Regenerative agriculture
- Thread starter Telemark
- Start date
My little piece of heaven is located in central Minnesota. I have 2 plots. One is low ground that is generally a bit wet but has pretty good soil since it looks like I am the only person who has been crazy enough to try growing food there. The other is high ground, I think they say its sandy loam type dirt, that has been in a conventional crop rotation for decades from the look of it. I've only had my land for just under 2 years and didn't start working on food plots until about 13 months ago. Over that time I've watched hundreds of youtube videos, listened to many podcast, read a bit and talked with several people about food plots.
Last year I did traditional tillage as best I could with the tools I had. They were an atv, atv mounted sprayer, cultipacker, groundhog max, and bag style broadcast seeder. I already had the atv so the other equipment made sense. Heavily influenced by Jeff Sturgis as is apparent by that list. I also planted my plots to closely mimic his system, except for my tillage. I felt it necessary to get my process started. I didn't get started soon enough to run a buckwheat cover, but got my plants to grow pretty well anyhow. Anything that likes or tolerates damp to wet soil grew great in my lower plot. This spring I had much more bare dirt than I would have liked on the brassica planted side and had difficulties getting my buckwheat to take in my higher, dry plot. That got me to thinking that there has to be a better way.
From watching all those different videos, I knew that I wanted to put in much more diverse plots compared to the split, low diversity plots that I had. I started looking for a place to get my seed and thanks to forums like this one and others I learned of Green Cover Seed and their absolutely awesome SmartMix program. I played around with that for a couple of months and ended up with a 17 cultivar mix and ordered it about a month ago. I can't say enough good things about Green Cover Seed. First, they were as friendly as could be. Second, I was amazed that a company that size would take the time to custom mix my little order. To give perspective, I heard one of them on a podcast say that last year they sold enough seed to plant 900,000 acres, if I remember correctly. I don't feel that I am even a drop in that bucket. Third, they mixed it the day that I ordered it and it was on its way to me by the next day. I planted my low plot a couple of weeks ago. I cultipacked the buckwheat down but didn't spray. On that pure stand of buckwheat it worked really well. I had almost 100% termination. I have added some weight to my cultipacker which I believe helps alot. It weighs right around 500 pounds as it sits right now. Looks like a good catch in any place that didn't end up with standing water from all the rain we have had since I planted. I will plant my high plot right before our next rain event.
This year I screened both plots with a solid stand of egyptian wheat. Last year I only screened the high plot. Last year I had a good catch but had some ph issues in a portion of the screening. This year, anywhere that didn't have egyptian wheat last year did well. On my high plot the first planting didn't take because the soil got too dry after planting. Second planting started out well but the grasses overtook the egyptian wheat in very short order. That got me looking harder for a better way to do things.
At around the same time that my egyptian wheat had me pulling my hair out I came across a thread on this forum that mentioned Jason Snavely. As soon as I listened to one of his more recent podcasts I knew that it was the direction that I wanted to go in with my food plots. I previously watched quite a bit of the buffalo system videos put out by Dr. Grant Woods but didn't understand how to adapt that system to work for me until listening to Jason Snavely. Since then I have watched, read and listened too as much content as I can covering regenerative agriculture and cover crops.
That pretty much covers what I've done, so on to what I am planning for this fall and into next year. I have a few acres of tillable ground that was planted in soybeans by a local farmer this year. Once the crop comes off I plan on seeding the area where I want food plots next year with cereal grains and hairy vetch. I will frost seed switch grass around the plots for some cover and screening. Next year I will also be planting 4 rows of conifers along the road for screening. I am starting to work on a screening blend along with my summertime cover crop for next year. I know that there are companies out there that sell good diverse mixes, but I'm kind of cheap and I like to tinker. I feel like I'm going to break the SmartMix calculator with how much I play with my mixes. I think that no matter what, I need a crimper next year. I have access to a nice 900 pound steel cylinder that I believe I can make into a crimper for less than 400 dollars. If it doesn't work out for me I will buy one. It looks like there are a couple decent options out there that can be pulled by an atv. I just don't want to spend that kind of money if I don't have to. I refuse to put another ounce of chemical fertilizer on my soil even if it means less desireable food plots for a few years. Since I intend to be very stubborn on this point, I am currently looking for a good book to read on how to hear what the weeds in my plots are trying to tell me about my soil. I will keep my sprayer on the off chance that I mess things up so badly that its the only way I can reasonably reign things back in.
