Our Vision
The health of the land, sea and people is one and indivisible. Our vision is an Earth where land, sea and people thrive together forever. As we do to one, we do to ourselves. As we do to the Earth, we do to ourselves. The modern tragedy of the Earth system is calling us to heal our relationship to Earth and one another. Mad Agriculture is heeding the call. We work from heart to head, poetry to science, financing to markets, and soil to shelf.
The world that we believe in, envision and work for is so profoundly different from the one that is, that everything we do demands a bit of madness—hence the ‘Mad’ in our Agriculture. We are working to create a revolution in agriculture at the global scale. This revolution must be founded on the virtues of a good and true economy that seeks to achieve harmony between human and ecological well-being. It must start from the ground up, with the soil. It must be regenerative.
The MAD! Ecosystem
MAD! is an ecosystem of organizations working together to create the regenerative revolution in agriculture. Our ecosystem of organizations ensure that our farmer partners have the financial (Mad Capital), connective (Mad Markets), and strategic-based (Mad Agriculture) support they need to thrive. We meet farmers where they’re at in their journey as they transition to regenerative agricultural models.
Mad Agriculture
Technical & financial assistance
Boots on the ground technical and financial assistance, storytelling, and movement building toward regeneration. We are a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded in 2018.
Mad Capital
Financing for farmers & Ranchers
Financing designed for organic farmers and regenerative ranchers. Mad Capital is a Public Benefit Corporation (PBC) launched in 2022, after fledging from Mad Agriculture.
Mad Markets
Ingredient Sourcing & Supply chain
Dependable ingredient sourcing solutions that advance regenerative agriculture. Mad Markets is a Public Benefit Corporation (PBC) launched in 2024, after fledging from Mad Agriculture.
MAD! is inspired by the Mad Farmer poems of Wendell Berry, which call us to rework society and agriculture with love, community and lots of radicalism. In Wendell’s words, “I am done with apologies. If contrariness is my inheritance and destiny, so be it. If it is my mission to go in at exits and come out at entrances, so be it.” The world that we are striving to create is so vastly different than the world that is, that nearly everything that we do bears certain madness.
"Am I living a life I don’t regret, a life that will resonate with my ancestors, and with as many generations forward as I can imagine. I am attending to the crises of my time with my best self, I am of communities that are doing their collective best to honor our ancestors and all humans to come."
-ADRIANNE MARIE BROWN
From The Field
FILM
A healthy food system is built from more than farms alone. It depends on places where people can learn, gather, share knowledge, and develop meaningful relationships with the land that feeds them.
STORY
Regenerative agriculture is often discussed through outcomes: healthier soils, cleaner water, stronger local food systems, and more resilient farms. Less often do we talk about what makes those outcomes possible in the first place.
STORY
Situated in the Cedar River watershed, water that touches Cotter’s farm, and those nearby, eventually makes its way to the Mississippi River. Using cover crops allows Cotter to preserve his soil, prevent extensive runoff, and minimize downstream impacts.
FILM
What unfolds here is a meditation on fecundity in all its forms: the fruiting of trees and the birth of new life, the slow cultivation of beauty, and the quiet faith it takes to keep creating in a world that often measures value only by yield.
