This June, nearly 3,000 people gathered on the Mannix Family Ranch in Helmville, Montana, for the third annual Old Salt Festival, hosted by the Old Salt Co-op.
Land is Kin: Reflections from the Old Salt Festival 2025
A view of the campsite accommodations, stage, and gathering spaces at the Old Salt Festival, Mannix Family Ranch, Helmville, Montana.
10/21/2025
By: Kevin Watt, Bookcliff Consulting
This past June, nearly 3,000 people gathered on the Mannix Family Ranch in Helmville, Montana, for the third annual Old Salt Festival, hosted by the Old Salt Co-op. The festival is a beautiful gathering with equal parts music, food, conversation, and community. Its guiding theme this year, “Land is Kin,” set the tone for an event where people came not just to celebrate but to reimagine our relationship to land, food, and each other.
From left to right: Zach Ducheneaux, Kat Taylor, Kevin Watt, Cory Carman, and Ryan Anderson at the Old Salt Festival on the beautiful Mannix Family Ranch in Helmville, Montana.
What makes the Old Salt Festival truly extraordinary is its spirit. It is a place where children run and play in the tall grass, neighbors share stories over locally raised meals, and strangers become friends while listening to music and attending workshops and talks together under the wide Montana sky. While wonderfully entertaining and inspiring, the festival above all reminds us that regenerative agriculture is not only about restoring soils and watersheds or building resilient economies, it is also about social regeneration. It is about growing relationships, acknowledging and healing wounds, strengthening community ties, and rediscovering joy together.
This year, I was honored to facilitate two deep conversations at the festival. The first, Financing the Future of Regenerative Agriculture: Courage is the 5th C of Credit, brought together a panel of leaders, including Kat Taylor (founder of TomKat Ranch Educational Foundation and OKThink), Zach Ducheneaux (former USDA FSA Administrator), Cory Carman (Carman Ranch), and Ryan Anderson (Steward Lending). Together, we explored how the status quo of extractive agricultural financial systems must evolve to support the courage and creativity of farmers and ranchers leading the shift to regenerative practices. Kat reflected afterward:
“…we explored the critical importance of opening up flexible capital pathways for small farmers and ranchers. Extractive land practices make it extremely difficult for land stewards to adopt regenerative practices that protect their livelihoods from the growing threats of climate and economic instability.
Our conversation resonated with investors, philanthropies, and NGOs seeking to align their resources with climate solutions that begin at the grassroots level. We need to find ways forward to shift the paradigm, helping small farmers and ranchers drive long-term profitability and sustainability.”
During the “Financing the Future of Regenerative Agriculture: Courage is the 5th C of Credit” discussion, Cory Carman, one of the five panelists, addresses the audience.
The second discussion, “Farmer and Rancher Mental Health,” was a tender and deeply human exploration of the unique emotional and mental health needs of rural communities. This is a discussion near and dear to my own heart as I work as a rural hospice chaplain and spiritual counselor. The talk was envisioned and organized by Connor Coleman of Resiliency Lands and featured Dr. Eric Arzubi of Frontier Psychiatry, author and psychotherapist Emily Swisher, Kim Paul of the Pikani Lodge Health Institute, and Jeremy Morris of the Wild Courage Podcast.
The Land Talk Lounge. Photo Credit: Connor Coleman
During the talk, panelists and the audience discussed how mental health challenges in rural communities are often as invisible as they are painful. It was noted that, especially in rural communities that stigmatize mental health issues, struggles like depression, grief, or suicidal thoughts can be like a broken rib: invisible on the outside, but excruciating with every breath. However, this conversation created a beautiful space that invited vulnerability and exemplified the important truth that when these struggles are shared and held in community, they can become points of connection rather than isolation. As one participant shared, “the courage to speak and to listen can itself be an act of regeneration.”
As the Old Salt Festival continues to grow, it remains at heart a gathering that weaves together food, land, and people into a living story of resilience. It shows that regeneration is not only possible but already alive wherever communities choose to dance, share, and take care of one another.