As you may be able to tell, I'm quite excited about this journey that I'm on. It took me 20 years of working and saving to get to this point. I'm pretty sure that regenerative ag people are just like saddle hunters in that they want to tell everybody everything they can about their pursuit, even if they only know enough to fill up a few paragraphs. Hope you made it to the end of all this and that at least one thing in it was helpful. I'm always open to hear other peoples ideas and would love to see enough people adopt the practices to have a section dedicated to regenerative wildlife agriculture on this forum.
Last year I did traditional tillage as best I could with the tools I had. They were an atv, atv mounted sprayer, cultipacker, groundhog max, and bag style broadcast seeder. I already had the atv so the other equipment made sense. Heavily influenced by Jeff Sturgis as is apparent by that list. I also planted my plots to closely mimic his system, except for my tillage. I felt it necessary to get my process started. I didn't get started soon enough to run a buckwheat cover, but got my plants to grow pretty well anyhow. Anything that likes or tolerates damp to wet soil grew great in my lower plot. This spring I had much more bare dirt than I would have liked on the brassica planted side and had difficulties getting my buckwheat to take in my higher, dry plot. That got me to thinking that there has to be a better way.
From watching all those different videos, I knew that I wanted to put in much more diverse plots compared to the split, low diversity plots that I had. I started looking for a place to get my seed and thanks to forums like this one and others I learned of Green Cover Seed and their absolutely awesome SmartMix program. I played around with that for a couple of months and ended up with a 17 cultivar mix and ordered it about a month ago. I can't say enough good things about Green Cover Seed. First, they were as friendly as could be. Second, I was amazed that a company that size would take the time to custom mix my little order. To give perspective, I heard one of them on a podcast say that last year they sold enough seed to plant 900,000 acres, if I remember correctly. I don't feel that I am even a drop in that bucket. Third, they mixed it the day that I ordered it and it was on its way to me by the next day. I planted my low plot a couple of weeks ago. I cultipacked the buckwheat down but didn't spray. On that pure stand of buckwheat it worked really well. I had almost 100% termination. I have added some weight to my cultipacker which I believe helps alot. It weighs right around 500 pounds as it sits right now. Looks like a good catch in any place that didn't end up with standing water from all the rain we have had since I planted. I will plant my high plot right before our next rain event.
This year I screened both plots with a solid stand of egyptian wheat. Last year I only screened the high plot. Last year I had a good catch but had some ph issues in a portion of the screening. This year, anywhere that didn't have egyptian wheat last year did well. On my high plot the first planting didn't take because the soil got too dry after planting. Second planting started out well but the grasses overtook the egyptian wheat in very short order. That got me looking harder for a better way to do things.
At around the same time that my egyptian wheat had me pulling my hair out I came across a thread on this forum that mentioned Jason Snavely. As soon as I listened to one of his more recent podcasts I knew that it was the direction that I wanted to go in with my food plots. I previously watched quite a bit of the buffalo system videos put out by Dr. Grant Woods but didn't understand how to adapt that system to work for me until listening to Jason Snavely. Since then I have watched, read and listened too as much content as I can covering regenerative agriculture and cover crops.
