Alex Udermann is a fifth-generation farmer from Minnesota who operates a dairy farm alongside his brother, parents, and wife. He began his career farming full-time immediately after high school and currently manages a diverse operation that includes milk cows, steers, and row crops. Facing significant financial struggles and equity erosion in 2016, Alex transitioned the farm toward regenerative practices to ensure the operation’s future survival and profitability.
Today, the farm is 100% no-till and incorporates cover crops, nutrient management plans, and large-scale composting. Alex uses advanced technology like drones for interseeding and foliar feeding to mimic natural processes he cannot achieve through traditional grazing. Driven by a passion to help others avoid the costly mistakes he encountered, he serves as a mentor for the Minnesota Soil Health Coalition, where he shares his experiences with other producers through field days and educational panels.
In this episode, John and Alex discuss:
The financial challenges and equity erosion that forced the farm to change its management style
Alex’s experiences dealing with unsupportive banks and traditional agronomy managers during his transition
How the farm successfully moved to no-till soybeans using a small investment in existing equipment
The dramatic reduction in veterinary expenses and improvements in livestock health following soil health changes
Observing massive improvements in water infiltration compared to neighboring conventional fields after heavy rains
The use of drones and compost extracts to increase fungal levels and biological diversity in the soil
Additional Resources
To learn more about Alex and his farm, please visit: https://www.facebook.com/al.and.krissy/
To learn more about the work of the Minnesota Soil Health Coalition, please visit: https://www.mnsoilhealth.org/
About John Kempf
John Kempf is the founder of Advancing Eco Agriculture (AEA). A top expert in biological and regenerative farming, John founded AEA in 2006 to help fellow farmers by providing the education, tools, and strategies that will have a global effect on the food supply and those who grow it.
Through intense study and the knowledge gleaned from many industry leaders, John is building a comprehensive systems-based approach to plant nutrition – a system solidly based on the sciences of plant physiology, mineral nutrition, and soil microbiology.
Support For This Show & Helping You Grow
Since 2006, AEA has been on a mission to help growers become more resilient, efficient, and profitable with regenerative agriculture.
AEA works directly with growers to apply its unique line of liquid mineral crop nutrition products and biological inoculants. Informed by cutting-edge plant and soil data-gathering techniques, AEA’s science-based programs empower farm operations to meet the crop quality markers that matter the most.
AEA has created real and lasting change on millions of acres with its products and data-driven services by working hand-in-hand with growers to produce healthier soil, stronger crops, and higher profits.
Beyond working on the ground with growers, AEA leads in regenerative agriculture media and education, producing and distributing the popular and highly-regarded Regenerative Agriculture Podcast, inspiring webinars, and other educational content that serve as go-to resources for growers worldwide.
Learn more about AEA’s regenerative programs and products: https://www.advancingecoag.com
Podcast Transcript
0:00 – 0:01
Speaker 1: Hi friends, this is John.
0:02 – 0:03
Speaker 1: Welcome back to the Regenerative
0:03 – 0:04
Speaker 1: Agriculture podcast, where we
0:04 – 0:05
Speaker 1: have all kinds of fun
0:05 – 0:06
Speaker 1: conversations related to
0:06 – 0:08
Speaker 1: regenerating our soils,
0:08 – 0:09
Speaker 1: regenerating our public health,
0:10 – 0:11
Speaker 1: livestock health,
0:11 – 0:12
Speaker 1: and regenerating farm
0:12 – 0:13
Speaker 1: profitability.
0:13 – 0:14
Speaker 1: There's lots of room for
0:14 – 0:15
Speaker 1: improvement in all of those
0:15 – 0:16
Speaker 1: areas.
0:16 – 0:18
Speaker 1: The profitability piece is often
0:18 – 0:19
Speaker 1: the pain point that's catching
0:19 – 0:20
Speaker 1: most attention nowadays, but
0:20 – 0:21
Speaker 1: it's just an expression of
0:21 – 0:23
Speaker 1: everything that comes before
0:23 – 0:23
Speaker 1: that.
0:24 – 0:25
Speaker 1: I'm honored to be here today
0:25 – 0:26
Speaker 1: with Alex Uterman.
0:26 – 0:27
Speaker 1: You can share your
0:28 – 0:29
Speaker 1: story and background much better
0:29 – 0:31
Speaker 1: than I can. But, you know, one
0:31 – 0:32
Speaker 1: of the things that is
0:32 – 0:33
Speaker 1: intriguing,
0:33 – 0:35
Speaker 1: there are many growers who are
0:35 – 0:37
Speaker 1: on this pathway of regeneration
0:37 – 0:40
Speaker 1: who are who are building on
0:40 – 0:42
Speaker 1: 20 or 30 or 40 years of
0:42 – 0:43
Speaker 1: experience.
0:43 – 0:45
Speaker 1: And you are starting off from a
0:45 – 0:46
Speaker 1: much younger, fresher
0:46 – 0:48
Speaker 1: perspective. So I'd love for you
0:48 – 0:50
Speaker 1: to tell us about your farm's
0:50 – 0:51
Speaker 1: history, the context,
0:51 – 0:52
Speaker 1: the scope of the things that
0:52 – 0:53
Speaker 1: you're working on today and
0:53 – 0:54
Speaker 1: where you started from.
0:54 – 0:56
Speaker 1: Yeah. So a little story about
0:56 – 0:57
Speaker 1: our farm is I'm fifth
0:57 – 0:58
Speaker 1: generation.
0:59 – 1:00
Speaker 1: I farmed full time,
1:00 – 1:02
Speaker 1: graduated high school, started
1:02 – 1:03
Speaker 1: farming after high school,
1:03 – 1:04
Speaker 1: skipped out on college,
1:05 – 1:06
Speaker 1: just knew at a very young age
1:06 – 1:07
Speaker 1: that farming was something I
1:07 – 1:09
Speaker 1: really wanted to do and kind
1:09 – 1:10
Speaker 1: of just dove into farming
1:10 – 1:12
Speaker 1: headfirst. And like I said, I
1:12 – 1:13
Speaker 1: grew up farming my whole life
1:13 – 1:14
Speaker 1: here.
1:14 – 1:15
Speaker 1: Farmed with my brother,
1:15 – 1:17
Speaker 1: Jake, and my wife, Kirsten, and
1:17 – 1:18
Speaker 1: my parents, John and Mary Lou.
1:20 – 1:22
Speaker 1: We're in a dairy operation.
1:22 – 1:23
Speaker 1: We feed out our steers, row
1:23 – 1:24
Speaker 1: crop.
1:25 – 1:26
Speaker 1: We also do some custom work.
1:26 – 1:27
Speaker 1: We do custom interhauling,
1:27 – 1:28
Speaker 1: liquid and solid.
1:28 – 1:29
Speaker 1: And then we also
1:30 – 1:32
Speaker 1: Got into the custom no -till
1:32 – 1:34
Speaker 1: planting and cover crop seeding.
1:35 – 1:37
Speaker 1: We just added a drone to our
1:37 – 1:38
Speaker 1: farm. We're also a revolution
1:38 – 1:39
Speaker 1: drone dealer.
1:40 – 1:43
Speaker 1: And I've also became a mentor
1:43 – 1:44
Speaker 1: and a contractor to the
1:44 – 1:45
Speaker 1: Minnesota Soil Health Coalition.
1:46 – 1:47
Speaker 1: I guess I just have a strong
1:47 – 1:49
Speaker 1: passion, I guess, for
1:49 – 1:50
Speaker 1: regenerative farming or
1:50 – 1:51
Speaker 1: conservation or just helping
1:51 – 1:53
Speaker 1: heal the planet or doing the
1:53 – 1:54
Speaker 1: right thing farming.
1:55 – 1:56
Speaker 1: It sounds to me like you need a
1:56 – 1:57
Speaker 1: thing or two more to get done.
1:59 – 2:02
Speaker 1: I got kids. so that fills the
2:02 – 2:03
Speaker 1: rest of the bucket up.
2:05 – 2:07
Speaker 1: Yeah, we got four kids.
2:07 – 2:08
Speaker 1: My brother has two kids.
2:08 – 2:09
Speaker 1: So yeah, we, we have,
2:09 – 2:10
Speaker 1: we stay busy,
2:10 – 2:12
Speaker 1: fun activities, but
2:13 – 2:14
Speaker 1: I just, I don't have a deep
2:14 – 2:15
Speaker 1: passion for
2:15 – 2:16
Speaker 1: regenerative farming and it
2:16 – 2:18
Speaker 1: really saved our operation.
2:18 – 2:20
Speaker 1: I think that's where I have a
2:20 – 2:21
Speaker 1: huge passion for it.
2:22 – 2:23
Speaker 1: It's definitely made a mark on
2:23 – 2:24
Speaker 1: my soul, I think,
2:25 – 2:26
Speaker 1: and I'm not going back.
2:27 – 2:28
Speaker 1: When you say it saved your
2:28 – 2:30
Speaker 1: operation, what's the story
2:30 – 2:31
Speaker 1: behind that? How did that all
2:31 – 2:32
Speaker 1: come about?
2:33 – 2:35
Speaker 1: What was your operation like
2:35 – 2:36
Speaker 1: before you started the
2:36 – 2:37
Speaker 1: transition?
2:38 – 2:40
Speaker 1: I think the operation, well, we
2:40 – 2:41
Speaker 1: really didn't change acres or
2:41 – 2:42
Speaker 1: cattle numbers, everything,
2:42 – 2:44
Speaker 1: that part stayed the same, but
2:44 – 2:46
Speaker 1: the way we farm definitely has
2:46 – 2:47
Speaker 1: changed tremendously.
2:48 – 2:50
Speaker 1: We started this transition in
2:50 – 2:51
Speaker 1: 2016.
2:52 – 2:54
Speaker 1: So everything prior to 2016 in
2:54 – 2:56
Speaker 1: the past, we were full with
2:56 – 2:57
Speaker 1: tillage.
2:57 – 2:58
Speaker 1: I mean, we were
2:58 – 3:00
Speaker 1: stock chopping, chisel plowing,
3:00 – 3:02
Speaker 1: disking, field cultivating, deep
3:02 – 3:03
Speaker 1: ripping,
3:03 – 3:04
Speaker 1: you know, the whole shebang.
3:05 – 3:06
Speaker 1: We did it all.
3:07 – 3:09
Speaker 1: Dad was raised that way.
3:09 – 3:10
Speaker 1: Grandpa was raised that way.
3:10 – 3:12
Speaker 1: And that's kind of just the way
3:12 – 3:13
Speaker 1: we were taught.
3:13 – 3:15
Speaker 1: And, you know, we're breaded
3:15 – 3:16
Speaker 1: with this information from all
3:16 – 3:17
Speaker 1: these huge ag companies that you
3:17 – 3:18
Speaker 1: need to do X, Y, and Z.
3:19 – 3:20
Speaker 1: And till the field this way,
3:21 – 3:22
Speaker 1: haul that fertilizer out and
3:22 – 3:23
Speaker 1: spray this chemical and plant
3:23 – 3:24
Speaker 1: these traded seeds.
3:24 – 3:25
Speaker 1: That's the way farming was
3:25 – 3:26
Speaker 1: supposed to be.
3:26 – 3:27
Speaker 1: So,
3:27 – 3:28
Speaker 1: but
3:28 – 3:30
Speaker 1: What really started our journey
3:30 – 3:31
Speaker 1: was
3:31 – 3:34
Speaker 1: purely the economics of
3:34 – 3:35
Speaker 1: farming.
3:35 – 3:37
Speaker 1: They were not the best last 10
3:37 – 3:38
Speaker 1: years, I would say.
3:39 – 3:40
Speaker 1: And it really just put a
3:40 – 3:41
Speaker 1: financial struggle on our farm.
3:43 – 3:45
Speaker 1: But as I got older, more into
3:45 – 3:46
Speaker 1: this operation with more
3:46 – 3:47
Speaker 1: management,
3:48 – 3:49
Speaker 1: I can understand that the
3:49 – 3:50
Speaker 1: economics are just only a small
3:50 – 3:52
Speaker 1: piece of the puzzle here with
3:52 – 3:52
Speaker 1: regenerative farming.
3:53 – 3:54
Speaker 1: And there's
3:55 – 3:57
Speaker 1: many more benefits other than
3:57 – 3:59
Speaker 1: the economics, but we can dive
3:59 – 4:00
Speaker 1: deeper into that.
4:00 – 4:01
Speaker 1: But so
4:01 – 4:02
Speaker 1: it really started with the
4:02 – 4:03
Speaker 1: economics of it.
4:04 – 4:06
Speaker 1: You know, freshly graduated high
4:06 – 4:08
Speaker 1: school in 11, I was farming full
4:08 – 4:09
Speaker 1: time for a couple of years,
4:09 – 4:10
Speaker 1: everything was going good, we're
4:10 – 4:11
Speaker 1: buying equipment,
4:12 – 4:12
Speaker 1: staying progressive,
4:13 – 4:14
Speaker 1: and things were going the way
4:14 – 4:16
Speaker 1: they should be with decent
4:16 – 4:17
Speaker 1: commodity prices, and everything
4:17 – 4:18
Speaker 1: was just flowing that way.
4:18 – 4:20
Speaker 1: But when we hit some bad
4:20 – 4:21
Speaker 1: economic times and some
4:21 – 4:22
Speaker 1: droughts,
4:22 – 4:24
Speaker 1: things weren't cash flowing no
4:24 – 4:24
Speaker 1: more.
4:25 – 4:26
Speaker 1: And then when you talk about
4:26 – 4:28
Speaker 1: soil erosion or water erosion,
4:28 – 4:29
Speaker 1: we
4:29 – 4:30
Speaker 1: can see those pretty good.
4:30 – 4:32
Speaker 1: But I saw a different form of
4:32 – 4:33
Speaker 1: erosion on our farm.
4:34 – 4:36
Speaker 1: It's the equity erosion on the
4:36 – 4:36
Speaker 1: balance sheets.
4:37 – 4:39
Speaker 1: Yeah. So I was watching dad's
4:39 – 4:41
Speaker 1: and grandpa's equity just erode
4:41 – 4:43
Speaker 1: and erode. We're borrowing more
4:43 – 4:46
Speaker 1: capital to have new operating
4:46 – 4:47
Speaker 1: notes just to keep on getting
4:47 – 4:49
Speaker 1: by. And it was kind of just a
4:49 – 4:52
Speaker 1: down roll or a downwind
4:53 – 4:54
Speaker 1: snowball effect, race to the
4:54 – 4:55
Speaker 1: bottom of the barrel.
