Jon Frank currently serves as regional sales manager and soil specialist for Integrated Soil and Plant Technologies, working with growers across the Dakotas, Minnesota, Iowa and parts of Wisconsin. Over the course of his career as a soil consultant, Jon has focused on specialty crops, market gardens, home gardens, and greenhouses, and has worked with growers of broad-acre crops like hay, corn, and soybeans as well. Jon is a lifelong student of the soil and began his career in agricultural consulting in 2005. 

Jon was mentored by and eventually partnered with Dr. Dan Skow as co-owner of International Ag Labs in Fairmont, Minnesota for 14 years. His approach to soil draws from the work of pioneering researchers like Julius Hensel and Dr. Carey Reams, whose perspectives serve as a counterbalance to the dominant paradigm of NPK-focused agronomy.

Jon also cites the research of Gilles Lemieux of Laval University in Quebec as influential in his understanding of how soils function. Although not formally trained as a scientist, Jon has documented relationships between farm practice and soil health, crop health and the nutritional density of food crops. All of these directly affect farmers’ bottom-line profitability. 

Jon has presented for audiences in the US and abroad as he pursues his mission is to “help growers craft their soil toward optimum so that it produces nutrient-dense foods.” Jon lived in India for six years where he met his wife Rebecca. They have five children and four grandchildren and live in rural Minnesota.