That pretty much covers what I've done, so on to what I am planning for this fall and into next year. I have a few acres of tillable ground that was planted in soybeans by a local farmer this year. Once the crop comes off I plan on seeding the area where I want food plots next year with cereal grains and hairy vetch. I will frost seed switch grass around the plots for some cover and screening. Next year I will also be planting 4 rows of conifers along the road for screening. I am starting to work on a screening blend along with my summertime cover crop for next year. I know that there are companies out there that sell good diverse mixes, but I'm kind of cheap and I like to tinker. I feel like I'm going to break the SmartMix calculator with how much I play with my mixes. I think that no matter what, I need a crimper next year. I have access to a nice 900 pound steel cylinder that I believe I can make into a crimper for less than 400 dollars. If it doesn't work out for me I will buy one. It looks like there are a couple decent options out there that can be pulled by an atv. I just don't want to spend that kind of money if I don't have to. I refuse to put another ounce of chemical fertilizer on my soil even if it means less desireable food plots for a few years. Since I intend to be very stubborn on this point, I am currently looking for a good book to read on how to hear what the weeds in my plots are trying to tell me about my soil. I will keep my sprayer on the off chance that I mess things up so badly that its the only way I can reasonably reign things back in.
As you may be able to tell, I'm quite excited about this journey that I'm on. It took me 20 years of working and saving to get to this point. I'm pretty sure that regenerative ag people are just like saddle hunters in that they want to tell everybody everything they can about their pursuit, even if they only know enough to fill up a few paragraphs. Hope you made it to the end of all this and that at least one thing in it was helpful. I'm always open to hear other peoples ideas and would love to see enough people adopt the practices to have a section dedicated to regenerative wildlife agriculture on this forum.
S.T.Fanatic
5 year old buck +
When it comes to chemicals i'll say this, there is a farm that I drive past nearly every day of the week and that i lived across the highway from for the first 18 years of my life. His farm has NEVER had chemicals sprayed on it and it is by far the most weed free farm I have ever seen. Granted he plants row crops and cultivates but its usually only once.
Telemark
5 year old buck +
Have you considered "keyline" plowing or something similar for that dry plot you have? And maybe a swale for the low wet one?
I haven't heard about Jason Snavely. Thanks for the tip.
The reason I started getting into regenerative agriculture is because I am working with some really bad soils, and I was looking for a way to improve the soils without buying a bunch of fertilizer every year(which is what I still do and will have to do for a while longer). I have to say I really like what the regen people have to say, for the most part. Joel Salatin's work is amazing, but I would like something a bit more geared toward habitat and wildlife. I think this will solve a lot of the problems I have. I've started by making tons of Berkeley compost and focusing on planting perennials for wildlife and my own consumption. As I replace the heather and bracken with more useful and diverse species I am getting a LOT of animal activity here.
I haven't heard about Jason Snavely. Thanks for the tip.
The reason I started getting into regenerative agriculture is because I am working with some really bad soils, and I was looking for a way to improve the soils without buying a bunch of fertilizer every year(which is what I still do and will have to do for a while longer). I have to say I really like what the regen people have to say, for the most part. Joel Salatin's work is amazing, but I would like something a bit more geared toward habitat and wildlife. I think this will solve a lot of the problems I have. I've started by making tons of Berkeley compost and focusing on planting perennials for wildlife and my own consumption. As I replace the heather and bracken with more useful and diverse species I am getting a LOT of animal activity here.
Telemark
5 year old buck +
I keep seeing more and more farms like that online. A lot of the regen guys have amazing farms and gardens with very little weeding.
S.T.Fanatic
5 year old buck +
Exactly my reason for trying to get my crimper perfected.
The idea looks really cool, but it is fairly expensive to jump into like Grant Woods with a crimper and no-till drill. My sandy sections tend to have pretty poor germination without covering the seed with a little dirt, so the no-till can be challenging there. Every year I plant some plots using cover crop type mixes, but the deer will walk through them to get to the soybeans! In my area at least nothing beats the attraction of a soybean field so it seems like I have to decide whether I want to have the best hunting with soybeans or build the soil with the cover crop blends.
It would be nice if they could publish their soil organic matter on year 1 versus year 10 with those no-till systems. I brought in dumptruck loads of compost to improve some sandy soil sections and it definitely helped. I would prefer to build them up another way, but I don't know if I want to wait 20 years and put up with lesser hunting in that time frame.