4:56 – 4:57
Speaker 1: I like that,
4:57 – 4:59
Speaker 1: that take on erosion, equity
4:59 – 5:00
Speaker 1: erosion. That's certainly been
5:00 – 5:02
Speaker 1: very true in many operations in
5:02 – 5:03
Speaker 1: the last decade.
5:04 – 5:05
Speaker 1: It has. And then when you can
5:05 – 5:06
Speaker 1: see that real time where you're
5:06 – 5:08
Speaker 1: just chiseling away at that
5:08 – 5:10
Speaker 1: positive equity you have, like
5:10 – 5:12
Speaker 1: there was going to be no future
5:12 – 5:13
Speaker 1: for me here to farm, you know, a
5:13 – 5:14
Speaker 1: couple of years into this
5:14 – 5:15
Speaker 1: operation.
5:15 – 5:16
Speaker 1: And I thought we have to do
5:16 – 5:18
Speaker 1: something or I won't be able to
5:18 – 5:20
Speaker 1: farm or my kids won't be able to
5:20 – 5:21
Speaker 1: farm. So I kind of,
5:21 – 5:22
Speaker 1: you know, got to put your big
5:22 – 5:23
Speaker 1: boy pants on here and let's
5:23 – 5:24
Speaker 1: figure some out.
5:24 – 5:25
Speaker 1: But,
5:25 – 5:26
Speaker 1: um,
5:28 – 5:29
Speaker 1: I mean, we can dive deep into
5:29 – 5:32
Speaker 1: this, but it was a combination
5:32 – 5:33
Speaker 1: of the cash flow was not
5:33 – 5:34
Speaker 1: existent no more.
5:35 – 5:36
Speaker 1: We ran in a few years of
5:36 – 5:38
Speaker 1: droughts. We were in D2,
5:38 – 5:40
Speaker 1: D3 droughts for two seasons in a
5:40 – 5:41
Speaker 1: row. We had low commodity
5:41 – 5:43
Speaker 1: prices, high inputs, high
5:43 – 5:43
Speaker 1: interest rates,
5:44 – 5:45
Speaker 1: making all these payments on
5:45 – 5:46
Speaker 1: this expensive equipment, the
5:46 – 5:48
Speaker 1: four -wheel drives, the tillage
5:48 – 5:48
Speaker 1: parts.
5:50 – 5:53
Speaker 1: You're burning probably $20 ,000
5:53 – 5:55
Speaker 1: of fuel every spring and fall
5:55 – 5:57
Speaker 1: doing tillage and $10 ,000 in
5:57 – 5:59
Speaker 1: parts on air filters and chisel
5:59 – 6:02
Speaker 1: points and hydraulic filters and
6:03 – 6:05
Speaker 1: that's not even mentioning the
6:05 – 6:06
Speaker 1: labor.
6:06 – 6:08
Speaker 1: You got two four -wheel drives
6:08 – 6:09
Speaker 1: going in the spring trying to do
6:09 – 6:10
Speaker 1: tillage and the planter come
6:10 – 6:12
Speaker 1: behind them and picking rocks
6:12 – 6:14
Speaker 1: for a week with two skid steers
6:14 – 6:15
Speaker 1: and three guys and
6:16 – 6:18
Speaker 1: It just was the point where, you
6:19 – 6:21
Speaker 1: know, this is enough, like we
6:21 – 6:22
Speaker 1: can't afford to keep doing
6:22 – 6:23
Speaker 1: these.
6:24 – 6:24
Speaker 1: So
6:26 – 6:27
Speaker 1: what did you, what did you
6:27 – 6:28
Speaker 1: consider changing first?
6:32 – 6:33
Speaker 1: Well, I think this is the really
6:33 – 6:35
Speaker 1: part of our story that I think
6:35 – 6:36
Speaker 1: is pretty
6:36 – 6:37
Speaker 1: unique
6:37 – 6:40
Speaker 1: is when we made the switch, we
6:40 – 6:41
Speaker 1: spent $0.
6:41 – 6:42
Speaker 1: The
6:42 – 6:44
Speaker 1: only thing we changed was the
6:44 – 6:44
Speaker 1: way we managed our farm.
6:45 – 6:46
Speaker 1: You must not have done it right.
6:48 – 6:49
Speaker 1: Are you supposed to spend money
6:49 – 6:50
Speaker 1: first?
6:52 – 6:55
Speaker 1: We didn't have any cash flow, so
6:55 – 6:56
Speaker 1: there was no option to go,
6:57 – 6:58
Speaker 1: you know, buy all this cool
6:58 – 6:59
Speaker 1: stuff that we have now.
6:59 – 7:00
Speaker 1: We had to work our way into
7:00 – 7:01
Speaker 1: this. But
7:02 – 7:03
Speaker 1: before I get there, I'd like to
7:03 – 7:06
Speaker 1: maybe discuss maybe some other
7:06 – 7:07
Speaker 1: things here quick too.
7:13 – 7:14
Speaker 1: Like
7:15 – 7:16
Speaker 1: I said, our cash flow got so
7:16 – 7:17
Speaker 1: tight.
7:17 – 7:18
Speaker 1: This is how
7:19 – 7:21
Speaker 1: micromanaged, we did our farm,
7:21 – 7:23
Speaker 1: like I said, we spent $0 on our
7:23 – 7:24
Speaker 1: transients all year.
7:24 – 7:25
Speaker 1: We just changed the way we farm.
7:27 – 7:28
Speaker 1: If you're familiar with milking
7:28 – 7:30
Speaker 1: cows, you can have a teat dip
7:30 – 7:31
Speaker 1: spray or a dip cup.
7:32 – 7:33
Speaker 1: And this
7:33 – 7:36
Speaker 1: is how tight things got for us
7:36 – 7:37
Speaker 1: where we micromanaged
7:37 – 7:38
Speaker 1: everything. We went from a spray
7:38 – 7:39
Speaker 1: cup to a dip cup.
7:40 – 7:42
Speaker 1: So we could save $75 a month on
7:42 – 7:44
Speaker 1: iodine milking our cows.
7:45 – 7:46
Speaker 1: But if you just do something
7:46 – 7:48
Speaker 1: like that, and you cut back on
7:48 – 7:49
Speaker 1: this or cut back on that pretty
7:49 – 7:50
Speaker 1: soon, you got, you know, a
7:50 – 7:52
Speaker 1: thousand or $3 ,000 a month
7:52 – 7:53
Speaker 1: savings, you can make your P &I
7:53 – 7:54
Speaker 1: payments of lip on by.
7:55 – 7:56
Speaker 1: So, so we were,
7:56 – 7:58
Speaker 1: we were there cashflow wise.
7:58 – 7:59
Speaker 1: And
8:01 – 8:03
Speaker 1: another part too, that I want to
8:03 – 8:05
Speaker 1: call out is the system that was
8:05 – 8:07
Speaker 1: designed for us that
8:07 – 8:09
Speaker 1: we did not set for ourselves.
8:10 – 8:12
Speaker 1: I found out when you call out.
8:13 – 8:15
Speaker 1: the bad corporate egg system,
8:16 – 8:17
Speaker 1: they definitely bark back at you
8:17 – 8:19
Speaker 1: when you call them out.
8:19 – 8:20
Speaker 1: An example is,
8:21 – 8:22
Speaker 1: I mean,
8:23 – 8:24
Speaker 1: our vendor, we were financially
8:24 – 8:26
Speaker 1: strapped, they were kind of
8:26 – 8:27
Speaker 1: telling us, they literally told
8:27 – 8:28
Speaker 1: us we got to pull our heads out
8:28 – 8:30
Speaker 1: of our ass, or we're gonna lose
8:30 – 8:31
Speaker 1: the farm. And I took that to
8:31 – 8:33
Speaker 1: heart. And I come up with this
8:33 – 8:33
Speaker 1: great plan where,
8:34 – 8:35
Speaker 1: you know, slashing these
8:35 – 8:36
Speaker 1: expenses and cutting all these
8:37 – 8:38
Speaker 1: expenses out,
8:38 – 8:40
Speaker 1: we're getting more milk, better
8:40 – 8:41
Speaker 1: feed, and it
8:42 – 8:44
Speaker 1: wasn't up to their standards
8:44 – 8:44
Speaker 1: yet. But
8:45 – 8:48
Speaker 1: And then I thought about maybe
8:48 – 8:49
Speaker 1: we should buy one robotic
8:49 – 8:50
Speaker 1: milker,
8:50 – 8:52
Speaker 1: because we've gained already 15
8:52 – 8:53
Speaker 1: pounds of milk per cow by
8:53 – 8:54
Speaker 1: switching some management
8:54 – 8:56
Speaker 1: practices in the field and some
8:56 – 8:58
Speaker 1: other herd management practices.
8:58 – 8:59
Speaker 1: So I wanted to buy a robot,
8:59 – 9:02
Speaker 1: just one, milk less cows and get
9:02 – 9:03
Speaker 1: the same amount of milk on less
9:03 – 9:05
Speaker 1: feed, less labor.
9:05 – 9:06
Speaker 1: And say we can go get
9:07 – 9:09
Speaker 1: farm jobs for the time being to
9:09 – 9:10
Speaker 1: get some more cash flow
9:10 – 9:11
Speaker 1: established.
9:11 – 9:12
Speaker 1: and it would have been maybe
9:12 – 9:14
Speaker 1: like a $200 ,000 investment,
9:14 – 9:17
Speaker 1: very minor. They would have cash
9:17 – 9:18
Speaker 1: flowed relatively quick.
9:19 – 9:21
Speaker 1: But this is where the bad system
9:21 – 9:21
Speaker 1: comes in play.
9:22 – 9:23
Speaker 1: The bank told me, no,
9:24 – 9:25
Speaker 1: we can't do that for you because
9:25 – 9:26
Speaker 1: it won't cash flow.
9:27 – 9:28
Speaker 1: But on the flip side,
9:28 – 9:29
Speaker 1: they said,
9:30 – 9:31
Speaker 1: but we
9:32 – 9:33
Speaker 1: can loan you guys $2 million to
9:33 – 9:35
Speaker 1: go build a brand new barn with
9:35 – 9:37
Speaker 1: four robots and 240 cows.
9:38 – 9:39
Speaker 1: And I just thought, you're
9:40 – 9:42
Speaker 1: not solving our problem, you're
9:42 – 9:43
Speaker 1: only creating a bigger monster,
9:43 – 9:44
Speaker 1: we can't service our debt.
9:45 – 9:45
Speaker 1: And it's just
9:46 – 9:48
Speaker 1: the system is
9:48 – 9:49
Speaker 1: not,
9:49 – 9:51
Speaker 1: I guess the system is corrupt, I
9:51 – 9:52
Speaker 1: guess they want you to continue
9:52 – 9:54
Speaker 1: in this trap. And when you start
9:54 – 9:55
Speaker 1: asking questions how to escape
9:55 – 9:56
Speaker 1: the trap,
9:57 – 9:59
Speaker 1: they kind of turn on you and
9:59 – 10:00
Speaker 1: shun you away and don't want
10:00 – 10:01
Speaker 1: your business no more.
10:01 – 10:02
Speaker 1: And that happened just now with
10:02 – 10:04
Speaker 1: the bank, it happened with our
10:04 – 10:05
Speaker 1: co op.
10:05 – 10:06
Speaker 1: I was about to ask you, what
10:06 – 10:08
Speaker 1: other examples do you have of
10:08 – 10:10
Speaker 1: that type of type of experience?
10:11 – 10:12
Speaker 1: I
10:13 – 10:14
Speaker 1: mean, I love my co -op.
10:15 – 10:16
Speaker 1: I do.
10:16 – 10:17
Speaker 1: They're really good to us.
10:17 – 10:18
Speaker 1: But we had an old
10:18 – 10:20
Speaker 1: agronomy manager that was very
10:20 – 10:21
Speaker 1: old school,
10:22 – 10:23
Speaker 1: which, you know, I don't blame
10:23 – 10:24
Speaker 1: him.
10:24 – 10:25
Speaker 1: And when I wanted to start doing
10:25 – 10:28
Speaker 1: these practices, it was no till,
10:28 – 10:29
Speaker 1: no crop. It's not going to work.
10:29 – 10:30
Speaker 1: And he gave you about a million
10:30 – 10:31
Speaker 1: excuses.
10:31 – 10:33
Speaker 1: So every time he gave me a bad
10:33 – 10:35
Speaker 1: excuse, I found one positive to
10:35 – 10:36
Speaker 1: kind of
10:37 – 10:38
Speaker 1: outcompete his bad thing.
10:38 – 10:39
Speaker 1: So I knew if I,
10:39 – 10:41
Speaker 1: if I listened to him, and I came
10:41 – 10:42
Speaker 1: up with a solution that would
10:42 – 10:44
Speaker 1: offset then I would be
10:44 – 10:45
Speaker 1: successful. But, you know, it
10:45 – 10:46
Speaker 1: was the point where we're doing
10:46 – 10:47
Speaker 1: no till soybeans,
10:48 – 10:49
Speaker 1: he was brought, we were
10:49 – 10:51
Speaker 1: broadcasting commercial P and K.
10:51 – 10:53
Speaker 1: And I just asked the question,
10:53 – 10:55
Speaker 1: if I'm broadcasting commercial P
10:55 – 10:56
Speaker 1: and K dry on top,
10:57 – 10:58
Speaker 1: why can't I do that same thing
10:58 – 10:59
Speaker 1: with my manure,
11:00 – 11:01
Speaker 1: my dry manure, or my solid
11:01 – 11:02
Speaker 1: manure?
11:03 – 11:04
Speaker 1: And that was, you know, you
11:04 – 11:05
Speaker 1: can't do that, you're gonna lose
11:05 – 11:06
Speaker 1: so many nutrients and you know,
11:06 – 11:08
Speaker 1: the whole gamut, but it's like,
11:08 – 11:09
Speaker 1: for the flip side, I'm
11:09 – 11:12
Speaker 1: running your dry P and K on top
11:12 – 11:12
Speaker 1: and that's okay.
11:12 – 11:13
Speaker 1: So we know soil point means, but
11:13 – 11:14
Speaker 1: I can't
11:15 – 11:17
Speaker 1: surface apply a few tons of vet
11:17 – 11:19
Speaker 1: pack and accomplish the same
11:19 – 11:20
Speaker 1: thing.
