Dr. Francis Thicke

Breakout Session: Ethanol and CAFO Corn: How Does the Farm Bill Support Bad Ag? with Mike Grunwald and Trish Clarkweiss moderating

Dr. Francis Thicke is a soil scientist who, with his wife Susan, ran Radiance Dairy in Fairfield, Iowa for many years. Radiance is an organic dairy farm with an on-farm creamery and local marketing of organic dairy products. It is stunningly popular, and people have reported that they live in Fairfield just to have regular access to the products of Radiance. In 2025 Francis and Susan passed off the ownership of Radiance and moved to Minnesota.

Francis has served on the Executive Board of the Real Organic Project since its creation in 2018. He also served on our original Real Organic Standards Board. Francis served on the National Organic Standards Board, and was one of the famous Soil Seven who stood up to protect organic at the infamous Jacksonville meeting in 2017.

Francis has written two books: A New Vision for Iowa Food and Agriculture (2010) and Your Cosmic Journey (2026).

Francis has appeared on the Real Organic Podcast three times. He is one of the respected and inspiring farmers who has led the Real Organic Project.