Dede Eekhoff, left, of Agronomy Rx, a Webster City firm, visits with Macius Schroeder, a farmer from Renville, Minnesota, during a break at The Power of Biology Conference at the Briggs Woods Conference Center this week.

Upwards of 200 attendees from across 13 states have flocked to the Briggs Woods Conference Center at Webster City this week for a two-day conference exploring issues in agriculture and ways to make it healthier for farmers and consumers alike, all the while improving the bottom-line and protecting soil health for generations to come.

“The Power of Biology Conference” is hosted by Central Iowa Agronomics and has drawn a broad line-up of speakers including agronomists, crop advisers, soil scientists, physicists and even chiropractors. This unique blend of agriculture and health is by design, according to Bob Streit, founder and president of Central Iowa Agronomics.

“It’s all related,” Streit says of his efforts to make people more aware of how human health and soil health intersect. “Better soil health means better human health.”

Vatche Keuftedjian, founder and president of Pursanova Ltd., a company offering healthier water solutions, was born in Armenia and studied in Germany, Japan, and the U.S. A theoretical quantum physicist, Keuftedjian is a proponent of healthy water solutions to improve today’s ag products and enhance human health.

“Your body is 73 percent water,” he says.

So many health problems, he says, can be traced to the quality of water.

“You fix the outside water, you fix your body water,” he says.

Farmers using Pursanova water systems can reduce chemical usage and eliminate problems associated with run-off, he says. The system uses “Liquid Conversion Technology” and is not a purification system, but works by activating indigenous minerals.

“It does not create run-off; it will never go to the underground water supply, and the plant absorbs 35 to 40 percent more of the water. By reducing chemicals, you also increase your pocketbook,” he says. “It will pay for itself in the first year.”

While Keuftjedjian represents the international flair of the conference, Larry and Dede Eekhoff give it a local touch. The Eekhoffs are owners of Agronomy Rx, located in the former Moose Lodge on the west end of Webster City.

Eekhoff started the business in his home after retiring from an area cooperative elevator.

“He started in our home doing consulting, and about six years ago he took on the biologicals,” explains Dede Eekhoff. “We are now making our own and it’s just continued to grow.

The Eekhoffs are passionate about agriculture and helping farmers find solutions that work for their operation.

“Basically we’re here at this conference to help people understand more about natural biologicals,” Dede Eekhoff says. “We are able to make them in-house. They are very fresh. We are not dealing with shipping or supply chain issues. It’s really exciting and something that’s up and coming for agriculture.”

She is also an advocate for healthy solutions that improve life for customers and the population at large.

“I believe that if you have healthy soil you have healthy plants,” she says.

Attendees at the conference expressed their pleasure at the quality of the presentations, as well as the comfortable facilities at the Briggs Woods Conference Center. Most of them said they simply came to learn and visit with other farmers and ag business people.

Macius Schroeder is a young farmer from Renville, Minnesota, whose goal was to soak up as much knowledge as possible at the two-day event.

“I think there’s very intelligent people and a lot of speakers that I really want to learn from,” Schroeder says. “I want to take home as much information as I can on herbicide efficiency and nutrient efficiency.”

Schroeder says their family farm is about two hours west of the Twin Cities. They grow corn, soybeans and rye. The farm has been no-till, strip-till for nearly 20 years and they have been using cover crops for about 10 years.

“We try to use regenerative farming practices as much as possible,” Schroeder says.

His goal for the farm in the next few years is to reduce inputs such as herbicide so as to both protect the environment and lower his cost of production.

Curt Petrich is an ag business person who traveled from Fargo, North Dakota, to attend the conference.

“I came to hear the speakers, learn more about regenerative farming practices, and biologicals that are available and the experiences they have had,” Petrich says.

Petrich works in the export end of agriculture. His company exports non-GMO and organic grains. He was pleased for the opportunity to do some networking and talk about new opportunities in soybean meal.

The conference is having a very positive impact on the local economy, as well, with local hotels and restaurants seeing many attendees getting to know Webster City a little better.

Kathy Heidtbrink came with her husband, Barry, from Gresham, Nebraska, located about 50 miles west of Lincoln. Kathy Heidtbrink isn’t attending the conference herself, but instead spent the day on Wednesday browsing downtown, having lunch in a local cafe, and then visiting Kendall Young Library.

She used her time at the library to do a little genealogy research and even purchased a book from the used book cart. All in all, it was a great way to spend an afternoon.

“It’s such a beautiful building,” she said of the library.