded — something that keeps your cup full?
Blain Hjertaas [17:36]
My wife and I enjoy working in our yard in the summer.
We also like watching the Toronto Blue Jays — so during ball season, we usually take time to watch several innings, sometimes the whole game.
And we go to a lot of our grandkids’ events — sports, school things, etc.
We don’t have any rigid routines like “every Tuesday at 2:00,” but we do make time when we can.
Bronwyn [18:14]
What about communication? Now that you’ve stepped back and your son is running the day-to-day — any tips for keeping communication healthy in a farming family?
Blain Hjertaas [18:53]
Not really. I would say communication is a very difficult thing in families.
We were 15 years in the process of succession. About 5 years ago, we finally moved off the farm.
If you think you’re going to solve communication in a two-hour talk — you're sadly mistaken.
We farmers are solitary people. We’re not naturally great communicators. It’s a huge issue.
One of the best ways to solve it is having an outsider come in and facilitate.
Bronwyn [20:00]
Right.
Blain Hjertaas [20:01]
It doesn’t have to be a professional. Just someone both sides respect. A kind of referee, if you like.
Bronwyn [20:38]
Absolutely. So you’ve been mentoring farmers in our Regenerative Accelerator Program for a few years now. Is there a common concern you hear from participants?
Blain Hjertaas [21:23]
Mostly it's a lack of confidence or knowledge.
They want to go regenerative, but they’re unsure how — and they don’t want to lose $20,000 making a mistake.
So it’s kind of a hand-holding job — saying, “You’re on the right track.” Maybe I suggest a tweak, but mostly it’s encouragement.
I always tell people to start small — do 5 or 10 acres, not 1,000. Do it for 2–3 years, build confidence, then scale up.
I'm not there to give recipes. Most of them already know what they want — they just need reassurance.
Bronwyn [23:02]
Right. Confidence and support.
Blain Hjertaas [23:05]
Also — learning really happens in community.
Field days, gatherings, seeing what neighbors are trying — that’s where transformation happens. It’s powerful.
Bronwyn [23:46]
Absolutely. If you could go back and tell your younger self something — or share a lesson that took you a long time to learn — what would it be?
Blain Hjertaas [24:08]
The first 25 years of my career, I was a high-tech industrial farmer — that’s what I learned in ag school.
If I could’ve unlearned all that and started with regenerative principles 25 years earlier, life would have been a lot easier.
Bronwyn [24:33]
And what would you say to someone who doesn’t live on a farm — something they might not understand about what you do, or why?
Blain Hjertaas [25:04]
Every bite of food we take has ecological consequences.
Whether you’re vegan or a meat eater — totally irrelevant. Every bite has a footprint.
We need to ask: is this footprint positive or negative?
For example: pasture-based beef, or intercropped grains and legumes — those tend to be positive.
Tofu from a foreign monoculture soy operation? That’s usually negative.
People want to make better choices — but there’s a lot of misinformation.
Bronwyn [26:47]
Right — and even the people I know who care really struggle to know what the "right" choice is.
Blain Hjertaas [27:07]
Exactly.
The best advice I can give? Get closer to the farm. Go to farmers markets. Talk to producers.
They’ll tell you what they raise, or point you to someone else.
Yes, it’s not as convenient as the grocery store. But if you truly care — you’ll find a way.
Bronwyn [28:07]
Absolutely. And farmers want to talk! That was so surprising to me — they really want to share.
Blain Hjertaas [28:17]
Yes. Just ask a farmer what they do — and be ready for a 30-minute story and a coffee.
Bronwyn [28:26]
[Laughs] So true. Farmers are very proud of being stewards of the land — and it shows.
Blain Hjertaas [29:04]
Especially regenerative farmers. They care deeply.
Bronwyn [29:40]
Okay, one final question — a bit of a wacky one.
If you had unlimited time and money — what would you do?
Blain Hjertaas [29:55]
What would really move the needle is a truly regenerative research station.
Run by Agriculture Canada or similar — but led by regenerative thinkers.
No corporate funding strings attached. They’d test the wacky ideas.
Have extension agronomists teaching farmers. Almost like the old PFRA model.
If I had unlimited money — that’s what I’d do.
Bronwyn [30:45]
That would be amazing. Well, thank you so much, Blain. It was such a pleasure picking your brain and sharing your insights.
Blain Hjertaas [30:59]
No problem.
Bronwyn [31:07]
To learn more about Holistic Management, regenerative principles, and the farms across Canada implementing these practices, check out our Instagram or Facebook page, or visit our website at holisticmanagement.ca.
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For our soil’s sake, thanks for listening, everyone.