Episode 167: Controlling Pests using Boron Instead of Insecticide with Jay Watts

Regenerative Agriculture Podcast

AEA Marketing

Earth Sciences, Science, Natural Sciences

4.7 • 546 Ratings

🗓️ 18 September 2025

⏱️ 72 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Jay Watte is a fourth-generation farmer from the Imperial Valley in Southern California, where he manages a family operation focused on seed production. Thanks to his pioneering practices, Jay hasn't sprayed insecticides on his farm for nearly two years. Instead of pesticides, Jay uses nutrient management, particularly boron applications, to boost plant resilience and reduce pest pressure. His experiments with soil inoculations and cover crops, are yielding promising results, including healthier plants and higher seed quality. Jay's approach emphasizes sustainable practices that prioritize long-term soil vitality and community well-being over short-term gains.

Jay supplies major retailers and local farmers with his seed, especially Bermuda grass and alfalfa. Beyond seed production, he has ventured into growing agave and is launching a market garden to provide diverse, healthy produce to his community through a local CSA program.

In this episode, John and Jay discuss:

The challenges of producing seed compared to forage crops
Improving alfalfa seed quality
Changing regional crop patterns, including the decline of cotton and sugar beets
Water management and irrigation challenges in a desert environment
Evolving management strategies to combat the rise in pest and disease pressures
Jay's success in reducing insecticide use through boron and nutrient management
The benefits of soil inoculations and cover crops in regenerative farming
Jay's vision for a sustainable legacy for his children and community

Additional Resources
To learn more about AEA's Rebound Boron, please visit: https://advancingecoag.com/product/rebound-boron-gal-p6850075/

About John Kempf
John Kempf is the founder of Advancing Eco Agriculture (AEA). A top expert in biological and regenerative farming, John founded AEA in 2006 to help fellow farmers by providing the education, tools, and strategies that will have a global effect on the food supply and those who grow it.

Through intense study and the knowledge gleaned from many industry leaders, John is building a comprehensive systems-based approach to plant nutrition – a system solidly based on the sciences of plant physiology, mineral nutrition, and soil microbiology.

Support For This Show & Helping You Grow
Since 2006, AEA has been on a mission to help growers become more resilient, efficient, and profitable with regenerative agriculture.

AEA works directly with growers to apply its unique line of liquid mineral crop nutrition products and biological inoculants. Informed by cutting-edge plant and soil data-gathering techniques, AEA's science-based programs empower farm operations to meet the crop quality markers that matter the most.

AEA has created real and lasting change on millions of acres with its products and data-driven services by working hand-in-hand with growers to produce healthier soil, stronger crops, and higher profits.

Beyond working on the ground with growers, AEA leads in regenerative agriculture media and education, producing and distributing the popular and highly-regarded Regenerative Agriculture Podcast, inspiring webinars, and other educational content that serve as go-to resources for growers worldwide.

Learn more about AEA's regenerative programs and products: https://www.advancingecoag.com

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, friends. This is John. Welcome to the region of agriculture podcast where we have all kinds of fun conversations. Today I'm joined by Jay Watt, who is a friend of mine. I had the privilege of hosting him here at my home some time ago on a day where we also had lots of interesting conversations. Jay, thank you for being here. I've really been looking forward to this discussion. And we all have different
0:22.3	perspectives, different experiences. And one of the things that I've always been intrigued by is
0:28.0	the experiences and the perspectives of people who are actually producing and growing seed or
0:33.1	producing and growing a diversity of different crops because there is something about
0:36.5	growing thing, either growing a diversity of different crops because there is something about growing thing,
0:38.4	either growing a diversity of different crops or taking things to the kind of the ultimate level
0:42.6	of quality that really sharpens your perspective and hones your senses.
0:47.3	So thank you for being here.
0:48.6	Tell us a bit about your context and your operation and the scope of the things that you're
0:52.9	working with.
0:53.7	Thank you.
0:59.9	I'm actually a fourth generation farmer in the Imperial Valley, which is the southernmost point in California, where a seed production, family operation. I make two different kinds.
1:07.6	My main thing is Bermuda seed that is sold. You see it in Lowe's Home Depot.
1:12.7	It's your filler grass for a lot of the lawn and garden companies. And then I also grow
1:19.3	alfalfa seed that we use locally. I sell it to local, back to local farmers. And I also have a couple brokerages that I work with that, that sell it wholesale.
1:33.5	But our, our seeds a little bit different because we have zero dormancy rating on our
1:39.4	alfalfa seeds.
1:40.2	So it only can go to more southern areas, more warm climates. And some of the other,
1:48.6	they'll use them sometimes if you use it like a clover as just an annual in, in colder areas.
1:54.1	But it won't survive the winters. And is there anything else going on besides the seed
1:59.8	production?
2:01.3	Yeah.
	...

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