It would be nice if they could publish their soil organic matter on year 1 versus year 10 with those no-till systems. I brought in dumptruck loads of compost to improve some sandy soil sections and it definitely helped. I would prefer to build them up another way, but I don't know if I want to wait 20 years and put up with lesser hunting in that time frame.
Timely thread. Monday I hired Dr. Allen Williams and his company Understanding Ag to help me take regenerative ag to the next level on my farm. Having studied Gabe Brown [ who works with Allen ] Ray Archeleto sp Dave Brandt, Alan Savory, Joel Salatin---I even went to Va. and toured PolyFace Farms--- and every you tube video I could find for years I decided it is time to go big or go home!
I have been managing my food plots --130 acres+--- no till multi specie year round plantings, no fertilizer , minimal herbicides, no fungicides, gmo's,pesticides etc for nearly a decade. While I'm impressed with the progress made I'm not satisfied that I have achieved what is possible. Also I want to drastically increase the diversity on my farm. I have taken the deer herd about as far as I can and am now in a maintenance mode doing the same things over and over with immaterial habitat change. Recently I watched the youtube video---The Biggest Little Farm--and decide it was time to step up my game.
So I toured my farm with Dr. Williams Monday with in depth discussion on soil health and its correlation to nutritional density for all living things including humans. His knowledge of soil health, regenerative ag, animal impact and value and science was overwhelming. He discussed in depth the science behind why including animal grazing was mandatory to achieve optimum soil improvement and regeneration. Particularly exciting beyond just the plot acreage was his ideas on vastly impacting woodlands with the outcome being we will touch every square foot of the farm.
So a master business plan is being developed with incremental steps to achieve an ultimate vision. His team will help with all steps understanding there needs to be an ROI as each incremental step is executed.I'll shoot videos of the process posting on my property thread and document the whole thing. Consider me excited. I love a project.
I have been managing my food plots --130 acres+--- no till multi specie year round plantings, no fertilizer , minimal herbicides, no fungicides, gmo's,pesticides etc for nearly a decade. While I'm impressed with the progress made I'm not satisfied that I have achieved what is possible. Also I want to drastically increase the diversity on my farm. I have taken the deer herd about as far as I can and am now in a maintenance mode doing the same things over and over with immaterial habitat change. Recently I watched the youtube video---The Biggest Little Farm--and decide it was time to step up my game.
So I toured my farm with Dr. Williams Monday with in depth discussion on soil health and its correlation to nutritional density for all living things including humans. His knowledge of soil health, regenerative ag, animal impact and value and science was overwhelming. He discussed in depth the science behind why including animal grazing was mandatory to achieve optimum soil improvement and regeneration. Particularly exciting beyond just the plot acreage was his ideas on vastly impacting woodlands with the outcome being we will touch every square foot of the farm.
So a master business plan is being developed with incremental steps to achieve an ultimate vision. His team will help with all steps understanding there needs to be an ROI as each incremental step is executed.I'll shoot videos of the process posting on my property thread and document the whole thing. Consider me excited. I love a project.
I'm aiming for as little soil disturbance as possible on my plots. I have a drill as a ten year goal if I still feel that I need one then. I'd also like to build a house on my land some time in the next ten years so I may never own a drill. Part of the fun is going to be seeing what I can get to grow with a broadcast and crimp method. I'm also thinking that I'm going to have to build a scaffold for the front rack of my atv to mount a motorized seed spreader on top of so I can get over the plants. If I feel that I need my covers grazed at any time, I have a dairy farmer within half a mile that may like some free food for a few cows. Half mile the other way is a farmer with beef cows that may also like free feed and as Dwayne Beck likes to point out, "Cows have legs." You may have to watch some of his seminars to find the humor in that.
westonwhitetail
5 year old buck +
I've read quite a bit about this this year including Gabe Brown, Joe Salatan, Wendell Berry, Charles Massy. Also been watching a ton of you tube of Greg Judy, David Brandt and others.
