Ohio farm focuses on soil health, seeds, and serving their community of farm partners and consumers
Brandt Family Farm grows grain in the “gently rolling” Appalachian foothills of Central Ohio and has been spearheading soil conservation practices for over 50 years. Their crops reach the public through a variety of channels, including their own seed company, Walnut Creek Seeds.
With its longstanding focus on regenerative agriculture and education, this fifth-generation farm not only grows crops—they also grow ideas about how to farm better. These ideas began when the late David Brandt (at left, above) was busy with a young family and a lot of livestock in the early 1970s.
“He was an early adopter of no till methods, because he didn't have time for tillage and didn't like to see all the erosion that resulted from it,” Jay Brandt said of his father David, who died in 2023. “Education was a big thing for him, so any chance he had he shared successes and challenges.”
David was driven to share the results of his experiments with other farmers—especially how crop rotations and no-till helped minimize erosion and the need for herbicides and fertilizers, while maintaining yields. This led to a position with the soil and water conservation district, where he helped to write conservation plans for farms across Ohio. The USDA noticed his work, as did agricultural researchers and writers; the French Minister of Agriculture even visited his farm. David was invited to speak in France on agriculture’s role in improving soil health; afterwards, they spent a week in France visiting farms and meeting with farmers about beneficial practices. In 2022, the Field Work podcast dubbed him the Godfather of Soil Health.
As cover crops gained popularity, sourcing seeds was tough, so David started growing and selling seeds and custom mixes, opening Walnut Creek Seeds in 2012. That venture called Jay and his wife Ann home from Akron in 2014, and now, two of their kids, Isaac and Therese, run the seed business with Ann. The couple’s other son, Christopher, runs the farm with the help of a hired hand in the tradition Dave set in motion.
“Our goal is to take his experience and continue to communicate through different farming techniques,” Jay said, noting that the nature of agriculture disturbs soil, “so we want to rebuild and regenerate.”
Jay is a chemist, with a full-time job off-farm; he co-owns the farmland with his sister and provides technical assistance for both the farm operation and seed sales along with whatever other tasks need to happen. In the decade he’s been back on the farm, he has applied his father’s approach to continuous improvement.
“We're trying to take the best of every practice that we see and we're willing to point out the deficiencies in our own program,” said Jay. The information sharing is interpersonal, through conversations, and through a wealth of resources on their website. “We want to meet our farming family where we're at in our production and say, how do we get beyond that and continue to improve?”
Relearning old techniques is a theme they keep exploring. One of the next things on their list is using more natural fertility such as compost extracts as opposed to purchased synthetics. This goal, like all new approaches, means understanding what change will do to the existing system, and how to manage farm expectations for yield and productivity. Jay’s expertise as a chemist guides this latest inquiry, and the Brandt’s are excited to see how the project unfolds.
The home farm has between 150-160 acres planted each year, and they plant another 600 to 800 rented acres, depending on the year. Their crops are Regenerative Verified each year, including a corn, soybean and small grain rotation, plus plenty of cover crops and inter-planting. Grain for milling and seed production are about a quarter of their production, with other soybeans and corn going to commodity sales.
The Brandt’s team up with fellow AGC members Joe, Doris, and Isabella Bozzi of Local Millers to mill and market flour and cornmeal on the farm. This collaboration led to formation—with the Bozzis and fellow AGC member Jon Branstrator—of the Ohio Grain Hub, a hyper-local network of farm partners eager to build soil health, farm resiliency, and food security in their rural neighborhoods and throughout the region.
“Our next step is to improve our work environment and equipment so that we can meet the customer demand for healthy grains and flour,” said Jay. Public support of local producers, he added, drives investment into improving food security in every community.
Being members of AGC helps them to network with like-minded farmers for support and assistance for their food-grade grain pursuits. We are ever so glad to have their longstanding efforts in our circuits, and companionship as we all go forward.
