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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Many of you have heard me tell the story how, in 1997, while attending a conference, I heard rancher Don Campbell say, “If you want to make small changes, change the way you do things; but if you want to make major changes, change the way you SEE things.” That simple, yet profound, statement changed […]
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Editor’s note: Understanding Ag’s Gabe Brown recently received the following email from a college student who posed some intriguing questions about why he shunned farm subsidies. Following is Megan’s note and Gabe’s reply, along with a couple of additional points he added specifically for this post. Gabe, you mentioned briefly in the documentary (Kiss the […]
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We introduced brush management tactics in part one of this series and now we will explore your best options for effective brush management and control. The first thing we must consider is why brushy and woody species dominate to begin with. Brush encroachment almost always happens because of several factors: • We have created patches […]
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During the past 100 years, we have been taught to eradicate plants that we perceive as a threat to what we term “desirable species.” It is true there are invasive plants that were introduced from some other place in the world-species that can overwhelm plants that we believe we want in our ecosystem. These plant […]
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Without Education, the Promise of Climate-Smart Farm Practices Will Wilt on the Vine By Allen Williams, Ph.D. The digital screen displayed 162 F. I pointed my infrared thermometer and squeezed the trigger again. No change. The readout showed 162 F, which just happens to be the safe food preparation temperature for ground beef and sausage. […]
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When I was growing up, my mother had a lot of “sayings.” One was, “You would be presented with a lesson until you learned it.” At that point, she’d give me another lesson. When I was considering subjects for this article, I realized with a sense of weariness, that this particular saying was especially relevant […]
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Part of my role as a partner in Understanding Ag is to keeping up to date on the trends in agriculture, staying abreast of what is “new” in agriculture-and what the industry and investors are focused on. I spend a lot of my time talking to the boards of directors of food and agriculture companies, […]
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I concluded my last post by asking if we can overdo our nurturing management (“all things in moderation”), so that it then becomes an overwhelming disturbance which outpaces the current capability of the soil to tolerate the impact? And instead of enhancing the soil biology, it then becomes deadly to it? That’s the very thing […]
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As farmers and ranchers, we tend to be a bit stubborn and set in our ways. This leads us to operating our farms and ranches in basically the same way year after year. We use the same crop rotation, we graze the same pasture at the same time each year, and so on. I used […]
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One of the true joys of getting to work with so many farmers and ranchers as they move down the regenerative path is watching as they learn how to work in synchrony with nature. It’s especially gratifying when they send along letters that describe their regenerative experiences, like the one I recently received from Daniel […]
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Understanding Ag works with a significant number of gardening operations around the U.S. and has developed several helpful tips for regenerative gardening that you and your garden can benefit from, too. I hope you’ll consider incorporating many of these regenerative principles and practices in your garden this year. When you do so on a planned, […]
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As a regenerative farmer and consultant, I see the enormous potential of restoring the health of our living and life-giving soil. However, I also see the potential for regenerative agriculture to become a broad and misleading brush by which some companies can disingenuously greenwash their sustainability efforts, confuse consumers and devalue the currency of legitimate […]
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