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AEA's monthly newsletter
December 2025
6-minute read
Hi Friends,
This December, we've got news for you about events where you can find us, prepay discounts, and a striking photo indicating the need for "deliberate disturbance."
First up: today is one of our favorite holidays!
1. 🌏 Happy World Soil Day!
Today is World Soil Day, designated by the UN to raise global awareness about the role soils play in agricultural development, ecosystem functions, and food security.
If you’re reading this newsletter, you are probably aware of some of the role soils play in agricultural development, ecosystem functions and food security.
But no matter how much you know, soils never cease to astound! Here are some incredible facts put out by World Soil Day:
There are more living organisms in a tablespoon of soil than people on Earth.
Soil is home to nearly 59% of Earth’s species
Up to 58% more food could be produced through sustainable soil management.
Every day, we witness the power of regenerative practices to transform our world's soils.
But you don’t have to take our word for it!
Here are some things we’ve heard (and seen) from AEA growers this year about their soil:
"The soil structure in the AEA bed has shown remarkable improvement. Soil aggregation has significantly enhanced, and earthworm activity has noticeably increased.
The soil has beautifully formed, indicating healthier biological activity and better soil health.”
“Two years ago, we had to drill holes into this spot on the farm for planting, and it was so compacted that our holes were lucky to be 4 inches deep.
I dug this clod of soil with one light push of a trenching shovel yesterday.
So Stoked!”
“I walked from a field that had [AEA’s Soil Primer] to a field that didn't, and I could feel the difference underneath my feet. And I could feel the difference in garlic harvest when I was just scooping the soil with my hands. . . .
I’ve never seen this type of soil microbiome and tilth response before.”
2. 📉 Lower next year’s input budget with Prepay
Could your budget use some breathing room?
With AEA’s Prepay, you get a discount on every order when you make a deposit in advance. The more you deposit, the bigger the discount.
Here’s how it works out:
7% Discount : $5,000 to $19,999 deposit
8% Discount : $20,000 to $74,999 deposit
10% Discount : $75,000 to $124,999 deposit
12% Discount : $125,000 or more deposit
Don’t delay! These discounts only go through December 19.
In January, all prepay deposits will receive a flat 7% discount.
BONUS: this year every prepay deposit gets a free gift!
up to $20k deposti: AEA hat
up to $75k deposit : The new AEA Market Garden Bundle and an AEA hat
up to $125k deposit : 10% freight discount, plus all previous gifts
(Growers in Kansas, California, and the Pacific Northwest, will receive an additional 1% discount instead of the freight discount).
over $125k deposit : A quarterly call with John Kempf, plus all previous gifts
Not going to spend that much on AEA products?
Don’t worry! We’ve got you covered too!
All online orders are 12% off through December 19th.
It’s conference season, and our amazing agronomists are fanning out across the country. It’s a great chance to meet us in person, and pick the brains of some of the smartest people in agriculture.
Here’s where you can find us in the coming month:
NW Hort Expo
The Expo is a cornucopia for tree fruit growers. We’ll have a booth and can answer all your questions about cherries, apples, and more!
Check out how FieldLark.ai has helped Peter Henry of Indeegenus refine his foliar sprays for his vegetable crops. FieldLark suggested formulas as well as a different mixing order.
Peter has his nutritional protocol dialed in
He's completely eliminated pesticide use on his farm
Pest and disease problems are under control (like the bacterial spot in peppers shown here).
FieldLark is a key tool in our mission to make regenerative practices the global norm: it can understand any language.
So if you’ve been looking for an agronomist who can chat about silica in Slovenian or cover crops in Cantonese, look no further!
At Healing Soils Foundation, we are all in on the regenerative transition. Our mission is tosupport farmers implementing organic and regenerative practices at scale.
We created the Regenerative Farmer Assurance Fund (RFAF) to be a recoupable emergency grant program that acts as bridge funding when federal conservation payments are frozen or delayed.
RFAF gives organic and regenerative farmers upfront capital for infrastructure projects.
These dollars will cycle back when grants arrive, to be given to the next farmer applicants
Thisstretches funds to support multiple waves of farmers.
Congrats to Athena, who correctly guessed September’s mystery crop:
Vanilla
(Vanilla planifolia)
Athena won a fly AEA hat for her knowledge of commercially-cultivated orchids.
We hope Athena’s father wasn’t wearing a fly AEA hat when she sprang fully-grown from his skull, as the hat would have gotten all gory and ruined . . . [checks notes] . . . sorry, wrong Athena.
Anyhow, can you name this month’s mystery crop? One lucky winner will receive an AEA hat.
AEA Agronomist John Pierce found this wacky tillage radish while scouting a field of cover crops in Kentucky.
This radish is a stark visual indicator of a compaction layer a few inches beneath the surface.
The compaction layer ran 3-6” deep, and is so dense that even the legendary soil-busting daikon was unable to penetrate
The radish started growing every direction except down.
This field has been cover cropped for 12 years, including with compaction-breaking species like annual ryegrass, but the compaction layer remains.
John discussed other options with the grower, including deep ripping.
It’s an important lesson that as regenerative growers, we must remain adaptable. Not every practice works in every context, and if something’s not working, we might need to try something we thought was unsavory . . . even disturbing the soil