11:21 – 11:22
Speaker 1: So it pretty much got to the
11:22 – 11:25
Speaker 1: point where I told our
11:25 – 11:27
Speaker 1: old grounding manager said, it's
11:27 – 11:29
Speaker 1: our farm,
11:29 – 11:30
Speaker 1: it's our money,
11:30 – 11:31
Speaker 1: it's our decisions.
11:32 – 11:33
Speaker 1: We're going to do what we want.
11:33 – 11:34
Speaker 1: You guys work for us.
11:35 – 11:37
Speaker 1: And it didn't take very long.
11:37 – 11:38
Speaker 1: It was a couple of years later,
11:38 – 11:39
Speaker 1: he quit his job and we have a
11:39 – 11:42
Speaker 1: new younger, uh, a grounding
11:42 – 11:44
Speaker 1: manager that's more open to
11:44 – 11:45
Speaker 1: trying things and understands
11:45 – 11:47
Speaker 1: our vision on our farm and kind
11:47 – 11:48
Speaker 1: of works with us.
11:48 – 11:49
Speaker 1: And so
11:49 – 11:51
Speaker 1: I think times are changing.
11:51 – 11:52
Speaker 1: It just,
11:52 – 11:53
Speaker 1: there's a lot of, there's a lot
11:53 – 11:53
Speaker 1: of, uh,
11:54 – 11:55
Speaker 1: bucking the system back in the
11:55 – 11:56
Speaker 1: day. And
11:56 – 11:58
Speaker 1: how, how did you navigate that?
11:59 – 11:59
Speaker 1: What was the.
12:01 – 12:02
Speaker 1: There's this common dynamic that
12:02 – 12:04
Speaker 1: I observe where there is this
12:04 – 12:05
Speaker 1: tension between the younger
12:05 – 12:07
Speaker 1: generation, in this case, you
12:07 – 12:08
Speaker 1: and the older generation on a
12:08 – 12:09
Speaker 1: farm and the long term
12:09 – 12:10
Speaker 1: relationships they have held
12:10 – 12:13
Speaker 1: with, let's say, agronomy
12:13 – 12:14
Speaker 1: managers in this particular
12:14 – 12:15
Speaker 1: instance.
12:16 – 12:18
Speaker 1: How did you how
12:19 – 12:21
Speaker 1: did the the historical agronomy
12:21 – 12:23
Speaker 1: manager having this particular
12:23 – 12:24
Speaker 1: perspective or this antagonistic
12:24 – 12:26
Speaker 1: perspective, how did that affect
12:26 – 12:27
Speaker 1: your operation as a whole?
12:29 – 12:31
Speaker 1: Well, the old plant manager,
12:32 – 12:33
Speaker 1: Yeah. With how did that, how did
12:33 – 12:34
Speaker 1: that influence your family?
12:34 – 12:35
Speaker 1: How did that influence your
12:35 – 12:36
Speaker 1: decision -making ability?
12:36 – 12:37
Speaker 1: Did you, did you feel,
12:38 – 12:40
Speaker 1: um, limited in your ability to
12:40 – 12:41
Speaker 1: make decisions as a result of
12:41 – 12:42
Speaker 1: his presence?
12:45 – 12:45
Speaker 1: In the beginning?
12:45 – 12:47
Speaker 1: Yes, because we trusted his
12:47 – 12:48
Speaker 1: value and his decisions.
12:48 – 12:49
Speaker 1: So we kind of just, you know,
12:49 – 12:50
Speaker 1: dad was loyal to him.
12:50 – 12:51
Speaker 1: We were loyal to him when we
12:51 – 12:52
Speaker 1: first started farming too.
12:52 – 12:54
Speaker 1: So we trusted their input
12:54 – 12:55
Speaker 1: because that was his job.
12:55 – 12:56
Speaker 1: We were just,
12:56 – 12:57
Speaker 1: at that point we were just
12:57 – 12:59
Speaker 1: farmers. We're, you know,
12:59 – 12:59
Speaker 1: working the land,
13:00 – 13:01
Speaker 1: you know, doing X, Y, and Z.
13:01 – 13:04
Speaker 1: And we trusted off source people
13:04 – 13:05
Speaker 1: to make those,
13:05 – 13:06
Speaker 1: decisions for us.
13:06 – 13:09
Speaker 1: But once I started understanding
13:09 – 13:10
Speaker 1: how the system works, I started
13:10 – 13:12
Speaker 1: questioning more and more,
13:12 – 13:13
Speaker 1: kind of going against the
13:14 – 13:15
Speaker 1: authority, you would call it.
13:16 – 13:18
Speaker 1: And he really didn't like it.
13:19 – 13:20
Speaker 1: But then at the day, it's,
13:20 – 13:22
Speaker 1: it's a farmer owned co -op.
13:22 – 13:23
Speaker 1: And we just told them, we said,
13:23 – 13:24
Speaker 1: we're going to do it this way,
13:24 – 13:25
Speaker 1: whether you like it or not.
13:26 – 13:27
Speaker 1: And we got them on board right
13:27 – 13:29
Speaker 1: away. So there was no, you know,
13:29 – 13:30
Speaker 1: hidden secret. We're going to be
13:30 – 13:31
Speaker 1: start doing no -till soybeans,
13:32 – 13:33
Speaker 1: reduce tillage on corn acres.
13:33 – 13:34
Speaker 1: We have to maybe change our
13:34 – 13:35
Speaker 1: herbicide plant up.
13:35 – 13:36
Speaker 1: And
13:36 – 13:37
Speaker 1: we didn't
13:38 – 13:39
Speaker 1: leave in the shadows.
13:39 – 13:40
Speaker 1: That's one thing I would not
13:40 – 13:40
Speaker 1: recommend doing.
13:40 – 13:42
Speaker 1: Get your co -op on board as soon
13:42 – 13:43
Speaker 1: as you can. And you're going to
13:43 – 13:44
Speaker 1: probably have to educate them
13:44 – 13:45
Speaker 1: more to
13:46 – 13:47
Speaker 1: get them up to speed to match
13:47 – 13:48
Speaker 1: your
13:48 – 13:49
Speaker 1: goals on your farm.
13:50 – 13:51
Speaker 1: Let me, let me ask you about
13:51 – 13:53
Speaker 1: that. How did you benefit by
13:53 – 13:54
Speaker 1: educating them?
13:54 – 13:55
Speaker 1: What was the support or the
13:55 – 13:56
Speaker 1: response to that?
13:56 – 13:57
Speaker 1: How did that benefit you and
13:57 – 13:58
Speaker 1: reward you?
14:00 – 14:00
Speaker 1: Well,
14:00 – 14:02
Speaker 1: when that old plant manager
14:02 – 14:02
Speaker 1: quit,
14:03 – 14:05
Speaker 1: we had a newer one in there.
14:05 – 14:06
Speaker 1: He's been there for his whole
14:06 – 14:08
Speaker 1: life too. And he's more
14:08 – 14:10
Speaker 1: willing to try things and he can
14:10 – 14:11
Speaker 1: understand things.
14:11 – 14:12
Speaker 1: And I invite him to meetings in
14:12 – 14:13
Speaker 1: our field days and they show up
14:13 – 14:14
Speaker 1: and they want to learn too.
14:14 – 14:15
Speaker 1: So I
14:15 – 14:16
Speaker 1: think
14:16 – 14:18
Speaker 1: the financial pressures on
14:18 – 14:19
Speaker 1: farmers now are facing, I think
14:19 – 14:20
Speaker 1: the co -ops are going to have to
14:20 – 14:21
Speaker 1: start adapting.
14:22 – 14:22
Speaker 1: So I think,
14:23 – 14:24
Speaker 1: co -ops are starting to
14:24 – 14:25
Speaker 1: understand the importance of
14:25 – 14:26
Speaker 1: soil health or regenerative
14:26 – 14:28
Speaker 1: farming. And it's opened the
14:28 – 14:29
Speaker 1: door up
14:29 – 14:31
Speaker 1: to having more conversations of
14:31 – 14:33
Speaker 1: things I want to try.
14:33 – 14:35
Speaker 1: So like foliar feeding or
14:35 – 14:36
Speaker 1: interseeding cover crops.
14:36 – 14:38
Speaker 1: We have open communications now
14:38 – 14:39
Speaker 1: of how we're picking our
14:39 – 14:40
Speaker 1: herbicides and what products
14:40 – 14:41
Speaker 1: we're
14:41 – 14:42
Speaker 1: putting down in our fields.
14:43 – 14:45
Speaker 1: It's more of a kind of a mutual
14:45 – 14:46
Speaker 1: conversation now instead of a
14:46 – 14:47
Speaker 1: one -sided,
14:47 – 14:48
Speaker 1: I'm right, you're wrong.
14:49 – 14:50
Speaker 1: And I can give you another
14:50 – 14:51
Speaker 1: example too of,
14:52 – 14:53
Speaker 1: you know, bucking resistance.
14:53 – 14:54
Speaker 1: We bought brand new tractors and
14:56 – 14:57
Speaker 1: 2010.
14:57 – 14:59
Speaker 1: And two of them were lemons.
14:59 – 15:01
Speaker 1: We're doing nothing but issues
15:01 – 15:04
Speaker 1: with sensors and turbos and they
15:04 – 15:06
Speaker 1: go down the shop get fixed and
15:06 – 15:07
Speaker 1: come back and they were still
15:07 – 15:08
Speaker 1: not working. And once they got
15:08 – 15:10
Speaker 1: it, let me crack the head on one
15:10 – 15:12
Speaker 1: on a warranty. So get that
15:12 – 15:13
Speaker 1: rebuilt, and then it was out of
15:13 – 15:15
Speaker 1: warranty and pretty soon we had
15:15 – 15:16
Speaker 1: to start paying all these bills.
15:16 – 15:17
Speaker 1: And we kind of just,
15:18 – 15:19
Speaker 1: you know,
15:19 – 15:21
Speaker 1: went up to the king authority
15:21 – 15:22
Speaker 1: again, too, and said, you guys
15:22 – 15:24
Speaker 1: got to fix this stuff.
15:24 – 15:25
Speaker 1: Like we've been dealing with
15:25 – 15:26
Speaker 1: this since day one, since we
15:26 – 15:28
Speaker 1: bought these tractors and the
15:28 – 15:29
Speaker 1: warranty has not fixed them.
15:29 – 15:30
Speaker 1: And our
15:31 – 15:32
Speaker 1: local deer wouldn't do nothing.
15:32 – 15:34
Speaker 1: So we called down to mothership
15:34 – 15:36
Speaker 1: headquarters and they
15:36 – 15:38
Speaker 1: told us there's not much we can
15:38 – 15:39
Speaker 1: do. And we've been buying this
15:39 – 15:41
Speaker 1: paint color for the last 50, 60
15:41 – 15:43
Speaker 1: years. And they tell it pretty
15:43 – 15:45
Speaker 1: much tell you, you guys are on
15:45 – 15:45
Speaker 1: your own.
15:46 – 15:47
Speaker 1: So we've
15:48 – 15:49
Speaker 1: switched our
15:50 – 15:51
Speaker 1: entire equipment lineup,
15:51 – 15:52
Speaker 1: a different color.
15:53 – 15:55
Speaker 1: based on the service too.
15:55 – 15:56
Speaker 1: So like I said, the bigger
15:56 – 15:57
Speaker 1: thing, like once you start
15:57 – 15:59
Speaker 1: calling out the corrupt system,
16:00 – 16:02
Speaker 1: it definitely fights back at you
16:02 – 16:03
Speaker 1: and wants you to cave back into
16:03 – 16:05
Speaker 1: their system. You have to kind
16:05 – 16:06
Speaker 1: of go full.
16:07 – 16:08
Speaker 1: If you're going to commit, you
16:08 – 16:09
Speaker 1: got to commit, I guess, because
16:09 – 16:10
Speaker 1: they're going to buck it and
16:10 – 16:12
Speaker 1: they don't want you to get off.
16:12 – 16:13
Speaker 1: They want to keep taking that
16:13 – 16:14
Speaker 1: money from your pocket.
16:15 – 16:16
Speaker 1: I guess, well, I guess what I
16:16 – 16:17
Speaker 1: hear you saying in some part is
16:17 – 16:19
Speaker 1: not so much that you were just
16:19 – 16:20
Speaker 1: fucking the system.
16:20 – 16:21
Speaker 1: It's, it's, it's almost a
16:21 – 16:22
Speaker 1: different way of saying that you
16:22 – 16:24
Speaker 1: were claiming your independence
16:24 – 16:25
Speaker 1: or expressing your independence
16:25 – 16:26
Speaker 1: and, and, um,
16:27 – 16:29
Speaker 1: not willing to put yourself in a
16:29 – 16:30
Speaker 1: position to be controlled
16:30 – 16:31
Speaker 1: anymore.
16:33 – 16:34
Speaker 1: It's exactly true.
16:35 – 16:37
Speaker 1: And quit taking our money.
16:37 – 16:38
Speaker 1: If I can, I found a better way
16:38 – 16:39
Speaker 1: to farm
16:39 – 16:41
Speaker 1: without the assistance or
16:41 – 16:44
Speaker 1: dependency on outside people.
16:45 – 16:46
Speaker 1: And once you cut someone's cash
16:46 – 16:47
Speaker 1: flow off,
16:47 – 16:48
Speaker 1: yeah, they're definitely going
16:48 – 16:50
Speaker 1: to complain and cry about it and
16:50 – 16:53
Speaker 1: cause up some ruffled feathers.
16:57 – 16:58
Speaker 1: But... Yes.
16:59 – 17:00
Speaker 1: Can you give us...
17:00 – 17:01
Speaker 1: Go ahead.
17:01 – 17:03
Speaker 1: Back to the co -op thing.
17:05 – 17:06
Speaker 1: I mean, like I said, I don't
17:06 – 17:08
Speaker 1: want to degrade or talk bad
17:08 – 17:09
Speaker 1: about anyone, but once I figured
17:09 – 17:10
Speaker 1: out,
17:11 – 17:12
Speaker 1: you know, I'm not an expert at
17:12 – 17:13
Speaker 1: anything, but I
17:14 – 17:15
Speaker 1: don't claim to be either.
17:15 – 17:16
Speaker 1: But
17:15 – 17:17
Speaker 1: when I was looking at what we're
17:17 – 17:18
Speaker 1: doing for commercial fertilizer,
17:20 – 17:21
Speaker 1: between the manure management
17:21 – 17:23
Speaker 1: for the manure we have, and the
17:23 – 17:24
Speaker 1: way we spread it
17:24 – 17:26
Speaker 1: was probably not the
17:26 – 17:27
Speaker 1: recommended, but we didn't know
17:27 – 17:28
Speaker 1: any better at the time.