I've been trying to figure out how to apply regenerative ag to food plots/habitat management. The key principles of regen ag include no chemicals, little to no fertilizers, and grazing with ruminant animals (cows, sheep, buffalo). I think food plots can achieve the first two but would miss the last major factor in regenerative agriculture (grazing). Grazing the land is important because it stimulates continued growth which puts more carbon back in the soil via the plant and there is also a ton of organic fertilizer being spread for free out of the back end of a cow/sheep/buffalo.
I doubt anyone would have enough deer to have the same grazing impact as a herd of cattle with managed grazing, but wouldn't that be nice.
I'd be interested in how you set up your farm for grazing with habitat management in mind and how it impacts your land and hunting. I hope to do the same someday. Good luck with it.
That sounds exciting! I was going to watch that youtube video before commenting but at over 2 hours I decided not to wait (Edit: I was looking at a podcast. The movie appears to be an hour and a half). I'm fairly new to this site and don't know how to find your property thread. Will you please post a link to it to help me out?
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I've seen a few videos where they talk about their OM numbers and one of them stated that they added over half a percent in one year. If that could be done consistently you'd be there in less than 10 years. It may even be the video that I referenced a few posts back.
I thought I could accomplish what I wanted without grazing stock. After a decade of using the first 2 principles you point to without grazing stock i am seeing the limitations of the approach.
What we have discussed for my property is rotating the cattle thru the woods for most of the year which has the tremendous benefit of keeping succession in the 'savanah ' stage or early succession then grazing my food plots twice a year when I would normally crimp and terminate anyway. So instead of crimping I would intensively for a short duration mob cows/sheep thru a field then move them on to replant. We will be getting very deep into releasing the native seed bank as well as what to plant in future discussions. Also he has me doing some different type soil tests which I will share later.
Its grazing the woodlands primarily with short durations in the fields that help make all this work for me.
SD51555
5 year old buck +
I started going that direction for the sole purpose of getting rid of chores, costs, equipment, and escalating tensions with the plant community. If you start at the end and work backwards, you'll find we're dealing with an animal that eats nearly everything in the woods. The finer points are being able to get them to eat in the right place at the right time.
SD51555
5 year old buck +
I'm not convinced grazers are needed, grazers in this case being those we can see like cows, pigs, goats, or chickens. Every organism on earth has another organism ready to eat it whether alive or dead. Whether there is a single 1,000 pound grazer on the land, or 100,000 grazers that weigh .01 lbs (don't check my math) I think your impact would be the same. A powerful example of that would be maggots. A wolf may eat a big raccoon in a week. 10,000 maggots may also do it in nearly the same time.
Or how many hundreds or thousands of pounds of bugs and worms inhabit an acre of land? How much bug manure is produced in season where those bugs are born, eaten, and recycled into more bugs. How fast does that ecosystem turn over? That last book I read said an acre of worms will produce 30,000 lbs of castings in one season.
That's just stuff I think about.
Telemark
5 year old buck +
The regen guys I follow often buy compost if they can't make enough. And even some of the No-Dig guys do till and plow when and where they have to in order to get things moving in the right direction.
yoderjac
5 year old buck +
You might want to define "Regenerative Agriculture" for us. It sounds like a relabeling of what many of us have been doing for years. Some of my soils are still recovering from damage I did with a 2-bottom plow when I started. I'm working with marginal soils. I'm on a pine farm and it would not be a pine farm if the soils were not marginal. I then to think of my management in broader terms than agriculture. I see that as part of the puzzle that can apply to food plots. Timber and natives management is another aspect and permaculture still another.
My goal is to increase the BCC in such a way, that if and when I stop, it reverts slowly enough for deer herds (and other wildlife) are able to adapt slowly enough that there is not a population crash.
The agriculture part slowly seems to be working. I have not used fertilizer for quite a few years now and the crops I plant seem to be slowly improving as the microbiology in my soil rebounds. Beyond the planting techniques themselves, the selection of crops and crop mixes along with weed tolerance goes a long way.
I find bending nature slightly yields a lot of benefit and costs little. The further I try to bend it, the faster the costs increase and benefits decrease.
Thanks,
Jack
Telemark
5 year old buck +
Wow you're going all-in. Looking forward to the videos.
