David Stennes is the founder and CEO of Arcola Farms Group, a Minnesota-based agricultural and environmental solutions company. With a lifetime interest in agronomy, and 3 decades in insurance and finance management, David has vast experience in team building, collaboration, and leadership.As an impact-driven collaborator, Stennes builds partnerships with growers and agriculture leaders throughout the food system supply chain, innovating and strengthening sustainable, food & farming systems that create positive environmental impact. He is leading the effort to improve farmland soil health, protect our vital fresh water supplies, and commercialize of the next generation of University researched and created perennial crops, at scale.Following a passion developed over a lifetime, we are working on solutions that address farmland soil health, vital waterways protection, and future food solutions, at scale. I am proud to be a leader in the development, expansion and commercialization of Perennial Regenerative Agriculture, starting with Kernza® perennial grain. As I write this comment in June 2024, the upper Midwest is seeing record spring and summer rains, flooding conventional corn and soybean fields. In contrast, the increasing acres of Kernza® perennial grain show the opposite. Standing in a field of chest-high tall grass grains, the deep roots go down 10 feet, drawing down the rains into the rich soil ecosystem rebuilt after decades of constant convention rotation. Vital waterways are protected, nitrates from neighboring farms are filtered, erosion is stopped , the ground and soil intact and drawing down half a ton of carbon per acre. Above the ground, the grain has 85 grams of protein per pound, is high in fiber and antioxidants, low in gluten and starch. Kernza® perennial grain is just the first of the high value, high environmental impact perennial crops coming from The Land Institute, and the Forever Green Initiative at the University of Minnesota.

A financial and insurance executive and consultant with experience since 1987, David's guidance has helped clients and financial advisors gain clarity to engage effective planning solutions for insurance, executive and employee benefits, and corporate retirement plans. From building and managing Fortune 100 sales teams, to private client consulting, David's depth of experience lends credibility and confidence to well-thought solutions. His diverse outside interests involve experience and expertise in food production, regenerative agriculture, carbon capture, and soil health restoration, and solutions to addressing climate change and hunger relief. Industry Specialties-Corporate and Executive Long Term Care Insurance planning-Retirement Plan and 401k Services and Support-Employee and Executive Benefit Planning

"We learn the most when we get our boots dirty. When you stand in a farm field on a historic family farm, you have a rooted sense of responsibility to do what's right by the earth". We took over ownership of my wife's family farm, that her great grandfather built in 1855. I sought the help of local, state and federal agencies responsible for helping create land management planning for the historic farm. With conservation easements, we ensured no one could ever infringe on the land, in generations to come. Working with the USDA, the Fish and Wildlife Service, the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), and the county, we sought best practices advice. Regenerative agricultural practices, to return decades of damaged soil to allow the planting of plants and foods into rich, bio-diverse soil, was learned and practiced. Special thanks to The Savanah Institute for their critical work in agroforesty and conservation. It's there that we were introduced to the fine people of Brix Cider, who are now the stewards of the next generation of agroforestry at Donald Farm. All that I learned in those years on the farm is with me now, as I embark on the next phase of agriculture, filling the gap where the field season ends. Indoor agriculture stands side-by-side farm fields as a local solution to end hunger, to provide sustainable local fresh food.https://www.facebook.com/jsdonaldfarm/