17:28 – 17:29
Speaker 1: So
17:29 – 17:31
Speaker 1: we
17:31 – 17:32
Speaker 1: changed how we applied our
17:32 – 17:34
Speaker 1: manure, we covered more acres at
17:34 – 17:34
Speaker 1: a lower rate.
17:36 – 17:38
Speaker 1: And between how we were applying
17:38 – 17:39
Speaker 1: our manure now and the fertility
17:39 – 17:41
Speaker 1: we had in our soil, the co -op
17:41 – 17:42
Speaker 1: still wanted to build up a P and
17:42 – 17:43
Speaker 1: K with
17:44 – 17:45
Speaker 1: dry commercial.
17:47 – 17:47
Speaker 1: And I pretty much told him
17:47 – 17:48
Speaker 1: that's going to be the end of
17:48 – 17:50
Speaker 1: that. Because I was going off, I
17:50 – 17:51
Speaker 1: was just researching,
17:51 – 17:52
Speaker 1: you know,
17:52 – 17:54
Speaker 1: extension recommendations off P
17:54 – 17:55
Speaker 1: &K.
17:55 – 17:57
Speaker 1: You can expect this yield if you
17:57 – 17:58
Speaker 1: have this fertility built up on
17:58 – 17:59
Speaker 1: your soil.
17:59 – 18:01
Speaker 1: And with manure applications,
18:01 – 18:02
Speaker 1: I said, we're going to be done
18:02 – 18:03
Speaker 1: with P &K.
18:03 – 18:04
Speaker 1: And we haven't bought any
18:04 – 18:06
Speaker 1: commercial P &K since 2018.
18:08 – 18:09
Speaker 1: And
18:10 – 18:11
Speaker 1: if I didn't question that
18:11 – 18:13
Speaker 1: theory, we'd still be buying
18:13 – 18:15
Speaker 1: probably $40, $50 an acre worth
18:15 – 18:16
Speaker 1: of P &K up till today yet.
18:17 – 18:18
Speaker 1: And you take that times 1000
18:18 – 18:19
Speaker 1: acres, that's
18:20 – 18:21
Speaker 1: Well, that's a pretty nice check
18:21 – 18:23
Speaker 1: a guy can take and put somewhere
18:23 – 18:25
Speaker 1: else to make improvements on the
18:25 – 18:26
Speaker 1: farm. In
18:29 – 18:31
Speaker 1: addition to changing
18:31 – 18:34
Speaker 1: from tillage to no -till in the
18:34 – 18:35
Speaker 1: P &K applications,
18:36 – 18:38
Speaker 1: I was about to ask you about the
18:38 – 18:39
Speaker 1: scope of the other changes that
18:39 – 18:40
Speaker 1: you've made, the changes that
18:40 – 18:42
Speaker 1: you've made over time, but maybe
18:42 – 18:42
Speaker 1: to just
18:42 – 18:44
Speaker 1: catch us right up to the moment
18:44 – 18:45
Speaker 1: of where are you today?
18:45 – 18:46
Speaker 1: What does your operation look
18:46 – 18:47
Speaker 1: like today?
18:50 – 18:52
Speaker 1: Well, if I could explain the
18:52 – 18:52
Speaker 1: starting point,
18:53 – 18:55
Speaker 1: that's one thing I struggled
18:55 – 18:56
Speaker 1: with is
18:57 – 18:58
Speaker 1: I mean, it's cool to hear our
18:58 – 18:59
Speaker 1: story today,
18:59 – 19:00
Speaker 1: but you need to understand how
19:00 – 19:01
Speaker 1: you went from point A to point
19:01 – 19:02
Speaker 1: B.
19:03 – 19:04
Speaker 1: So this will probably answer
19:04 – 19:05
Speaker 1: your question you asked me 10
19:05 – 19:06
Speaker 1: minutes ago,
19:06 – 19:07
Speaker 1: how we started.
19:09 – 19:10
Speaker 1: But I think you get the grasp
19:10 – 19:11
Speaker 1: that we were financially
19:11 – 19:13
Speaker 1: struggling. There was like 10
19:13 – 19:14
Speaker 1: bad things going against us.
19:15 – 19:16
Speaker 1: it was not looking very healthy
19:16 – 19:17
Speaker 1: for me to farm.
19:17 – 19:19
Speaker 1: So we decided to make the change
19:19 – 19:21
Speaker 1: in 2016. We, I just said, this
19:21 – 19:22
Speaker 1: is enough. We have to do
19:22 – 19:23
Speaker 1: something different.
19:24 – 19:25
Speaker 1: And we had nothing to really to
19:25 – 19:26
Speaker 1: start with besides what we
19:26 – 19:27
Speaker 1: currently had. And
19:28 – 19:30
Speaker 1: that was the first year I
19:32 – 19:35
Speaker 1: went to a winter conference and
19:35 – 19:36
Speaker 1: I just
19:36 – 19:38
Speaker 1: want to learn if I could, if
19:38 – 19:38
Speaker 1: there's something I'm missing,
19:39 – 19:40
Speaker 1: if I can talk to somebody and,
19:40 – 19:41
Speaker 1: you
19:41 – 19:42
Speaker 1: know, This conference was
19:42 – 19:44
Speaker 1: irrelevant to the conversation I
19:44 – 19:45
Speaker 1: had with this farmer at
19:45 – 19:46
Speaker 1: lunchtime.
19:47 – 19:47
Speaker 1: I just sat down,
19:48 – 19:49
Speaker 1: this farmer started talking to
19:49 – 19:50
Speaker 1: me and he said he was doing
19:50 – 19:52
Speaker 1: strip till since 1985.
19:53 – 19:54
Speaker 1: And I thought, wow, this guy is
19:54 – 19:56
Speaker 1: a seasoned veteran,
19:56 – 19:57
Speaker 1: he's been doing strip till since
19:57 – 19:58
Speaker 1: 1985.
19:59 – 20:00
Speaker 1: So I just talked his ear off the
20:00 – 20:01
Speaker 1: whole lunchtime, got his number
20:01 – 20:02
Speaker 1: and
20:02 – 20:04
Speaker 1: He wanted to sell me his,
20:05 – 20:06
Speaker 1: it was a John Deere corn
20:06 – 20:08
Speaker 1: planter. He retrofit into a
20:08 – 20:08
Speaker 1: strip till bar.
20:09 – 20:10
Speaker 1: And he said he was going to sell
20:10 – 20:11
Speaker 1: it to me for 1500 bucks because
20:11 – 20:12
Speaker 1: he wanted to, he finally could
20:12 – 20:13
Speaker 1: afford a new one.
20:13 – 20:14
Speaker 1: He said he wanted to upgrade.
20:15 – 20:16
Speaker 1: I thought this would be,
20:16 – 20:17
Speaker 1: this is my golden egg ticket.
20:17 – 20:19
Speaker 1: I can take this home to dad and
20:19 – 20:20
Speaker 1: this is what's going to save the
20:20 – 20:22
Speaker 1: farm. Hopefully we can cut back
20:22 – 20:23
Speaker 1: on fertilizer and tractors and
20:24 – 20:25
Speaker 1: whatnot. So I
20:26 – 20:27
Speaker 1: went home that afternoon and
20:27 – 20:29
Speaker 1: told dad and he pretty much told
20:29 – 20:31
Speaker 1: me that
20:31 – 20:32
Speaker 1: is not going to happen.
20:34 – 20:35
Speaker 1: He's like,
20:36 – 20:37
Speaker 1: keep dreaming about that idea
20:37 – 20:37
Speaker 1: pretty much.
20:38 – 20:40
Speaker 1: So stubborn as I am,
20:41 – 20:42
Speaker 1: I don't like being told no, but
20:42 – 20:43
Speaker 1: I think this is the one time I'm
20:43 – 20:44
Speaker 1: glad dad did tell me no.
20:45 – 20:46
Speaker 1: Because if you would have told
20:46 – 20:47
Speaker 1: me yes, I probably got
20:47 – 20:49
Speaker 1: suckered in
20:49 – 20:50
Speaker 1: on the strip till route.
20:52 – 20:53
Speaker 1: So between that winter,
20:53 – 20:54
Speaker 1: I was just having conversations
20:54 – 20:56
Speaker 1: with dad and Jake and the family
20:56 – 20:57
Speaker 1: here and
20:57 – 20:59
Speaker 1: researching things online.
21:00 – 21:01
Speaker 1: We agreed as a family mutually
21:01 – 21:02
Speaker 1: that we
21:03 – 21:05
Speaker 1: would custom hire no -till beans
21:05 – 21:06
Speaker 1: out in the spring of 2017.
21:07 – 21:09
Speaker 1: from a farmer in our area that
21:09 – 21:10
Speaker 1: does know what they're doing.
21:11 – 21:14
Speaker 1: And we planted 400 acres of no
21:14 – 21:16
Speaker 1: -till soybeans, hired it out,
21:16 – 21:18
Speaker 1: and we also planted 100 acres
21:18 – 21:19
Speaker 1: conventionally ourselves like we
21:19 – 21:20
Speaker 1: normally would do.
21:20 – 21:21
Speaker 1: And then our corn acres,
21:22 – 21:24
Speaker 1: we started doing reduced tillage
21:24 – 21:24
Speaker 1: on.
21:25 – 21:27
Speaker 1: So fast forward that fall in
21:27 – 21:27
Speaker 1: 2017,
21:28 – 21:29
Speaker 1: between the no -till soybeans
21:29 – 21:31
Speaker 1: and our conventionally planted
21:31 – 21:32
Speaker 1: soybeans, there was a zero yield
21:32 – 21:33
Speaker 1: difference.
21:35 – 21:35
Speaker 1: And we had a,
21:36 – 21:38
Speaker 1: like we spent $22 an acre to get
21:38 – 21:40
Speaker 1: those soybeans custom no tilled.
21:42 – 21:43
Speaker 1: So that's kind of like when the,
21:43 – 21:44
Speaker 1: the
21:44 – 21:46
Speaker 1: aha or the light bulb went off
21:46 – 21:48
Speaker 1: for 22 bucks an acre.
21:48 – 21:49
Speaker 1: I
21:49 – 21:50
Speaker 1: can no till soybeans.
21:50 – 21:51
Speaker 1: I don't have to sock chop,
21:51 – 21:53
Speaker 1: chisel plow, pick rocks,
21:53 – 21:55
Speaker 1: field cultivate or disc or roll
21:55 – 21:56
Speaker 1: and plant.
21:56 – 21:58
Speaker 1: Like you're talking eight passes
21:58 – 22:00
Speaker 1: down to one for a $22 an acre
22:00 – 22:01
Speaker 1: check,
22:01 – 22:02
Speaker 1: sign us up.
22:03 – 22:04
Speaker 1: So
22:04 – 22:05
Speaker 1: I
22:07 – 22:07
Speaker 1: think we, I
22:08 – 22:09
Speaker 1: think we spent.
22:09 – 22:11
Speaker 1: It was like almost $9 ,000 to
22:11 – 22:13
Speaker 1: get those acres of no tilt for
22:13 – 22:14
Speaker 1: us.
22:15 – 22:17
Speaker 1: And we would have spent way more
22:17 – 22:18
Speaker 1: than that if we did it
22:18 – 22:19
Speaker 1: ourselves. But then I kind of
22:19 – 22:20
Speaker 1: told that I said, if we have $9
22:20 – 22:22
Speaker 1: ,000 to hire this out, I said,
22:23 – 22:24
Speaker 1: don't you think we could spend
22:24 – 22:25
Speaker 1: $10 ,000 on our planner every
22:25 – 22:26
Speaker 1: year?
22:27 – 22:28
Speaker 1: And he said,
22:28 – 22:29
Speaker 1: essentially, yeah, there'll be
22:29 – 22:31
Speaker 1: no difference. So for
22:32 – 22:33
Speaker 1: $4 ,000,
22:33 – 22:35
Speaker 1: we bought spike closing wheels,
22:35 – 22:36
Speaker 1: and I bought
22:36 – 22:38
Speaker 1: four and a half inch caster
22:38 – 22:39
Speaker 1: gauge wheels for our row
22:39 – 22:40
Speaker 1: cleaners.
22:40 – 22:42
Speaker 1: And I just pulled out the pins.
22:42 – 22:43
Speaker 1: on our row cleaners.
22:43 – 22:44
Speaker 1: So I just made,
22:44 – 22:46
Speaker 1: I call it four man's floating
22:46 – 22:46
Speaker 1: row cleaners.
22:47 – 22:48
Speaker 1: And I maxed out the springs on
22:48 – 22:49
Speaker 1: our corn planter.
22:49 – 22:51
Speaker 1: And I was able to no -till all
22:51 – 22:53
Speaker 1: our soybeans from 2018 to
22:53 – 22:55
Speaker 1: 2021 off
22:56 – 22:57
Speaker 1: a $4 ,000 investment.
22:58 – 22:59
Speaker 1: And then we
23:00 – 23:01
Speaker 1: did zero fall tillage.
23:01 – 23:03
Speaker 1: We only did one light disk pass
23:03 – 23:04
Speaker 1: in the spring for a corn acre.
23:05 – 23:07
Speaker 1: to work in manure and nitrogen.
23:08 – 23:09
Speaker 1: And that was kind
23:09 – 23:11
Speaker 1: of what started us on this whole
23:11 – 23:14
Speaker 1: journey until up to where we are
23:14 – 23:15
Speaker 1: today.
23:16 – 23:18
Speaker 1: So to come back to the question,
23:18 – 23:19
Speaker 1: where are you today?
23:22 – 23:24
Speaker 1: We are 100 % no -till
23:25 – 23:28
Speaker 1: with adding cover crops where we
23:28 – 23:28
Speaker 1: can.
23:29 – 23:30
Speaker 1: We've implemented a nutrient
23:30 – 23:32
Speaker 1: management plan, manure
23:32 – 23:32
Speaker 1: management plan,
23:33 – 23:34
Speaker 1: irrigation management plan.
23:35 – 23:36
Speaker 1: We bought a drone to intercede
23:36 – 23:37
Speaker 1: and foliar feed.
23:39 – 23:40
Speaker 1: We've started composting at
23:41 – 23:42
Speaker 1: a large scale.
23:42 – 23:44
Speaker 1: We're running compost extract
23:44 – 23:45
Speaker 1: and furrow this year.
