The headline in The Washington Post article, published August 25, 2024, proclaimed “Scientists may have found a radical solution for making your hamburger less bad for the planet.” The article, written by Shannon Osaka and Emily Wright, examined research currently being conducted at the University of California-Davis using gene editing techniques on rumen microbes to […]
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In part one, I outlined some of the societal challenges linked to soil erosion and poor soil function. Now let’s take a look at some of the economic costs and benefits of addressing erosion on farms and ranches. To determine the cost of erosion, first we must assign a value to soil. In truth, topsoil […]
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Soil erosion has been one of the most persistent challenges humanity has faced since the advent of agriculture over 10,000 years ago. Loss of productive capacity of the supporting land base contributed to the collapse of numerous civilizations during that time. Poor grazing practices and tillage were the main causes of land degradation historically and […]
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Life is short so embrace change.” That’s the “distilled” philosophy Rodrigo Mestas brings to his tequila business, his regenerative agriculture management style and his outlook on life. In the acres he’s transitioned to regenerative agriculture, Mestas allows naturally occurring cover crops to emerge between the rows of the agave, and then grazes livestock- including […]
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I pulled this image up on GoogleEarth yesterday. The photo below shows an area 12.5 miles wide, by 6.5 miles vertically, much of it in Rock Dell Township, Minnesota where our farm is. Hayfield is in the upper left-hand corner. The green area in the middle is along Hwy 30, and at the top is […]
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In Part Four, I discussed the importance of keeping living roots in the soil and avoiding overapplication of nutrients at the wrong time. In this final post I will examine nitrogen sourcing options and how plants acquire nutrients in a healthy soil. To understand what the ‘right source’ of nitrogen is, we first need to […]
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God designed the world to function as a perpetual motion machine. If done right, it should always be building fertility, not extracting it. But you have to understand the principles of soil health, and the four ecosystem processes, in order to achieve that outcome. While many individuals are content with simply “growing a cover crop” […]
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In Part Three, I reviewed the concept of using marginal nitrogen use efficiency and zero N check strips as tools to evaluate application rates. Now I will shift the focus to problems with overapplication, how to determine the right timing for application, and the consequences of not doing so. The fastest way to diminish the […]
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In business, it all comes down to profit. In farming, profit comes down to things we can’t control like the weather and the markets, and the things we can control like our management decisions. One of those key management decisions is determining how much nitrogen to apply to our crops. In part two of this […]
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In part one of this series, I briefly discussed the importance of education for understanding how soil function and ecosystem processes play a critical role for water quality. Now let’s turn our attention to determining the “right rate” for nitrogen. Nutrient management plans focus heavily on nitrogen because it is critical for plant growth and […]
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Poor water quality has been a persistent challenge in agriculture, particularly due to sediment and nutrient loss from farmland. It is considered a “wicked problem” with conflicting social, political, economic, and environmental aspects that prevent solutions. In this blog series I will challenge the notion that degraded water is something we all have to live […]
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Most of us have heard the old sayings regarding weather and farming including, “Don’t plant until the barn swallows return,” and “Wait until the oak leaves are as big as a squirrel’s ear.” These, and many other sayings, were tied to observations and farming in sync with what Mother Nature was telling us in terms […]
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Is Compost Application an Effective Soil Health Practice? By Chuck Schembre, Understanding Ag Soil organic matter has been one of the fundamental benchmarks and metrics to building healthy, functioning, and resilient soils. Compost is often recommended as an effective amendment to increase soil organic matter (SOM) while providing organic nutrients and added fertility. It has […]
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It’s been said that bringing facts to a cultural argument is akin to bringing water balloons to a gun fight. Still, data-based facts are stubborn things, and failure to heed those facts can be costly in life and in business. For food and grocery industry companies, knowing what customers value (and what they’ll pay a […]
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Increasing Diversity in Market Gardens with Winter Cover Crops By Chuck Schembre, Understanding Ag, LLC Cover crops are one of the best tools for achieving many of the soil health principles – keeping the soil armored, reducing disturbance, increasing diversity, and maintaining a living root throughout the year. Cover crops are essential for increasing diversity, […]
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In the two previous articles we have discussed what Derek has done on his farm to implement regenerative grazing and how he made that transition. In this article, we would like to take things a step further and describe some of the changes in livestock that he’s seen on his transformative regenerative journey. Healthy soil, […]
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Adaptive grazing is a system of grazing that allows the grazer to continually adapt and flex to the real-life conditions that we face on an ongoing basis. It is not a prescriptive or formulaic approach. In applying adaptive grazing rules and practices across a wide variety of livestock enterprises and environments, we have found it […]
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There are some poignant quotes or sayings that just stick with you as you pass through life. Some even convince you to make changes in your life. Here are few that gave me an “Ah-ha” moment and prompted change in myself: “If you will live like no one else, later you can live like no […]
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‘Growing Soil’ Through Adaptive Grazing Part one: Healing Fernando Falomir, Understanding Ag, LLC It is incredible to see how much soil one can regenerate just by changing management practices. The fence in the photo above was set in place in 2008. Since the utilization of adaptive grazing, we have increased ground cover and reduced surface […]
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It is hard to believe, but we are squarely into 2023 now, and the active grazing season will be here before we know it. I am still trying to figure out where 2022 went. It seems like the year just flew by (I guess getting older has a lot to do with that). Each year, […]
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I can still recall all of the hours spent in my grandparents’ garden like it was yesterday. It was a sacred place to them, but it was just a place to burn off energy and get dirty for me. It never really seemed like work because they made gardening rewarding, educational, and challenging. Both of […]
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Our path to regenerative dairy management was not a straight line, though that would have made our lives much easier. We are grateful for what this experience has taught us along the way. I am a firm believer that the regenerative path is a journey, and that there is no “regenerative destination.” We will never […]
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At Understanding Ag, we have looked at tens of thousands of soil test results that combine the Haney, PLFA, and TND (Total Nutrient Digestion) tests. The Haney Test is similar to a traditional soil test that also supplies us with a 30,000-foot view of soil health by testing for soil microbial respiration, organic carbon fraction […]
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At Understanding Ag, the core of our teaching is centered on what we term the 6-3-4TM. This systemic regenerative approach contains the basic principles and rules that facilitate successful application and implementation of regenerative agriculture. Understanding Ag developed this system over the past several years and we have used it quite successfully in every corner of […]
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