The Operator's Manual for Soil & Crop Management
Modern farming has never been more challenging. Input costs continue to rise. Weather patterns are becoming less predictable. Weed, disease, and insect pressures seem to increase every season, while profit margins continue to shrink. For years, the solution offered to farmers was simple: get bigger or get out. But many producers are discovering that bigger does not always mean more profitable.
The farmers who will thrive in the years ahead will not necessarily be those with the most acres. They will be the ones who understand how their soils and crops function as living systems. Every farmer knows how to diagnose a problem with a combine, planter, or sprayer. When performance drops, they don’t simply add more fuel and hope for the best. They identify the bottleneck, understand the cause, make the necessary adjustments, and verify the results. So why don’t we approach our soils and crops the same way?
the Course - What you'll learn
This four-day laboratory-style course is designed to help farmers understand soil and crop mechanics with the same confidence they bring to managing their equipment. Through practical demonstrations, field-tested principles, and real-world case studies, attendees will learn how to diagnose the root causes of common production challenges and develop effective solutions.
You’ll explore the science behind soil structure, nutrient cycling, plant physiology, microbial activity, water movement, crop energy systems, and profitability. Most importantly, you’ll learn how these pieces fit together and how to use that knowledge to make better management decisions.
What Makes This Course Different?
Most agronomy programs focus on recommendations and are protocol driven. Apply this fertilizer. Use this product. Plant this cover crop. But successful farming is not built on recipes. It is built on understanding. This course focuses on diagnostics.
You will learn how to interpret what soils, plants, weeds, insects, and weather are telling you. Instead of treating symptoms, you’ll learn how to identify underlying causes and develop management strategies based on sound biological, chemical, and physical principles. By the end of the course, you’ll have a clearer understanding of what truly drives yield, what limits profitability, and how to evaluate management decisions with greater confidence.
You’ll leave with more than information. You’ll leave with a plan.
Manage Systems, Not Symptoms
Yellow leaves, insect pressure, disease, poor yields, and nutrient deficiencies are often symptoms—not the problem itself. Learn how to trace those symptoms back to the biological, chemical, or physical factors limiting your crop, so you can solve problems permanently instead of repeatedly treating them.
What You'll Take Home
The knowledge every farmer should have received with their first acre.
Understand the System
Learn How Soil & Crops Really Work
Discover the mechanics behind soil structure, water movement, nutrient cycling, photosynthesis, and microbial activity. Understand the biological, chemical, and physical processes that drive crop performance.
Diagnose the Problem
Think Like a Crop Mechanic
Learn to interpret plant symptoms, soil tests, Brix readings, biological indicators, and field observations to identify what's really limiting yield, quality, and profitability.
Build a Profitable Plan
Turn Knowledge into Action
Turn field observations and test results into a clear management strategy. Leave with the confidence to make better agronomic decisions season after season.
Learn from people
who work the problem for a living
Seven instructors across soil science, plant pathology, entomology, and on-farm practice — names you’ll recognize from the regenerative agriculture community
Dr. Don Huber
Plant Pathology Purdue University
He received B.S. and M.S. degrees from the University of Idaho (1957, 1959), a Ph-D from Michigan State University (1963), and is a graduate of the US Army Command & General Staff College and Industrial College of the Armed Forces. He was Cereal Pathologist at the University of Idaho for 8 years before joining the Department of Botany & Plant Pathology at Purdue University in 1971.
Micheal McNeill
Agronomist
Michael McNeill is a PhD agronomist trained at Iowa State University. His work following graduation included working as a plant pathologist with the U.S. Army and later managing a corn breeding research station for Funks Seeds International.
Arden Andersen
Arden Andersen, Ph.D., DO, MSPH is a family and occupational medicine physician. He is board certified in Public Health, Osteopathic Medicine and Prolotherapy and works both as an integrative family doctor and a soil and crop consultant.
Tom Dykstra
Tom received his B.S. in entomology from Cornell University in 1990. He traveled down to the University of Florida and received his M.S. in entomology (1994) and investigated the neurophysiology of pheromone production in moths. Continuing at the University of Florida, he received a Ph.D. in insect bioelectromagnetics under Dr. Philip S. Callahan in 1997
Russell Hedrick
Russell Hedrick is a first-generation farmer, agronomist, entrepreneur, and nationally recognized leader in regenerative agriculture. As owner of JRH Grain Farms in Hickory, North Carolina, Russell has built a reputation for pushing the boundaries of profitable crop production by integrating soil health principles, nutrient efficiency, and innovative management strategies across his farming operation.
Mike Serant
Mike Serant co-owns and manages San Jacinto Environmental Supplies located in Houston, TX. He also manufactures the MicroLife All Organic, Biological Fertilizer line.Mike is a staunch environmentalist, fiscal conservative and futurist. In addition to devoting his business career to soil and plant nutrition, Mike is also a student of Human nutrition as well.