23:48 – 23:49
Speaker 1: What does the livestock side of
23:49 – 23:50
Speaker 1: your operation look like?
23:50 – 23:52
Speaker 1: How many, how many livestock are
23:52 – 23:52
Speaker 1: you running?
23:54 – 23:56
Speaker 1: We have 80 milk cows and we feed
23:56 – 23:58
Speaker 1: out about 250,
23:58 – 23:59
Speaker 1: 300 steers a year.
24:00 – 24:00
Speaker 1: And
24:00 – 24:01
Speaker 1: I'm glad you brought that
24:01 – 24:03
Speaker 1: question up because this is
24:03 – 24:04
Speaker 1: another
24:04 – 24:06
Speaker 1: aha moment that happened for us
24:06 – 24:08
Speaker 1: too. When we were full with
24:08 – 24:09
Speaker 1: tillage, conventional farming,
24:10 – 24:12
Speaker 1: I mean, it was vet bill after
24:12 – 24:14
Speaker 1: vet bill, or sick calf, or this
24:14 – 24:15
Speaker 1: cow had this issue, and it was
24:15 – 24:17
Speaker 1: just out of control spending
24:17 – 24:19
Speaker 1: with the vet. It was, you know,
24:19 – 24:20
Speaker 1: milk fever,
24:20 – 24:22
Speaker 1: ketosis,
24:23 – 24:24
Speaker 1: you know,
24:24 – 24:25
Speaker 1: warts on the cattle, and
24:25 – 24:27
Speaker 1: mastitis, and respiratory issues
24:27 – 24:29
Speaker 1: on our calves. And it
24:29 – 24:31
Speaker 1: felt like we were feeding more
24:31 – 24:32
Speaker 1: medications and getting more
24:32 – 24:33
Speaker 1: shots for our cattle than they
24:33 – 24:34
Speaker 1: were doing any better.
24:35 – 24:37
Speaker 1: But once we made the switch to,
24:38 – 24:38
Speaker 1: you know,
24:39 – 24:40
Speaker 1: no -till soybeans, reduced
24:40 – 24:41
Speaker 1: tillage on our corn acres,
24:43 – 24:45
Speaker 1: And once we implemented no -till
24:45 – 24:46
Speaker 1: on all our acres and that it
24:46 – 24:47
Speaker 1: started adding cover crops,
24:47 – 24:48
Speaker 1: there was like, I don't know
24:48 – 24:49
Speaker 1: what year it was, but there was
24:49 – 24:51
Speaker 1: that sweet turning spot where I
24:51 – 24:53
Speaker 1: think our soil started to change
24:53 – 24:53
Speaker 1: for the better.
24:55 – 24:55
Speaker 1: And my
24:56 – 24:58
Speaker 1: gut feeling is our soil changed.
24:59 – 25:00
Speaker 1: It was healthier.
25:00 – 25:01
Speaker 1: We were harvesting healthier
25:01 – 25:03
Speaker 1: crops, our grain, our corn
25:03 – 25:04
Speaker 1: silage, our alfalfa,
25:05 – 25:07
Speaker 1: our forages. And then in return,
25:07 – 25:08
Speaker 1: we were feeding that to our
25:08 – 25:08
Speaker 1: cattle.
25:09 – 25:12
Speaker 1: And we hardly have any
25:12 – 25:14
Speaker 1: veterinary expenses anymore.
25:14 – 25:16
Speaker 1: I'm not saying we don't, but
25:17 – 25:18
Speaker 1: it's nothing,
25:18 – 25:21
Speaker 1: nowhere near what it was 10
25:21 – 25:22
Speaker 1: years ago.
25:23 – 25:24
Speaker 1: And I can't explain it besides
25:24 – 25:25
Speaker 1: other than it
25:25 – 25:26
Speaker 1: seemed like we fixed the soil
25:26 – 25:27
Speaker 1: and
25:28 – 25:28
Speaker 1: then fixed the cattle.
25:31 – 25:32
Speaker 1: So let's dig into that a little
25:32 – 25:34
Speaker 1: bit more. When you say you fixed
25:34 – 25:35
Speaker 1: the soil,
25:35 – 25:37
Speaker 1: you've described your manure
25:37 – 25:39
Speaker 1: applications, you switch from
25:39 – 25:40
Speaker 1: tillage to no -till, but usually
25:40 – 25:41
Speaker 1: when I think about fixing the
25:41 – 25:42
Speaker 1: soil, I think about
25:43 – 25:45
Speaker 1: more things than just those two
25:46 – 25:47
Speaker 1: things. What other changes did
25:47 – 25:48
Speaker 1: you make? Did you make any
25:48 – 25:49
Speaker 1: changes in
25:50 – 25:51
Speaker 1: herbicide, fungicide
25:51 – 25:52
Speaker 1: applications? Of course, you
25:52 – 25:54
Speaker 1: also reduced your fertilizer
25:54 – 25:55
Speaker 1: applications, which is not
25:55 – 25:56
Speaker 1: insignificant.
25:56 – 25:57
Speaker 1: What were the other changes that
25:57 – 25:58
Speaker 1: were made?
25:59 – 26:00
Speaker 1: In addition, kind of the follow
26:00 – 26:02
Speaker 1: on question to that is how did
26:02 – 26:04
Speaker 1: you see your soils health
26:04 – 26:05
Speaker 1: characteristics improve?
26:08 – 26:09
Speaker 1: Well, we'll take that one
26:09 – 26:10
Speaker 1: question at a time here.
26:11 – 26:13
Speaker 1: Well, you know, that goes back
26:13 – 26:13
Speaker 1: to
26:14 – 26:17
Speaker 1: why I love the coalition.
26:17 – 26:19
Speaker 1: I love people coming on our farm
26:19 – 26:20
Speaker 1: because that's the only thing I
26:20 – 26:21
Speaker 1: struggle with, too.
26:21 – 26:22
Speaker 1: Like,
26:23 – 26:24
Speaker 1: how do I know I'm doing a better
26:24 – 26:25
Speaker 1: job?
26:26 – 26:27
Speaker 1: Like, how can I see it?
26:28 – 26:29
Speaker 1: I mean,
26:29 – 26:31
Speaker 1: the only thing I knew was if I
26:31 – 26:33
Speaker 1: get this, if I'm getting the
26:33 – 26:34
Speaker 1: same yield as I am until
26:35 – 26:36
Speaker 1: or when we were starting with
26:36 – 26:38
Speaker 1: reduced till, my yields were
26:38 – 26:39
Speaker 1: matching my conventional acres
26:39 – 26:41
Speaker 1: in the past, that was a win for
26:41 – 26:42
Speaker 1: us,
26:42 – 26:44
Speaker 1: because our expenses went down,
26:44 – 26:45
Speaker 1: our yields would stay the same.
26:45 – 26:46
Speaker 1: So that was like
26:46 – 26:47
Speaker 1: my,
26:47 – 26:48
Speaker 1: you know,
26:48 – 26:48
Speaker 1: thumbs up,
26:48 – 26:50
Speaker 1: this is working.
26:51 – 26:52
Speaker 1: But if you would ask me 10 years
26:52 – 26:53
Speaker 1: ago, what's the worm casting,
26:53 – 26:55
Speaker 1: what soil aggregates, what's the
26:55 – 26:56
Speaker 1: structure? What water
26:56 – 26:57
Speaker 1: infiltration rates do you have?
26:59 – 27:00
Speaker 1: I told you, I have no idea.
27:00 – 27:01
Speaker 1: Like,
27:01 – 27:02
Speaker 1: I don't know what any of that
27:02 – 27:03
Speaker 1: stuff is. So,
27:03 – 27:04
Speaker 1: you know, once you get five
27:04 – 27:05
Speaker 1: years in this thing, you start
27:05 – 27:07
Speaker 1: talking to people, you have
27:07 – 27:08
Speaker 1: field days, people show up, like
27:08 – 27:11
Speaker 1: Ray Archuleta comes and similar,
27:11 – 27:13
Speaker 1: Stephanie McLean came over and,
27:13 – 27:14
Speaker 1: you know, the coalition helps
27:14 – 27:15
Speaker 1: you on a lot of stuff.
27:15 – 27:16
Speaker 1: They
27:16 – 27:17
Speaker 1: show you this stuff.
27:17 – 27:18
Speaker 1: This is what a midden looks
27:18 – 27:19
Speaker 1: like. That's what earthworm
27:19 – 27:20
Speaker 1: castings on top of soil looks
27:20 – 27:21
Speaker 1: like.
27:21 – 27:22
Speaker 1: This is what soil structure
27:22 – 27:23
Speaker 1: should look like.
27:24 – 27:25
Speaker 1: And all that stuff is there now.
27:26 – 27:27
Speaker 1: But if you don't know what
27:27 – 27:28
Speaker 1: you're looking for,
27:28 – 27:29
Speaker 1: you have no idea what you're
27:29 – 27:30
Speaker 1: supposed to be.
27:31 – 27:32
Speaker 1: If you don't know what you're
27:32 – 27:34
Speaker 1: looking for, it's hard to miss
27:34 – 27:35
Speaker 1: this stuff.
27:36 – 27:37
Speaker 1: But I can walk into our fields
27:37 – 27:38
Speaker 1: now.
27:39 – 27:42
Speaker 1: And my indication for
27:42 – 27:44
Speaker 1: a good sign in our field is if I
27:44 – 27:45
Speaker 1: can walk in our field, I can see
27:45 – 27:46
Speaker 1: castings on top.
27:47 – 27:48
Speaker 1: And I see the middens in the
27:48 – 27:50
Speaker 1: field where they're like the
27:50 – 27:51
Speaker 1: little teepees of
27:52 – 27:53
Speaker 1: the worms are just pulling all
27:53 – 27:54
Speaker 1: that residue. And if I can see
27:54 – 27:55
Speaker 1: those,
27:55 – 27:56
Speaker 1: to me, that tells me I'm going
27:56 – 27:57
Speaker 1: to do a good job.
27:57 – 27:58
Speaker 1: And if you take your speed of
27:58 – 28:00
Speaker 1: shovel, dig up a lot of
28:00 – 28:02
Speaker 1: soil and it's just full of
28:03 – 28:05
Speaker 1: worm channels and holes, you're
28:05 – 28:06
Speaker 1: just creating that giant sponge
28:06 – 28:08
Speaker 1: to have your water infiltration
28:08 – 28:08
Speaker 1: rates go
28:09 – 28:10
Speaker 1: down.
28:13 – 28:14
Speaker 1: And I'm sure there's a lot of
28:14 – 28:15
Speaker 1: other things that I'm forgetting
28:15 – 28:16
Speaker 1: about, but...
28:17 – 28:18
Speaker 1: How have your water infiltration
28:18 – 28:20
Speaker 1: rates changed? You're in a part
28:20 – 28:20
Speaker 1: of the country where that
28:20 – 28:21
Speaker 1: matters a great deal.
28:24 – 28:26
Speaker 1: Yeah, if I could, I have a
28:26 – 28:27
Speaker 1: perfect video of it.
28:27 – 28:28
Speaker 1: If I could, I wonder if I could
28:28 – 28:31
Speaker 1: send you it, but this was last.
28:31 – 28:32
Speaker 1: Is it, is it online anywhere?
28:34 – 28:36
Speaker 1: I could put it online if you
28:36 – 28:37
Speaker 1: want. Yeah, if you could put it
28:37 – 28:39
Speaker 1: online or share it with us and
28:39 – 28:40
Speaker 1: we'll, we'll share it.
28:40 – 28:41
Speaker 1: We'll, we'll share it in the
28:41 – 28:41
Speaker 1: show notes so that people can
28:41 – 28:42
Speaker 1: see it.
28:43 – 28:43
Speaker 1: I mean, this,
28:43 – 28:46
Speaker 1: it does not get any more picture
28:46 – 28:47
Speaker 1: perfect than this example.
28:47 – 28:48
Speaker 1: It was,
28:49 – 28:50
Speaker 1: I was so happy when I saw it.
28:51 – 28:52
Speaker 1: but so
28:52 – 28:53
Speaker 1: I think it was, I
28:54 – 28:56
Speaker 1: took my wife out to supper one
28:56 – 28:57
Speaker 1: night and it was supposed to
28:57 – 28:58
Speaker 1: rain and
28:59 – 29:00
Speaker 1: then it kind of went away.
29:00 – 29:01
Speaker 1: But long story short,
29:01 – 29:02
Speaker 1: it was a severe thunderstorm.
29:03 – 29:05
Speaker 1: It was like hail and two inches
29:05 – 29:06
Speaker 1: of rain in a half hour.
29:06 – 29:07
Speaker 1: It was just insane.
29:07 – 29:09
Speaker 1: And then we were already out.
29:09 – 29:10
Speaker 1: So I was like, well, we might as
29:09 – 29:10
Speaker 1: well drive around quick.
29:10 – 29:12
Speaker 1: See if there's any storm damage
29:12 – 29:13
Speaker 1: and see how the fields look.
29:13 – 29:14
Speaker 1: And we
29:15 – 29:16
Speaker 1: literally drove by.
29:17 – 29:18
Speaker 1: one of our neighbors'
29:18 – 29:19
Speaker 1: conventional field.
29:19 – 29:20
Speaker 1: He probably planted a week later
29:20 – 29:22
Speaker 1: than us, but I'm talking more
29:22 – 29:23
Speaker 1: bowl plowing,
29:24 – 29:25
Speaker 1: disking, field cultivating,
29:25 – 29:26
Speaker 1: packing,
29:26 – 29:27
Speaker 1: and planting.
29:28 – 29:29
Speaker 1: And there
29:30 – 29:32
Speaker 1: was water standing from one
29:32 – 29:34
Speaker 1: headland all the way to the
29:34 – 29:36
Speaker 1: other headland, like there's a
29:36 – 29:37
Speaker 1: lake.
29:38 – 29:38
Speaker 1: And the
29:39 – 29:40
Speaker 1: only thing that splits his field
29:40 – 29:42
Speaker 1: apart in our field was a tree
29:42 – 29:43
Speaker 1: line.
29:44 – 29:45
Speaker 1: Like these fields are literally
29:45 – 29:46
Speaker 1: butted up to each other beside
29:46 – 29:47
Speaker 1: the tree line. And when you go,
29:47 – 29:49
Speaker 1: when you go past our no -tilled
29:49 – 29:50
Speaker 1: cover crop field,
29:51 – 29:53
Speaker 1: there was zero water standing in
29:53 – 29:54
Speaker 1: our field.
