Celebrating Earth Day with on-farm conservation

<p>Josh Lloyd, who farms near Clay Center, Kan., says the cost and labor in rebuilding topsoil on his family’s farm through regenerative agriculture practices pays for itself and then some. Lloyd spoke at the 2022 No-till on the Plains annual conference, Jan. 25, in Wichita. Lloyd says focusing on this one aspect of regenerative agriculture techniques takes time and planning of crop rotations and the introduction of livestock grazing, but it’s a good first step for farmers and landowners starting their conservation plans.</p>

<p><strong>Read more: <a href="https://www.farmprogress.com/crops/reap-more-profits-growing-your-topsoi... more profits by growing your topsoil</a></strong></p>

<p>Prairie Paradise Farms near Fort Pierre, S.D., is operated by Levi and Crystal Neuharth, and they intend to preserve and conserve their part of the world by implementing a variety of farming practices that build soil health. In a drought year, such as 2021, the&nbsp;Neuharths see the benefit of such practices in conserving the soil moisture that was present. With an eye on the environment and soil conservation, the Neuharths the 2021 South Dakota Leopold Conversation Award.</p>

<p><strong>Read more: <a href="https://www.farmprogress.com/conservation/neuharth-family-wins-leopold-a... family wins Leopold award </a></strong></p>

<p>On an unusually balmy February afternoon in 2016 Ohio Farmer editor Jennifer Kiel took a ride on Dave Brandt’s Polaris utility vehicle to inspect his cover crops – not just it’s above-ground growth. Brandt pulled a shovel from the back to pull a quick inspection on what he calls “the livestock underground.” It’s that microbial activity he loves to see building up by using a no-till and cover crop system. Dave is often the go-to guy and guest speaker at functions regarding soil health. Cover crops have also eliminated the need for fungicides and insecticides on the farm. Brassicas are used to capture nutrients, but they also give off a sulfur odor that fumigates soil in the fall and kills soybean cyst nematode. Conservation is top of mind for the Brandts, implementing buffer strips, tile drainage and waterways. With the land being the base of agriculture, it’s certainly fitting that Dave and his wife, Kendra, were named 2016 Ohio Master Farmers.</p>

<p><strong>Read more: <a href="https://www.farmprogress.com/story-meet-master-farmer-brandt-rooted-soil... Master Farmer Brandt: Rooted in soil health</a></strong></p>

<p>Minnesota farmers have a long history of practicing conservation on their farms to protect soil and water. To choose one as a favorite or inspiring example is a challenge for The Farmer. Since the 1970s, the magazine has sponsored the Minnesota Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts’ annual conservation awards program. The annual event recognizes with county SWCD nominees who are then considered for the state Outstanding Conservationist of the Year award. The 2021 state conservation award was bestowed upon Mallery Jerseys, Inc., Shafer, Minn. Jeff and Karla, along with their children Tommy, Elizabeth and Eddie, were recognized Dec. 14, 2021 at the annual MASWCD awards luncheon. They manage a 250-cow herd on their 485-acre dairy farm. The farm is located along an escarpment of the St. Croix River. Due to their close vicinity to a National Scenic Riverway, conservation is always top of mind for the Mallerys. They’ve implemented a variety of practices, including cover crops, buffers, diversions, water and sediment control basins, no till, nutrient management, and integrated pest management. Shown in the photo are (from left) Karla, Jeff’s mom Nancy, Tommy, Elizabeth, Jeff and Eddie.</p>

<p><strong>Learn more about the Mallery operation: <a href="https://www.farmprogress.com/conservation/chisago-county-dairy-family-ch... County dairy family chosen 2021 outstanding conservationists </a></strong></p>

<p><strong>And past winners:</strong></p>

<p><strong>2019: <a href="https://www.farmprogress.com/conservation/outstanding-conservationist-ho... Conservationist honors cover crop crusaders</a></strong></p>

<p><strong>2018: <a href="https://www.farmprogress.com/conservation/bruce-tiffany-maswcd-s-2018-ou... Tiffany is MASWCD’s 2018 Outstanding Conservationist</a></strong></p>

<p>For Jason and Natalie Farmer of Franklin County, N.C., good conservation practices are ingrained in every aspect of their diversified farm operation, in everything from using cover crops to turning to byproducts to help feed their 600 head of cattle.</p>

