Jade Koyle: Wheat, Farm Subsidies, and Regenerative Grain Farming #126

I speak with Jade Koyle of Grand Teton Ancient Grains about ancient wheat, regenerative farming, the economics of growing food, and why so many people are trying to understand what has changed about modern bread.

Jade is a sixth-generation farmer who runs Grand Teton Ancient Grains in eastern Idaho, where his family grows, mills and sells ancient grains including einkorn, spelt, emmer and khorasan, alongside other grains grown through regenerative organic practices.

We get into what makes a grain “ancient,” how the modern seed and commodity system evolved, and why Jade has invested in cleaning, storing and preserving his own seed. We also talk about farm subsidies, insurance, land prices, leasing farmland and why finding a viable business model matters more than simply owning acreage. From there, Jade explains how Grand Teton approaches crop rotations, companion crops, soil fertility and profitability, along with the reality of weather, pests, diesel costs and losing crops.

Towards the end, we get into modern bread and wheat more directly: glyphosate, grain storage, milling, the removal of bran and germ, fortification, preservatives and why Jade prefers whole-grain, fresh-milled bread.

What we cover:

• Ancient grains, einkorn, spelt, emmer and khorasan
• Seed saving, subsidies and how modern grain farming became centralized
• Land prices, leasing farmland and the economics of starting a farm
• Regenerative grain farming, crop rotations, soil health and profitability
• Modern bread, milling, additives, glyphosate and whole-grain flour

Timestamps:



Links:

Grand Teton Ancient Grains — Website
About the farm — About Grand Teton Ancient Grains
Shop grains and flour — Shop
YouTube — Grand Teton Ancient Grains YouTube
Farm story — How Grand Teton Ancient Grains Began
Jade's X - X handle

Resources mentioned:

• Grand Teton Ancient Grains — farm, grains and shop ancientgrains.com
• Grand Teton Ancient Grains — grain guide — einkorn, emmer, spelt, khorasan and other grains Ancient Grains Guide
• USDA FSA Beginning Farmer & Rancher Loans — the type of farm ownership financing Jade mentions for newer farmers Beginning Farmers and Ranchers Loans
• USDA FSA Farm Ownership Loans — land purchase, development and down-payment programs Farm Ownership Loans
• USDA Whole-Farm Revenue Protection — the farm-wide revenue insurance Jade discusses as an alternative when individual ancient-grain crops are harder to insure Whole-Farm Revenue Protection

What is The Regenaissance Podcast?

Hosted by @Regenaisanceman with the mission of reconnecting us back to where our food is grown & exposing everything that is wrong with our broken food system. We are more disconnected from our food than we ever have been. I sit down with ranchers and farmers to give them a voice and hear their stories, helping paint a picture of what it really looks like to support humanity with food. I also will be talking to others involved in the agriculture space as there is a lot that goes into it all. My hope is that from hearing this podcast you will begin to question what you eat and where from.