29:55 – 29:57
Speaker 1: So I think that shows us that
29:57 – 29:58
Speaker 1: our water infiltrated.
29:58 – 29:59
Speaker 1: Maybe that's because, maybe
29:59 – 30:00
Speaker 1: that's because it all ran off
30:00 – 30:01
Speaker 1: already.
30:02 – 30:03
Speaker 1: That's what they say.
30:07 – 30:08
Speaker 1: Well, I mean, that was,
30:08 – 30:10
Speaker 1: I mean, it was, you can't get
30:10 – 30:11
Speaker 1: any more black and white than
30:11 – 30:12
Speaker 1: that. Like I had water standing
30:12 – 30:13
Speaker 1: from one end to the next and you
30:13 – 30:14
Speaker 1: drive by, you know, a hundred
30:14 – 30:16
Speaker 1: feet into our field,
30:16 – 30:17
Speaker 1: just down the road, it's been in
30:17 – 30:18
Speaker 1: the tree line and it's,
30:19 – 30:20
Speaker 1: there's no water there.
30:20 – 30:21
Speaker 1: It all infiltrated down.
30:23 – 30:24
Speaker 1: Two inches in 30 minutes.
30:24 – 30:25
Speaker 1: That's four inches per hour.
30:26 – 30:26
Speaker 1: That's pretty good.
30:28 – 30:29
Speaker 1: You kept all of that without
30:29 – 30:31
Speaker 1: having it run down the river.
30:33 – 30:34
Speaker 1: Plan
30:34 – 30:36
Speaker 1: for that water bank.
30:37 – 30:37
Speaker 1: Yeah.
30:38 – 30:39
Speaker 1: But then too, if you don't have
30:39 – 30:40
Speaker 1: water in your profile, that's,
30:40 – 30:41
Speaker 1: you know,
30:41 – 30:43
Speaker 1: a fourth to a third of the soil
30:43 – 30:44
Speaker 1: is water.
30:45 – 30:47
Speaker 1: I had
30:48 – 30:49
Speaker 1: asked you about your livestock.
30:49 – 30:51
Speaker 1: We spoke about your livestock a
30:51 – 30:52
Speaker 1: little bit.
30:52 – 30:53
Speaker 1: How has your livestock
30:53 – 30:55
Speaker 1: management changed in terms of
30:55 – 30:57
Speaker 1: you have both dairy cows and you
30:57 – 30:58
Speaker 1: have
30:58 – 30:59
Speaker 1: some beef. Were those
30:59 – 31:00
Speaker 1: historically confinement?
31:01 – 31:02
Speaker 1: Are they still confinement?
31:02 – 31:03
Speaker 1: Are you doing any grazing with
31:03 – 31:04
Speaker 1: those?
31:05 – 31:06
Speaker 1: Yeah.
31:07 – 31:07
Speaker 1: I
31:08 – 31:08
Speaker 1: mean, it's not ideal.
31:09 – 31:10
Speaker 1: We're not set up to graze.
31:11 – 31:13
Speaker 1: I would love to graze, but I
31:13 – 31:14
Speaker 1: don't
31:15 – 31:16
Speaker 1: like to make excuses,
31:16 – 31:17
Speaker 1: but it just
31:18 – 31:19
Speaker 1: wouldn't work for us.
31:19 – 31:21
Speaker 1: A lot of our fields we farm are,
31:21 – 31:22
Speaker 1: we farm extremely residential,
31:24 – 31:25
Speaker 1: you know, 20, 30 acre fields,
31:25 – 31:27
Speaker 1: and every field we farm has a
31:27 – 31:28
Speaker 1: major road next to it.
31:28 – 31:29
Speaker 1: And I mean, we have over 100
31:29 – 31:31
Speaker 1: ,000 people that live around
31:31 – 31:33
Speaker 1: five to 10 miles from our farm.
31:33 – 31:34
Speaker 1: And it,
31:34 – 31:36
Speaker 1: to me, it's not worth killing
31:36 – 31:38
Speaker 1: somebody if a cattle got out and
31:38 – 31:39
Speaker 1: it,
31:39 – 31:42
Speaker 1: the risk is not worth that extra
31:42 – 31:44
Speaker 1: soil benefit. So to compensate
31:44 – 31:46
Speaker 1: for that, that's why we're
31:46 – 31:47
Speaker 1: getting into composting.
31:48 – 31:49
Speaker 1: We implement the better manure
31:49 – 31:50
Speaker 1: management plan.
31:50 – 31:53
Speaker 1: I'm trying to do the second next
31:53 – 31:57
Speaker 1: best thing as I can to hopefully
31:57 – 31:59
Speaker 1: mimic the hoof on the ground.
32:00 – 32:01
Speaker 1: And we're starting to get more
32:01 – 32:02
Speaker 1: aggressive with cover crops,
32:05 – 32:06
Speaker 1: old alfalfa under reparation.
32:06 – 32:08
Speaker 1: I would like to start planning a
32:08 – 32:09
Speaker 1: multi -species forage mix.
32:10 – 32:11
Speaker 1: I could harvest every year,
32:12 – 32:14
Speaker 1: just get new diversity into our
32:14 – 32:16
Speaker 1: rotation and give my cattle some
32:16 – 32:17
Speaker 1: diversity too.
32:18 – 32:20
Speaker 1: So I'm trying to do the best we
32:20 – 32:22
Speaker 1: can with the current
32:22 – 32:23
Speaker 1: infrastructure we have on our
32:23 – 32:24
Speaker 1: farm
32:24 – 32:25
Speaker 1: that way.
32:25 – 32:26
Speaker 1: Yeah.
32:26 – 32:27
Speaker 1: You mentioned at one point in
32:27 – 32:28
Speaker 1: the conversation that you're
32:28 – 32:30
Speaker 1: starting to, you spoke about the
32:30 – 32:31
Speaker 1: composting. You mentioned that
32:31 – 32:32
Speaker 1: you're doing compost extract in
32:32 – 32:33
Speaker 1: the planter this spring.
32:36 – 32:37
Speaker 1: I am.
32:37 – 32:38
Speaker 1: It's going to be, we're being
32:38 – 32:39
Speaker 1: learned as I go here.
32:39 – 32:41
Speaker 1: So. So composting is a new fun
32:41 – 32:42
Speaker 1: adventure for us.
32:44 – 32:46
Speaker 1: We're doing that because I think
32:46 – 32:48
Speaker 1: that's going to help us mimic
32:48 – 32:50
Speaker 1: the cattle, I think, with new
32:50 – 32:52
Speaker 1: diversity, since I can't get
32:52 – 32:53
Speaker 1: hoofs on the ground.
32:53 – 32:53
Speaker 1: So that's why we got into
32:53 – 32:54
Speaker 1: composting, because I wanted to
32:54 – 32:56
Speaker 1: build that fungal level up in
32:56 – 32:57
Speaker 1: our fields, because we're all
32:57 – 32:59
Speaker 1: every field we have is probably
32:59 – 33:00
Speaker 1: bacteria dominant.
33:01 – 33:02
Speaker 1: So that's another reason why we
33:02 – 33:03
Speaker 1: got into composting was just to
33:03 – 33:05
Speaker 1: bring that new diversity of that
33:05 – 33:06
Speaker 1: fungal species in our field and
33:07 – 33:08
Speaker 1: So we started composting wood
33:08 – 33:10
Speaker 1: chips and I
33:11 – 33:13
Speaker 1: inoculated it with mushroom
33:13 – 33:15
Speaker 1: substrate from a local mushroom
33:15 – 33:16
Speaker 1: farmer.
33:16 – 33:18
Speaker 1: And I've seen some pretty good
33:18 – 33:19
Speaker 1: results with that.
33:19 – 33:20
Speaker 1: It's not done yet.
33:21 – 33:22
Speaker 1: So that's why we're going to go
33:22 – 33:24
Speaker 1: with the vermicompost extract
33:24 – 33:27
Speaker 1: and furrow this spring since our
33:27 – 33:28
Speaker 1: compost is not done.
33:30 – 33:31
Speaker 1: I guess we're to the point where
33:31 – 33:32
Speaker 1: I'm done making excuses.
33:32 – 33:33
Speaker 1: I guess I want to, you know,
33:34 – 33:35
Speaker 1: stay progressive at this.
33:35 – 33:36
Speaker 1: I always say we'll try it next
33:36 – 33:37
Speaker 1: year.
33:37 – 33:38
Speaker 1: I'm trying to get rid of that
33:38 – 33:39
Speaker 1: mentality.
33:39 – 33:40
Speaker 1: So.
33:41 – 33:42
Speaker 1: We are definitely learning
33:42 – 33:43
Speaker 1: compost as we go.
33:43 – 33:44
Speaker 1: So it's very, it's a very
33:44 – 33:46
Speaker 1: complex operation,
33:47 – 33:48
Speaker 1: trying to understand compost and
33:48 – 33:49
Speaker 1: the biology and the fungi.
33:50 – 33:51
Speaker 1: All right. Let's explore that
33:51 – 33:52
Speaker 1: for just a little bit.
33:52 – 33:53
Speaker 1: If you're trying to get rid of
33:53 – 33:54
Speaker 1: the excuse of you'll try it next
33:54 – 33:55
Speaker 1: year, that means you're trying
33:55 – 33:56
Speaker 1: lots of things this year.
33:58 – 33:59
Speaker 1: What's the scope of the things?
33:59 – 34:00
Speaker 1: Okay. What's the scope of the
34:00 – 34:01
Speaker 1: things that you're trying this
34:01 – 34:02
Speaker 1: year?
34:02 – 34:04
Speaker 1: Well, I was hoping our compost
34:04 – 34:05
Speaker 1: would be done, but it's not.
34:06 – 34:07
Speaker 1: So I went to plan B,
34:08 – 34:09
Speaker 1: we got
34:10 – 34:12
Speaker 1: fed and happy vermicompost.
34:13 – 34:14
Speaker 1: that I plan on extracting and
34:14 – 34:15
Speaker 1: running in furrow.
34:17 – 34:18
Speaker 1: And then talking to a few
34:18 – 34:19
Speaker 1: people,
34:19 – 34:22
Speaker 1: we've found out that our 6 -24
34:22 – 34:24
Speaker 1: -6 starter and furrow was pretty
34:24 – 34:25
Speaker 1: much about worthless for us with
34:25 – 34:27
Speaker 1: our fertility and the
34:28 – 34:29
Speaker 1: average soil health we have.
34:29 – 34:30
Speaker 1: So we pulled that out and we're
34:30 – 34:32
Speaker 1: going to be running that extract
34:32 – 34:33
Speaker 1: with algae,
34:33 – 34:34
Speaker 1: some sugar,
34:35 – 34:37
Speaker 1: and then maybe a humic source or
34:37 – 34:39
Speaker 1: some soil essentials amendment
34:39 – 34:41
Speaker 1: as well to
34:41 – 34:43
Speaker 1: replace that 6 -24 -6 just to
34:43 – 34:44
Speaker 1: hopefully boost the biology and
34:44 – 34:46
Speaker 1: the diversity in our row crop
34:46 – 34:46
Speaker 1: acres.
34:47 – 34:48
Speaker 1: Oh, the biology will definitely
34:48 – 34:49
Speaker 1: like that. And it's,
34:50 – 34:51
Speaker 1: have you ever tried running with
34:51 – 34:53
Speaker 1: and without the 6 -24 -6?
34:54 – 34:55
Speaker 1: I have not.
34:55 – 34:57
Speaker 1: So this is going to be, this is
34:57 – 34:59
Speaker 1: going to be a full swing here.
34:59 – 35:00
Speaker 1: Hopefully get a home run.
35:02 – 35:04
Speaker 1: Yeah. It's, it's interesting to
35:04 – 35:04
Speaker 1: observe
35:05 – 35:07
Speaker 1: The common pattern with a lot of
35:07 – 35:08
Speaker 1: rose starters is, of course,
35:08 – 35:10
Speaker 1: regional soil variation.
35:10 – 35:12
Speaker 1: So it's not a universal by any
35:12 – 35:12
Speaker 1: stretch, but
35:13 – 35:15
Speaker 1: it's surprising the number of
35:15 – 35:16
Speaker 1: growers that we speak
35:17 – 35:18
Speaker 1: with that when we start
35:18 – 35:19
Speaker 1: analyzing their situation, we
35:19 – 35:21
Speaker 1: ask them to conduct a trial with
35:21 – 35:21
Speaker 1: and without.
35:22 – 35:24
Speaker 1: There's often visual differences
35:24 – 35:26
Speaker 1: early that the starter shows up
35:26 – 35:27
Speaker 1: very strong early.
35:27 – 35:29
Speaker 1: It shows the plants look nicer,
35:29 – 35:31
Speaker 1: the stand is stronger, better,
35:31 – 35:32
Speaker 1: they take off faster,
35:34 – 35:35
Speaker 1: but there's no yield response.
35:36 – 35:37
Speaker 1: over and over and over again
35:37 – 35:38
Speaker 1: there is not a yield response
35:38 – 35:40
Speaker 1: from that starter application in
35:40 – 35:41
Speaker 1: some cases it's a yield drag
35:42 – 35:44
Speaker 1: which is not the way that it's
35:44 – 35:46
Speaker 1: supposed to work at all so but
35:46 – 35:47
Speaker 1: that's why i asked it's pretty
35:47 – 35:48
Speaker 1: intriguing to observe
35:50 – 35:52
Speaker 1: yeah well i'm i'm hoping it's
35:52 – 35:53
Speaker 1: going to work because we're
35:52 – 35:54
Speaker 1: going to be committed to it so i
35:54 – 35:56
Speaker 1: i am going to be doing some test
35:56 – 35:59
Speaker 1: uh checks too just so i know it
35:59 – 36:01
Speaker 1: works i might just shut the
36:01 – 36:02
Speaker 1: planner completely off on a
36:02 – 36:04
Speaker 1: couple paths and see what my
36:04 – 36:06
Speaker 1: fields can do on its own i would
36:06 – 36:08
Speaker 1: like to try some of that um
36:09 – 36:10
Speaker 1: i
36:11 – 36:12
Speaker 1: know i'm going to
36:13 – 36:14
Speaker 1: tried.
