Soil Health Featured in the Southwest
Introduction to the Soil Health “How To” video series.
How to Soil Health
How to Progressively Increase Diversity
Here, Brendon walks us through his journey of adding diversity to his cropping system over the last decade. He began with the insertion of diversified cover crops into his crop rotation, advanced to growing in-row cover crops with his potatoes.
How to Cut Inputs and Increase Quality
Brendon discusses how he’s maintained yields and increased quality while reducing the input costs of his potato crop. He did it by substituting compost for synthetic fertilizer, in combination with diverse full season cover crops.
How to Use a Probiotic Approach to Farming
Brendon explains what he means by using the “probiotic approach” to farming. Their operation nurtures life, in contrast to agriculture that kills pests and beneficial insects. Find out how this approach has worked for the Rockey Farm.
How to Manage Aphids without Pesticides
Brendon doesn’t use insecticides, but that doesn’t mean that he is not controlling his aphid population. Brendon prefers to use plant diversity, like cover crops and companion crops, and insects to do the control for him.
How to Integrate Livestock without Owning Cattle
Rockey Farms is in the potato business, not the livestock business, but Brandon was able to work with ranchers and use their cattle on his land in a way that served everyone’s needs and met their goals.
How to Promote Soil Health in Harsh Conditions
The low rainfall and high altitude in Center, Colorado, where Rockey Farms is located, create dry conditions and short growing seasons. See how the Rockeys overcame these obstacles and are still able to plant cover crops.
How to Increase Carbon Cycling
“Plants need carbon, just like we do, but the form is different.” Brendon Rockey spends much of his life explaining the vital role of carbon in the life of soils and plants, in a way any farmer can understand.
How to Eliminate Weeds with Native Perennials
Brian discusses how the San Simon Farm was able to eliminate their bindweed problem. He says that the establishment of native perennials on the orchard floor has outcompeted the bindweed without the need for herbicides.
How to Manage Extreme Wind and Increase Beneficial Insects
Spring winds in Cochise County, location of the Green Valley Pecan Company, are forceful and can cause severe wind erosion. Wind erosion can not only cause soil to leave the land, but also cause damage to the pecan trees.
How to Increase Infiltration, Reduce Costs & Increase Quality
Good soil moisture drives pecan crop yield and quality. Brian discusses how the use of native vegetation has increased infiltration rates and reduced the unit cost of production on his pecan operation.
How to Embrace a Mentality Change
To embrace the principles of soil health, a mentality change needs to take place, sometimes, through the painful process of unlearning old habits. Brian talks about why it's so important when embarking on the process of implementing true change.
How to Put Your Personal Journey into Soil Health
A brief conversation with Hervé Lescombes about early failures of the vineyard and how utilizing an underground irrigation system in combination with soil health practices led to a thriving production system in New Mexico's desert.
How to Introduce No Till into a Sugar Beet and Potato Operation
Much of what Brian & Luke knew about farming & soil health was based on non-irrigated, Midwestern corn-soybean applications. They had to figure out how to take the principles they learned & apply them in a vastly different, high desert operation
How to Start a No till Journey
Luke and Brian discuss their respective journeys in beginning no-till. Luke began with using cover crops and then sheep to manage the residue, while Brian went directly to no-till with support from an industry partner.
How to Incorporate Covers While Preserving Moisture
David Mabey, NRCS District Conservationist for Minidoka County, and Brian discuss using cover crops and conserving water. A common attitude in irrigated land like this is that planting cover crops will use more water.
How to Use Covers for Nematode Suppression
Luke discusses his experience with nematode suppression and nematode neutral crops. He uses commercially available mixes of oilseed radish, mustards, and other Brassicaceae to actively suppress the nematode populations on his operation.
How to Feed Livestock and Build Soil
Luke & Brian discuss how they incorporate livestock into their system. They own no livestock, but rely on neighbors to provide livestock―mainly sheep. The result is a mutually beneficial relationship between farmer and livestock producer.
How to Manage Risk and Social Pressure
Luke and Brian discuss managing social pressure when implementing soil health practices in an area unfamiliar with these ideas. Trucks still slow down to see newly planted no-till, but Brian has developed a thick skin.
How to See What's Possible with Soil Health
Rob Geisbrecht is a small grain farmer from Aberdeen, Idaho, who uses a 10-acre field as his test plot. It has not been tilled in 10 years and, after terminating alfalfa in the field a few years ago, he has experimented with cover crops.
How to Overcome Social Pressure
Rob doesn’t encounter direct social pressure from neighbors, but they can see his failures. Neighbors cannot always see his successes like having 78 earthworms per cubic foot or that he raises 150 bushels of wheat on 10 inches of water.
How to Move Away from a Full Tillage Summer Fallow Small Grain System
Dan Lakey, Brett Torgensen, and Cameron Williams are all small grain farmers who have replaced more conventional practices with those of a soil health management system.
How to Add Diversity to Your System Despite Limited Markets
Soda Springs, Idaho, is a tough place for crop diversity. Traditionally, the rotation is small grain and summer/chem fallow. Dan talked to us about the challenge of building diversity on his farm. While finding a market for new cash crops.
How to Innovate with Intercropping
Brett and Dan discuss intercropping, including flax and chickpeas, flax and peas, and malt barely and peas. Hear their insights and experiences in intercropping, some practical tips, and why they were happy with the results.
How to take a Dirt Vacation!
One of the things that we often allude to but are not explicit about when we discuss soil health is quality of life. Brandon Allen, a farmer in Lewiston, in Utah’s Cache Valley, stopped tilling several years ago.
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