<p>For some of his land, Farmer will plant cereal rye, wheat, or oats as a cover. Depending on costs and budgets, for some of his land, he will plant a mixed species of radishes, cereal rye, crimson clover, and Australian winter peas. He l desiccates his cover crop, but is considering planting green, if he can find a way to make it work.</p>

<p>Conservation practices are also vital in the Farmer’s cattle operation. For cattle feed they rely on various byproducts, including cotton gin trash and dried distillers’ grains. They also turned to old produce from local grocery stores, grind it up with a stationary grinder and make a slurry, mixing it with their corn silage.</p>

<p>“We get two tractor trailer loads a week. It’s cheap and it comes here so it is kept out of the landfills. It’s a high-energy feed, and our cows love it,” Natalie says. “Depending on the season, you will find different produce in the mix. In the fall, it’s pumpkins and potatoes and in the summer, it’s melons. It includes old bread, and we’ve found birthday cakes where the names were messed up on the cakes, so the store couldn’t sell it.”</p>

<p>Kewaskum, Wis., farmer Dan Stoffel (left) and Greg Olson, Sand County Foundation conservation director, check out the flowers and grasses planted in one of four prairie strips established on Stoffel’s farm. Stoffel and his brothers have done a tremendous job on their Washington County farm of implementing conservation practices on their farm to improve productivity of their crops.</p>

<p><strong>Read more: <a href="https://www.farmprogress.com/conservation/prairie-strips-prevent-soil-er... strips prevent soil erosion, help pollinators</a></strong></p>

<p>OK, this family farming operation at least practices soil conservation and nearly all farming operations by the acre. Rodney Rulon, Cicero, Ind. Farms with his cousins, Ken and Roy, his uncle, Jerry, and now members of the next generation of the family entering farming. Recently, a conservation story picked up the story of their conservation efforts told in earlier stories over the years and updated it for today. Rodney continues sampling soil acre by acre, and applies fertilizer and sometimes even lime and gypsum, being spread here, as needed according to prescription. His bottom line message to others considering switching to no-till and cover crops is that these practices pays. He has itemized enterprise accounts compiled on their farm to prove it.</p>

<p><strong>Read more: <a href="https://www.farmprogress.com/conservation/progress-report-long-term-no-t... report for long-term no-till farm</a></strong></p>

<p>If you want to get the Mulleks talking, ask them about their soil. Their soil is almost like a silent employee or partner working for them, even taming some of the variables that can stress an operation and its owners.</p>

<p>Tim, 50, Michael, 44, and Mark, 43, farm in Alabama 20 miles from the Gulf of Mexico. Together they grow 3,000 acres. A third or more of their acreage goes to peanuts. The other two-thirds of their acreage is planted to cotton for a three-year rotation.&nbsp;With a wheat crop planted after the peanut harvest, followed by two years of cotton, they get four money crops out of the rotation, but that's just one benefit of the system, which is also 100% dryland.</p>

<p>Their system evolved over time and now centers around a sustainable no-till approach. Except for the peanut digger breaking the land every third year, the soil goes undisturbed, greatly increasing the organic matter in their sandy-loamy soil and limiting erosion due to heavy rainfall, which can arrive anytime during the growing season along the gulf.</p>

<p><strong>Read more: <a href="https://www.farmprogress.com/soil-health/mullek-family-delivers-sustaina... family delivers sustainable peanuts with unique, no-till system</a></strong></p>

<p><strong>Read more: <a href="https://www.farmprogress.com/peanuts/their-soil-became-valuable-silent-p... soil became a valuable silent partner</a></strong></p>

<p>“If you want to make small changes, change the way you&nbsp;do&nbsp;things. If you want to make major changes, change the way you&nbsp;see&nbsp;things.” &nbsp;It’s a quote that Gabe Brown recalls from a conference 20 years ago in Bismarck, North Dakota. It changed how Brown looked at his farm and went from being in the hole to making money.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Brown says he has grown several inches of new topsoil in only 20 years. Through a synergistic combination of soil microbes, mycorrhizal fungi, earthworms, organic material, plant roots, water, sunlight, and the liquid carbon that plants create through photosynthesis, the Brown family rediscovered the natural process for transforming compacted, depleted dirt made from years of industrial farming into rich, porous topsoil.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Brown went on to write, Dirt to Soil—One family’s Journey into Regenerative Agriculture. He recounts how he regenerated a degraded farm’s soil into a&nbsp; healthy, profitable farm.</p>

<p><strong>Read more: <a href="https://www.farmprogress.com/soil-health/dirt-soil">Dirt to Soil</a></strong></p>