36:14 – 36:16
Speaker 1: We need to play around with some
36:16 – 36:17
Speaker 1: different rates of you
36:18 – 36:20
Speaker 1: should put algae in one pass and
36:20 – 36:21
Speaker 1: not take it and take it out one
36:21 – 36:23
Speaker 1: pass. I mean, there's a there's
36:23 – 36:23
Speaker 1: a few things I want to keep
36:23 – 36:25
Speaker 1: trying. And then we have the
36:25 – 36:26
Speaker 1: drone now too. So I might
36:27 – 36:28
Speaker 1: like to do some maybe compost
36:28 – 36:30
Speaker 1: extract foliar feeding that
36:30 – 36:31
Speaker 1: hopefully maybe help break down
36:31 – 36:33
Speaker 1: some of the croppers I do or
36:33 – 36:35
Speaker 1: just increase the diversity in
36:35 – 36:36
Speaker 1: those fields and can play around
36:36 – 36:37
Speaker 1: with some sugar and algae
36:37 – 36:39
Speaker 1: applications with that and some
36:39 – 36:41
Speaker 1: micronutrient tests too with the
36:41 – 36:41
Speaker 1: drone.
36:44 – 36:45
Speaker 1: How do you hope to see your
36:45 – 36:46
Speaker 1: farming operation evolve over
36:46 – 36:47
Speaker 1: the next couple years?
36:50 – 36:51
Speaker 1: Well my two biggest goals that
36:51 – 36:54
Speaker 1: are really driving me that I've
36:54 – 36:54
Speaker 1: spent
36:54 – 36:56
Speaker 1: my whole winter researching on
36:56 – 36:57
Speaker 1: was drone
36:58 – 37:00
Speaker 1: applications and composting so
37:01 – 37:04
Speaker 1: my goals are to increase our
37:04 – 37:06
Speaker 1: fungal levels in our field
37:07 – 37:09
Speaker 1: and to get cover crops
37:09 – 37:11
Speaker 1: interseeded on all our acres so
37:12 – 37:14
Speaker 1: we can get away from you
37:14 – 37:15
Speaker 1: know just
37:15 – 37:16
Speaker 1: getting right now we're just
37:16 – 37:18
Speaker 1: getting cover crops hopefully
37:18 – 37:19
Speaker 1: established in the fall if we
37:19 – 37:22
Speaker 1: can and then we have very
37:22 – 37:23
Speaker 1: minimum growth and then the
37:23 – 37:25
Speaker 1: springtime obviously it takes
37:25 – 37:27
Speaker 1: off in the spring but
37:28 – 37:29
Speaker 1: The whole reason of getting the
37:29 – 37:31
Speaker 1: drone was to get cover crops
37:31 – 37:32
Speaker 1: interseeded, you know, late
37:32 – 37:34
Speaker 1: September, early August.
37:34 – 37:36
Speaker 1: So we can get those extra
37:36 – 37:37
Speaker 1: hundred days of
37:38 – 37:40
Speaker 1: growing green, capturing more
37:40 – 37:41
Speaker 1: sunlight, more sugar,
37:43 – 37:44
Speaker 1: more carbon storage.
37:46 – 37:46
Speaker 1: So those are,
37:48 – 37:49
Speaker 1: I would love to see our
37:49 – 37:51
Speaker 1: landscape change and have more
37:51 – 37:53
Speaker 1: green in our fields longer.
37:54 – 37:55
Speaker 1: And I would love to see our
37:55 – 37:57
Speaker 1: Haney tests and our soil tests
37:57 – 37:59
Speaker 1: reflect that with the compost
37:59 – 38:01
Speaker 1: applications and having the
38:01 – 38:02
Speaker 1: cover crops growing longer.
38:03 – 38:06
Speaker 1: and keep reducing our chemistry
38:06 – 38:08
Speaker 1: applications and fertilizer
38:08 – 38:09
Speaker 1: applications.
38:10 – 38:11
Speaker 1: Hopefully I can maybe do better
38:11 – 38:12
Speaker 1: jobs with more nitrogen
38:12 – 38:14
Speaker 1: efficiency with the drone,
38:15 – 38:16
Speaker 1: kind of like more of a band -aid
38:16 – 38:18
Speaker 1: step until I can raise that
38:18 – 38:20
Speaker 1: fungi -bacteria ratio maybe to
38:20 – 38:21
Speaker 1: one -to -one and get the soil
38:21 – 38:23
Speaker 1: cycling so I can keep further
38:23 – 38:25
Speaker 1: pulling back off on nitrogen and
38:25 – 38:26
Speaker 1: herbicide applications.
38:28 – 38:29
Speaker 1: What does your crop mix look
38:29 – 38:30
Speaker 1: like at this point?
38:32 – 38:33
Speaker 1: For rotations?
38:33 – 38:34
Speaker 1: Yeah.
38:34 – 38:37
Speaker 1: So our cropping rotation is
38:37 – 38:39
Speaker 1: typically a corn soybean
38:39 – 38:39
Speaker 1: rotation.
38:40 – 38:42
Speaker 1: Then we'll add small grains in
38:42 – 38:44
Speaker 1: there as well. We usually grow
38:44 – 38:45
Speaker 1: rye or oats for grain.
38:46 – 38:47
Speaker 1: We use that
38:47 – 38:49
Speaker 1: residue for bedding and then
38:49 – 38:50
Speaker 1: we'll sell the grain
38:50 – 38:52
Speaker 1: to a co -op or feed mill or
38:52 – 38:53
Speaker 1: whatever.
38:53 – 38:55
Speaker 1: But I mean, it's not the most
38:55 – 38:56
Speaker 1: perfect rotation.
38:56 – 38:58
Speaker 1: We do corn on corn, beans on
38:58 – 38:59
Speaker 1: beans.
38:59 – 39:00
Speaker 1: We
39:00 – 39:02
Speaker 1: watch the markets and see
39:03 – 39:04
Speaker 1: what best fits the acres too.
39:04 – 39:06
Speaker 1: And a lot of financial decisions
39:06 – 39:08
Speaker 1: behind it, but it's not the most
39:08 – 39:09
Speaker 1: ideal cropping rotation.
39:09 – 39:10
Speaker 1: It's just, it's what works for
39:10 – 39:11
Speaker 1: us and what makes the most
39:11 – 39:12
Speaker 1: sense.
39:15 – 39:17
Speaker 1: You know, there's many
39:17 – 39:18
Speaker 1: directions that we could
39:18 – 39:20
Speaker 1: take this discussion in, but one
39:20 – 39:22
Speaker 1: of the things you spoke about
39:22 – 39:23
Speaker 1: all the new things that you're
39:23 – 39:24
Speaker 1: experimenting and you're trying
39:24 – 39:25
Speaker 1: with, you've been on this
39:25 – 39:26
Speaker 1: pathway for a while.
39:27 – 39:28
Speaker 1: What
39:28 – 39:30
Speaker 1: have you become really good at?
39:30 – 39:31
Speaker 1: One of the things that
39:31 – 39:34
Speaker 1: we're all on alert on a journey
39:34 – 39:35
Speaker 1: of constantly learning and we're
39:35 – 39:37
Speaker 1: all hopefully constantly trying
39:37 – 39:37
Speaker 1: new things.
39:38 – 39:39
Speaker 1: But what are the things that you
39:39 – 39:40
Speaker 1: think you've you've figured out
39:41 – 39:43
Speaker 1: reasonably well that you're
39:43 – 39:44
Speaker 1: happy with the success that
39:45 – 39:47
Speaker 1: you've had and the momentum that
39:47 – 39:48
Speaker 1: you've had on your operation?
39:51 – 39:51
Speaker 1: Well, I think
39:53 – 39:55
Speaker 1: every time I think I have a
39:55 – 39:55
Speaker 1: smart idea,
39:57 – 39:59
Speaker 1: I have to ask the question, is
39:59 – 40:00
Speaker 1: this what
40:00 – 40:02
Speaker 1: nature would like me to do?
40:03 – 40:05
Speaker 1: Or is this what I think I want
40:05 – 40:06
Speaker 1: to do?
40:07 – 40:07
Speaker 1: And if it doesn't
40:09 – 40:11
Speaker 1: fit nature's cards,
40:12 – 40:13
Speaker 1: rule of thumb, generally it's
40:13 – 40:15
Speaker 1: not going to be a wise idea.
40:15 – 40:17
Speaker 1: Or it's not going to get the
40:17 – 40:17
Speaker 1: goals you want.
40:17 – 40:18
Speaker 1: So if you think you're smarter
40:18 – 40:19
Speaker 1: than nature and you think you
40:19 – 40:20
Speaker 1: can outrun nature, her,
40:21 – 40:22
Speaker 1: you're wrong.
40:22 – 40:23
Speaker 1: And once I grasped that
40:23 – 40:24
Speaker 1: mentality,
40:25 – 40:26
Speaker 1: that I'm not right,
40:26 – 40:27
Speaker 1: you drop your ego,
40:29 – 40:30
Speaker 1: the world opens up to a
40:30 – 40:31
Speaker 1: different lens, you can look at
40:31 – 40:33
Speaker 1: things a lot differently.
40:34 – 40:35
Speaker 1: So if someone wants to sell you
40:35 – 40:37
Speaker 1: this product, or this seed or
40:37 – 40:39
Speaker 1: this chemical or this practice,
40:40 – 40:42
Speaker 1: you can kind of sift through the
40:42 – 40:43
Speaker 1: lens, I guess,
40:43 – 40:45
Speaker 1: and call bs to a lot of things
40:45 – 40:46
Speaker 1: and say this
40:47 – 40:48
Speaker 1: is kind of a quick scheme to
40:48 – 40:49
Speaker 1: make a buck off a farmer again
40:49 – 40:51
Speaker 1: and kind of look at life in the
40:51 – 40:52
Speaker 1: world.
40:52 – 40:53
Speaker 1: What are some examples of
40:53 – 40:55
Speaker 1: moments where you looked
40:57 – 40:59
Speaker 1: at that perspective and changed
40:59 – 41:00
Speaker 1: your opinion or your point of
41:00 – 41:01
Speaker 1: view about something you were
41:01 – 41:02
Speaker 1: considering?
41:03 – 41:05
Speaker 1: Well, just the dry fertilizers,
41:05 – 41:06
Speaker 1: the P and K.
41:07 – 41:09
Speaker 1: After you can see the fertility
41:09 – 41:12
Speaker 1: levels in your soils are just
41:12 – 41:13
Speaker 1: out of this world and they
41:13 – 41:15
Speaker 1: wanted to keep selling you P and
41:15 – 41:16
Speaker 1: K.
41:16 – 41:18
Speaker 1: So that was one of them.
41:18 – 41:19
Speaker 1: And
41:19 – 41:20
Speaker 1: you know, you got to buy this
41:20 – 41:22
Speaker 1: high horsepower equipment to get
41:22 – 41:24
Speaker 1: stuff done and get wide tillage
41:24 – 41:25
Speaker 1: parts or tillage equipment
41:25 – 41:26
Speaker 1: pieces to get stuff done.
41:26 – 41:28
Speaker 1: It's like you don't need to have
41:28 – 41:30
Speaker 1: high horsepower by
41:31 – 41:32
Speaker 1: equipment no more to get some
41:32 – 41:33
Speaker 1: done.
41:33 – 41:35
Speaker 1: We went from having 300 plus
41:35 – 41:37
Speaker 1: horse tractors down to our
41:37 – 41:39
Speaker 1: biggest tractor now is a 305 and
41:39 – 41:41
Speaker 1: everything else on that is lower
41:41 – 41:42
Speaker 1: horsepower than that.
41:42 – 41:44
Speaker 1: So we're getting more done with
41:44 – 41:46
Speaker 1: less equipment, less horsepower,
41:47 – 41:49
Speaker 1: less principal and interest
41:49 – 41:49
Speaker 1: payments.
41:50 – 41:52
Speaker 1: You don't have to get caught on
41:52 – 41:54
Speaker 1: the bandwagon of you have to be
41:54 – 41:56
Speaker 1: X, Y, and Z farmer and buy all
41:56 – 41:56
Speaker 1: this stuff.
42:01 – 42:02
Speaker 1: What have we missed talking
42:02 – 42:03
Speaker 1: about?
42:03 – 42:05
Speaker 1: What are the strengths that
42:05 – 42:06
Speaker 1: you've developed,
42:06 – 42:07
Speaker 1: either you individually or you
42:07 – 42:08
Speaker 1: and your operation,
42:08 – 42:09
Speaker 1: that people would benefit from
42:09 – 42:10
Speaker 1: knowing about?
42:13 – 42:14
Speaker 1: Could you repeat the question?
42:14 – 42:15
Speaker 1: You're good. of cutting out.
42:16 – 42:17
Speaker 1: Yeah. My question is, what are
42:17 – 42:18
Speaker 1: the, what are the things that
42:18 – 42:20
Speaker 1: we've missed talking about?
42:20 – 42:21
Speaker 1: What are the strengths that you
42:21 – 42:23
Speaker 1: have developed or that you have
42:23 – 42:24
Speaker 1: developed in your operation?
42:24 – 42:26
Speaker 1: Either you personally or you as
42:26 – 42:27
Speaker 1: a, as the operation, what are
42:27 – 42:28
Speaker 1: the things that you've become
42:28 – 42:29
Speaker 1: really good at that people would
42:29 – 42:30
Speaker 1: benefit from knowing about?
42:33 – 42:34
Speaker 1: I'd like to question everything,
42:34 – 42:35
Speaker 1: whether it's a good question or
42:35 – 42:36
Speaker 1: a bad question.
42:36 – 42:38
Speaker 1: Someone told me the
42:39 – 42:40
Speaker 1: only dumb question you ask is
42:40 – 42:41
Speaker 1: the one you don't ask.
42:42 – 42:43
Speaker 1: So even if you think it's a
42:43 – 42:44
Speaker 1: silly question, ask it anyhow.
42:45 – 42:45
Speaker 1: So then you'll know.
42:47 – 42:48
Speaker 1: Like I said, that's really
42:48 – 42:50
Speaker 1: helped us change everything
42:50 – 42:51
Speaker 1: we've done. So I've always
42:51 – 42:53
Speaker 1: asked, why do I have to buy this
42:53 – 42:55
Speaker 1: big high horsepower tractor?
42:55 – 42:56
Speaker 1: Or why do we have to buy this
42:56 – 42:57
Speaker 1: traded seed?
42:58 – 42:59
Speaker 1: Or why do I have to till the
42:59 – 43:00
Speaker 1: soil? What is that doing?
43:00 – 43:02
Speaker 1: Or why is water infiltration
43:02 – 43:03
Speaker 1: important?
