An EcoFarmer’s Discovery Chapter 8: Results On The Hoof

Welcome to An EcoFarmer's Discovery: The Companion Podcast, where every Friday we dive deep into one chapter of Ewan Campbell's journey.

You're invited to read along – get the audiobook via Spotify (search An EcoFarmer's Discovery) or grab it on Kindle – and explore each chapter with us as we unpack the stories, ideas, and principles of regenerative farming. A new episode drops each Friday, covering 26 chapters across 26 weeks.

In This Episode:

In this episode of An EcoFarmer’s Discovery, Ewan and Stephen explore the game-changing moment when Ewan discovered that mineral balance and soil health don’t just grow better grass, they grow better animals. What began as an experiment with kibbled maize and home-mixed mineral blends soon revealed remarkable weight gains, improved livestock health, and, eventually, premium-quality beef that stood out in the marketplace.

As Ewan followed his curiosity from the paddock to the meat works, he uncovered deeper truths about food quality, animal nutrition, and the broken systems that often hide the realities of modern meat production. From early frustrations with butchers swapping carcasses, to selling high-Omega-3 beef into top restaurants, this chapter unpacks how soil biology, animal health, and human health are all intertwined and why good farming begins long before an animal reaches the gate.

We explore:

• How early mineral experiments boosted weight gain and animal wellbeing
• What really determines tenderness, taste, and fat quality in beef
• The shocking inconsistency of traditional meat grading and processing
• Why grain feeding raises Omega-6 and how grass-fed CLA turns into Omega-3
• The link between soil nutrition, animal fat profiles, and human health
• The challenges of dealing with industry research, standards, and resistance
• How practical trial-and-error shaped the EcoFarm approach to meat quality
• Why farmers must lead innovation when institutions won’t

Full of humour, honesty, and decades of experimentation, this episode shows how real food quality starts in the soil, continues through the animal, and ends with healthier people and healthier farms.

Subscribe or follow to hear more from Ewan’s 26-chapter journey into natural farming wisdom from his book An EcoFarmer’s Discovery.

Watch us on video: Episodes are also published in full on YouTube and Spotify Video.

So, grab the audiobook on Spotify or Kindle and read along with each chapter as we expand, reflect, and add context.

Useful Links & Info
• Listen / read along on Spotify (Audiobook): An EcoFarmer's Discovery: How the Soil Really Works — available here: On Spotify

• Book / Audiobook details: check out the official page at EcoFarm Aotearoa (www.efa.nz)