Amen Grant! During my trip out to Bladen, Nebraska last month from Pennsylvania it was very depressing to see 95 percent of the farm land I saw on my trip in bare soil, the erosion after the severe storms last month, and just how dead the soil was. As I drove past bio diesel and ethanol plants I couldn't help but wonder, is the damage from the way we are farming the crops to produce that fuel far greater than it's benifits? There is alot of work to be done to educate farmers and consumers on the benifits of soil health and its impact on the planet and our health. Thanks for continuing to spread this message.
Great message. I realize my ecosystem probably isn’t as degraded and overrun with invasives as many of the southern farms I see on all of the wildlife habitat channels, but I can’t help but be disturbed by the amount of herbicides used. Is using glyphosate and other chemicals on a food producing property (including hunted game) really necessary?
Well said, especially about Aldo! I’ve read the book multiple times, and we as landowners are OBLIGATED to be stewards of the land! This (regenerative ag) is one way of many.
a lot of it is going to be compaction and settling of the soil because of the tilling/plowing and the soil being disked. Not they didn't loose soil but they didn't loose 3ft of soil. Studies have shown that average loss is well less than 1/10th of an inch per year. Iowa has loss just over 1/2 a foot in the last 175 years. Again, not saying they haven't loss soil but they aren't loosing 3ft. Go to another wood edge or another fence line. If the whole field is 3ft under everything around it, it would add more evidence but still not telling the whole picture. Also, take it how ever you want, but I would love to see everything back to native prairie and just took about 20 acres of tillable out of production on one of my properties to re-establish native prairie/habitat. It will be an alfalfa for 3-4 years then turned back into natives.
Thanks for sharing but there are many studies showing feet of soil loss in Iowa and other states. The Iowa rest stop on I-80 just east of Nebraska has a great display showing many feet fo soil loss in that area during the past 100 years. It's interesting, but extremely sad.
Most folks find change very difficult. However, the stats are clear that if government subsidies are removed, most farmers would go broke. Taking care of the soil should be job one for farmers and wildlife folks.
Yes because we are tired of listing to this man try to tell everyone how to farm when he has no idea how to efficiently run any type of working farm besides a “deer farm.” No tilling and raising cover crops and not using glyphosate is all fine and great, while yes it does work for some farmers with certain soil types or certain farming methods, it isn’t going to necessarily work for everyone. Quit being so one-sided and open your mind up to other ideas besides attacking farmers that use methods that are different to your deer farm.
@@spargofarms9991 You made a very lengthy ad hominem attack, but didn't refute his claim that most farmers would not be in business without direct payments from the government.
@@Winterascent what kind of “direct payments” are you referring to that farmers are receiving. While yes there are certain programs that farmers can take advantage of it isn’t always the case. What makes you people qualified to get on here and make farmers the bad guys and misinform and miseducate people that don’t know any better. I have been watching @GrowingDeerTV for several years now and it has just gotten worse and worse. I’m not saying he isn’t a smart man and doesn’t have a good plan of action for something that works in the ozark hills. But what he does isn’t economically feasible for large scale row crop farmers. Farmers are Stewart’s of the land weather you can see it or not. And just because we use different methods from you guys isn’t a bad thing.
Beautiful, Grant! Absolutely spot-on! Love the shout-out to Aldo Leopold. I think of how much your message has, and continues, to influence what we do on our farm/property. Thank you!!!
Merit resides on both sides of this issue.Soil health is science based, not just opinions. I’m sympathetic to both, I’m a producer as well. Regenerative farming works; however, it’s not generic-per your comment, and it stills needs refinement. Remember, was it 4 people who died in an Illinois dust storm last spring?
You guys ever hear of planting very light amounts of corn, buckwheat and oats with your soybeans????? Guy around me who plants fields for a business says he mixes 5lbs of each to 50 lbs of soybeans. Drills that mix to 1 acre
While I appreciate the idea those deer are going to have a definite preference to feed in those beans vs that grown up fence row. I enjoy the idea of conservation and regenerative techniques, but it's growing deer not growing soil.
you should do a special on how to repair and go back to old way - plowing a bit may still be a good idea but adding in compost and organic inputs to actively build things back up
Shane - there were annuals in the fence row. There was no sign of earthworms, etc. The roots of the plants in the ag area were bare. The roots of plants in the fence row showed signs of great microbe populations. There was no sign of erosion in the fence row and a bunch of erosion in the fields. There was no comparison between the quality of soil in the ag field and the fence row.
Thats fill material from clearing. If you want to calculate soil loss just run a RUSLE2. You would be surprised how little soil you lose even with conventional tillage if you use the proper crop rotation. It tends to still meet T in all accords unless you run continuous beans with no cover or tobacco.