43:03 – 43:04
Speaker 1: And those just,
43:05 – 43:07
Speaker 1: if you ask the right question,
43:08 – 43:09
Speaker 1: it will steer you in the right
43:09 – 43:10
Speaker 1: direction.
43:10 – 43:12
Speaker 1: And once I understood why
43:13 – 43:15
Speaker 1: it's important to implement all
43:15 – 43:16
Speaker 1: five soil health principles,
43:17 – 43:18
Speaker 1: I mean, you can overcomplicate
43:18 – 43:20
Speaker 1: this journey in a real hurry
43:21 – 43:23
Speaker 1: and get stressed about trying to
43:23 – 43:24
Speaker 1: do everything. But if you just
43:24 – 43:25
Speaker 1: stick to the basics,
43:26 – 43:27
Speaker 1: do the five principles,
43:28 – 43:29
Speaker 1: everything will just fix and
43:29 – 43:30
Speaker 1: correct it.
43:32 – 43:33
Speaker 1: Good.
43:33 – 43:34
Speaker 1: This has been a wonderful
43:34 – 43:35
Speaker 1: conversation, Alex.
43:35 – 43:36
Speaker 1: I've enjoyed it.
43:36 – 43:37
Speaker 1: Where can people connect with
43:37 – 43:38
Speaker 1: you or learn more about your
43:38 – 43:39
Speaker 1: operation?
43:40 – 43:42
Speaker 1: You've all heard our story of
43:42 – 43:44
Speaker 1: the financial struggles we went
43:44 – 43:45
Speaker 1: through.
43:45 – 43:46
Speaker 1: And
43:46 – 43:47
Speaker 1: when we went through this
43:47 – 43:49
Speaker 1: process of adapting regenerative
43:49 – 43:50
Speaker 1: farming,
43:50 – 43:51
Speaker 1: It's what really,
43:51 – 43:54
Speaker 1: truly saved our operation from
43:54 – 43:55
Speaker 1: shutting
43:55 – 43:56
Speaker 1: the doors down and having an
43:56 – 43:57
Speaker 1: auction and walking away from
43:57 – 43:59
Speaker 1: the egg industry completely.
43:59 – 44:00
Speaker 1: So this
44:00 – 44:02
Speaker 1: new farming style has
44:03 – 44:05
Speaker 1: burned itself into my soul.
44:06 – 44:07
Speaker 1: Like I don't
44:08 – 44:09
Speaker 1: want to give it up.
44:09 – 44:10
Speaker 1: It's, it's, you know,
44:10 – 44:13
Speaker 1: connected to me and I have a
44:13 – 44:13
Speaker 1: passion for it.
44:14 – 44:16
Speaker 1: We went through a
44:17 – 44:19
Speaker 1: lot of things that were not very
44:19 – 44:21
Speaker 1: enjoyable between buying a
44:21 – 44:23
Speaker 1: business partner out and free
44:23 – 44:25
Speaker 1: financing with a different bank
44:25 – 44:25
Speaker 1: and equipment.
44:26 – 44:27
Speaker 1: It was bad.
44:28 – 44:30
Speaker 1: And I never wanted that feeling
44:30 – 44:31
Speaker 1: ever again.
44:31 – 44:33
Speaker 1: So I thought, if I could help
44:33 – 44:36
Speaker 1: somebody else out to avoid our
44:36 – 44:38
Speaker 1: costly mistakes or the stress we
44:38 – 44:39
Speaker 1: have.
44:39 – 44:41
Speaker 1: So I just volunteer my time
44:42 – 44:44
Speaker 1: working with our local soil and
44:44 – 44:45
Speaker 1: waters,
44:45 – 44:46
Speaker 1: doing field days.
44:46 – 44:48
Speaker 1: I'll go present on panels.
44:48 – 44:49
Speaker 1: I'll bring equipment out.
44:49 – 44:50
Speaker 1: We'll do planter demos, drill
44:50 – 44:51
Speaker 1: demos,
44:52 – 44:54
Speaker 1: kind of just give my experience
44:54 – 44:54
Speaker 1: to other people.
44:54 – 44:55
Speaker 1: And
44:56 – 44:58
Speaker 1: I've had a great opportunity.
44:58 – 45:00
Speaker 1: with the Minnesota Soil Health
45:00 – 45:01
Speaker 1: Coalition.
45:01 – 45:02
Speaker 1: And I really wanted to take our
45:02 – 45:04
Speaker 1: farm to the next level and go
45:04 – 45:04
Speaker 1: like super advanced.
45:05 – 45:06
Speaker 1: And the coalition was that
45:06 – 45:07
Speaker 1: missing bridge for me.
45:07 – 45:09
Speaker 1: And once I got hooked up with
45:09 – 45:10
Speaker 1: Mark, it's been,
45:11 – 45:12
Speaker 1: let's go hang on.
45:12 – 45:13
Speaker 1: So
45:13 – 45:15
Speaker 1: He's opened the doors and new
45:15 – 45:16
Speaker 1: opportunities and new
45:16 – 45:18
Speaker 1: conversations that I didn't even
45:18 – 45:19
Speaker 1: dream or thinking about.
45:19 – 45:20
Speaker 1: And, you know, I've had
45:20 – 45:22
Speaker 1: conversations with Russell
45:22 – 45:23
Speaker 1: Hedricks, Ray Archuleta, Liz
45:23 – 45:24
Speaker 1: Haney,
45:24 – 45:25
Speaker 1: had this opportunity with you.
45:26 – 45:27
Speaker 1: I mean, it's the endless
45:27 – 45:28
Speaker 1: opportunities to help advance
45:28 – 45:29
Speaker 1: our farm. So,
45:30 – 45:31
Speaker 1: I just kind of devoted,
45:31 – 45:34
Speaker 1: or I told Mark about my passion
45:34 – 45:35
Speaker 1: for this and I told him I want
45:35 – 45:36
Speaker 1: to get helped out more.
45:37 – 45:38
Speaker 1: I think last winter, I became a
45:38 – 45:41
Speaker 1: mentor with the Minnesota Soil
45:41 – 45:42
Speaker 1: Health Coalition, where it's
45:42 – 45:43
Speaker 1: just,
45:42 – 45:44
Speaker 1: I think we have over 75 farmer
45:44 – 45:46
Speaker 1: mentors in the whole state of
45:46 – 45:47
Speaker 1: Minnesota,
45:47 – 45:49
Speaker 1: and talk to people like me and
45:49 – 45:50
Speaker 1: other farmers.
45:50 – 45:52
Speaker 1: We just give our time to talk to
45:52 – 45:53
Speaker 1: other producers about what works
45:53 – 45:55
Speaker 1: for us, what don't work, or how
45:55 – 45:56
Speaker 1: do we do it, or if you have a
45:56 – 45:58
Speaker 1: question about something, we'll
45:58 – 45:59
Speaker 1: track an answer down for you
45:59 – 46:00
Speaker 1: somehow. Although if I don't
46:00 – 46:02
Speaker 1: know it, I'll ask Mark and we'll
46:02 – 46:03
Speaker 1: find somebody for you.
46:03 – 46:04
Speaker 1: So I do that now.
46:05 – 46:07
Speaker 1: I'm also a part -time employee
46:07 – 46:08
Speaker 1: with the coalition, so I get to
46:08 – 46:10
Speaker 1: go to field days and speak with
46:10 – 46:11
Speaker 1: them now.
46:11 – 46:12
Speaker 1: And then
46:12 – 46:14
Speaker 1: we also have a social media page
46:14 – 46:15
Speaker 1: on Facebook,
46:16 – 46:17
Speaker 1: probably our most popular one,
46:17 – 46:18
Speaker 1: where I post quite a bit of
46:18 – 46:21
Speaker 1: stuff too. I try to post weekly.
46:21 – 46:23
Speaker 1: It gets tough sometimes, but I
46:23 – 46:24
Speaker 1: try to post what we're up to and
46:24 – 46:25
Speaker 1: why we're doing it.
46:25 – 46:27
Speaker 1: Just post educational, funny
46:27 – 46:29
Speaker 1: videos or descriptions of a
46:29 – 46:29
Speaker 1: pitcher or something.
46:31 – 46:32
Speaker 1: I don't know, I just like giving
46:32 – 46:34
Speaker 1: back and helping somebody out
46:34 – 46:36
Speaker 1: because I told myself too, I
46:36 – 46:37
Speaker 1: don't want to farm the whole
46:37 – 46:38
Speaker 1: county or the whole state.
46:38 – 46:39
Speaker 1: I have no desire to.
46:41 – 46:42
Speaker 1: If I can farm just enough acres
46:42 – 46:43
Speaker 1: to
46:43 – 46:44
Speaker 1: provide for our families, that's
46:44 – 46:46
Speaker 1: all I need. I don't have to, you
46:46 – 46:48
Speaker 1: know, farm 10 ,000 acres to make
46:48 – 46:49
Speaker 1: a living.
46:49 – 46:51
Speaker 1: We can farm less acres and
46:51 – 46:52
Speaker 1: probably make more money and
46:52 – 46:53
Speaker 1: enjoy doing it.
46:53 – 46:54
Speaker 1: I just want to give that to
46:54 – 46:56
Speaker 1: somebody else too.
46:57 – 46:58
Speaker 1: Thank you, Alex.
46:57 – 47:00
Speaker 1: That is so valuable because I'm
47:01 – 47:02
Speaker 1: very much of the persuasion that
47:02 – 47:04
Speaker 1: What you put out into the world
47:04 – 47:06
Speaker 1: is what gets returned to you and
47:06 – 47:07
Speaker 1: what comes back to you again.
47:08 – 47:09
Speaker 1: And it
47:10 – 47:11
Speaker 1: is really, it is the, what you
47:11 – 47:13
Speaker 1: are describing is the power of
47:13 – 47:14
Speaker 1: community. When you
47:15 – 47:17
Speaker 1: actively engage to support other
47:17 – 47:18
Speaker 1: people and to work with others,
47:19 – 47:20
Speaker 1: you build a community around
47:20 – 47:21
Speaker 1: yourself. And that's something
47:21 – 47:23
Speaker 1: that we are so sadly missing in
47:23 – 47:24
Speaker 1: our world today.
47:24 – 47:25
Speaker 1: If we, if we all view each other
47:25 – 47:27
Speaker 1: as potential competitors instead
47:27 – 47:28
Speaker 1: of collaborators.
47:28 – 47:29
Speaker 1: So
47:28 – 47:30
Speaker 1: thank you for doing that.
47:30 – 47:30
Speaker 1: And thanks for all the work that
47:30 – 47:31
Speaker 1: you're doing in that space.
47:32 – 47:33
Speaker 1: You're welcome.
47:33 – 47:33
Speaker 1: Like I said,
47:33 – 47:35
Speaker 1: the networking is the hugest
47:35 – 47:35
Speaker 1: part.
47:36 – 47:37
Speaker 1: How can we all help each other?
47:38 – 47:40
Speaker 1: Because once we all understand
47:40 – 47:41
Speaker 1: that we're in this together,
47:41 – 47:43
Speaker 1: if all farmers got together and
47:43 – 47:44
Speaker 1: helped each other out, we could
47:44 – 47:45
Speaker 1: change the world.
47:46 – 47:47
Speaker 1: And not just changing our
47:47 – 47:49
Speaker 1: families, I'm talking outside
47:49 – 47:50
Speaker 1: the farm too. We can
47:50 – 47:52
Speaker 1: increase the world with human
47:52 – 47:53
Speaker 1: health, cleaner water, cleaner
47:54 – 47:56
Speaker 1: air, healthier soils, more
47:56 – 47:58
Speaker 1: nutrient -dense crops and
47:58 – 47:59
Speaker 1: produce and healthier livestock.
48:00 – 48:01
Speaker 1: I mean, we physically and truly
48:01 – 48:03
Speaker 1: can change the world the way we
48:03 – 48:05
Speaker 1: farm with everything.
48:05 – 48:06
Speaker 1: Wonderful. Well, thank you,
48:06 – 48:08
Speaker 1: Alex. Thanks for being here.
48:08 – 48:09
Speaker 1: Thank you for sharing your
48:09 – 48:11
Speaker 1: knowledge and wisdom and I look
48:11 – 48:11
Speaker 1: forward to speaking with you
48:11 – 48:12
Speaker 1: again soon.
48:14 – 48:15
Speaker 1: Not a problem. I appreciate this
48:15 – 48:16
Speaker 1: as well. Thank you for the
48:16 – 48:17
Speaker 1: opportunity.
48:17 – 48:17
Speaker 1: It was fun.
48:18 – 48:20
Speaker 1: The team at AEA and I are
48:20 – 48:21
Speaker 1: dedicated to bringing this show
48:21 – 48:23
Speaker 1: to you because we believe that
48:23 – 48:25
Speaker 1: knowledge and information is the
48:25 – 48:26
Speaker 1: foundation of successful
48:26 – 48:28
Speaker 1: regenerative systems.
48:28 – 48:30
Speaker 1: At AEA, we believe that growing
48:30 – 48:32
Speaker 1: better quality food and making
48:32 – 48:34
Speaker 1: more money from your crops is
48:34 – 48:34
Speaker 1: possible.
48:35 – 48:36
Speaker 1: And since 2006,
48:36 – 48:37
Speaker 1: we've worked with leading
48:37 – 48:38
Speaker 1: professional growers to help
48:38 – 48:39
Speaker 1: them do just that.
48:40 – 48:42
Speaker 1: At AEA, we don't guess.
48:42 – 48:43
Speaker 1: We test. We analyze.
48:44 – 48:45
Speaker 1: And we provide recommendations
48:45 – 48:47
Speaker 1: based on scientific data,
48:47 – 48:48
Speaker 1: knowledge, and experience.
48:49 – 48:50
Speaker 1: We've developed products that
48:50 – 48:51
Speaker 1: are uniquely positioned to help
48:51 – 48:53
Speaker 1: growers make more money with
48:53 – 48:54
Speaker 1: regenerative agriculture.
48:55 – 48:56
Speaker 1: If you are a professional grower
48:56 – 48:58
Speaker 1: who believes in testing instead
48:58 – 48:58
Speaker 1: of guessing,
48:59 – 49:00
Speaker 1: someone who believes in a
49:00 – 49:02
Speaker 1: better, more regenerative way to
49:02 – 49:02
Speaker 1: grow,
49:03 – 49:05
Speaker 1: visit advancingecoag .com and
49:05 – 49:07
Speaker 1: contact us to see if AEA is
49:07 – 49:07
Speaker 1: right for you.