Adam York
A fifth-generation farmer from Jacksonville, Adam founded AgriBio Systems in 2014 and continues to lead the company today.
VENUE
Hyatt Place Lenexa, Kansas
All four days are held on site at the Hyatt Place, located about 30–35 minutes from Kansas City International Airport via Uber.
The hotel is about 3 blocks from Lenexa’s new city center and within walking distance of a dozen or more restaurants and roughly 10 hotels in the area. The Hyatt Place is comfortable, clean, and reasonably priced, and we’ve secured a special conference rate for rooms. It also features an in-house restaurant serving a full breakfast, plus a spacious conference center where the course will take place. Just across I-435, you’ll find Sprouts Market, Starbucks, Chipotle, and several other dining options.
SCHEDULE
What we'll cover, day by day
The course runs from 8 am to 5:30 pm each day, with a morning break, an afternoon break, and a lunch break.Each day builds on the last — from the science and your field toolkit to a finished, whole-farm plan.
DAY 1 - Basic sciences of soil and plants
Start with how soils and plants actually work, then move to the bench — a field assessment kit, soil testing, and how to read what the numbers really mean.
DAY 2 - Deeper science, foliar nutrition, and the living soil
More soil and plant science, plus foliar feeding and Brix demonstrations, soil genetic testing, and what insect succession is telling you about your plant's health.
DAY 3 - building the whole-farm plan
Regenerative management for horticulture, turf, and landscape; water in dry climates; herbicide effects on the soil microbiome; transition strategy — then assembling it all into a complete plan.
DAY 4 - Put it all together — case studies and a faculty panel
Finish the whole-farm management plan, work real problems in small-group case studies, and bring your questions to a full faculty panel.
Reserve your seat
Pay securely online with a card. Prefer to register by phone? Call Healing Arts Center: 913-894-4428
Space is limited — register early to hold your seat.
Individual
Individual Tickets
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Online registration price: $694.58*
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Online registration includes credit card processing fees*
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Price includes access to all 4 days
Group Rate
2+ from the same operation.
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Online registration price: $643.13/person*
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Online registration includes credit card processing fees*
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Price includes access to all 4 days
Selected Vendors
We will have a carefully selected group of vendors whose products and services align with the educational goals of the course.
These exhibitors have been chosen because they provide valuable tools, technologies, and resources that support the concepts being taught and can help attendees put what they learn into practice. Rather than focusing on sales, our goal is to connect participants with trusted companies and organizations that can serve as valuable resources during and after the course.
Frequently Asked Questions
All four course days, the hands-on laboratory sessions, and your own copy of the course manual. Selected vendors will also be on site during the course.
When two or more people register from the same farm or operation, each seat is $625 instead of $675. Choose the group rate option above, or call and we’ll set the whole group up at once.
Farmers, ranchers, agronomists, and crop consultants who want to go deeper on soil testing and use the results to drive regenerative management decisions. It’s an advanced course — come ready to work.
Call Healing Arts Center at 913-894-4428 and we’ll help you out.
Yes there will be selected vendors that we feel will contribute to the education and supply of resources for the course. Again, this is not a conference for random sales campaigns.
Not at all. While the course covers advanced agronomic concepts, it begins with the fundamental biological, chemical, and physical sciences that underpin soil health and crop production. These principles are valuable regardless of your level of experience.
Whether you’re hearing terms like Brix, refractometers, sap analysis, or soil biology for the first time, or you’ve used these tools for years, you’ll gain a deeper understanding of why they matter and how they fit into a complete crop management system. Our goal is to provide a fresh, practical perspective that benefits both newcomers and experienced agronomists.
This is much more than a lecture-based course. Beginning on the first morning, participants will work in table groups on interactive exercises designed to reinforce each day’s material. Groups will collaborate to analyze real-world agronomic scenarios, discuss management strategies, and develop practical solutions.
We will cover almost every crop grown from row crops, grains, pasture, hay, tree-fruit, wine and table grapes, vegetable, turf and horticulture.
We already have a variety of people committed from Cooperative Extension Agents to private consultants, farmers from several different countries.
You can but you will still have to pay the full course fee. The course is designed as a complete learning experience, with each day building on the previous one. Attending the full program provides the foundation needed to fully understand the recommendations and management strategies presented later in the course.
This is an outcome-based course designed to help farmers solve real problems on their own farms. It emphasizes basic science and core concepts so participants can understand why problems are occurring and leave with a practical plan of action—whether the challenge is profitability, weeds, pests, disease, erosion, drainage, drought, or overall farm performance.
Unlike a traditional conference with independent presentations, this is a cohesive course. Instructors with proven experience across different crops, soils, climates, and production systems work within a shared framework, connecting their expertise to the bigger picture.
The goal is not simply to teach farmers what practices to use, but to give them the knowledge to diagnose problems, understand their farming system, and make better decisions for long-term profitability and resilience