52 Week Club- Week 1 "Just Begin"

Jul 15, 2022

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It's Friday morning; Hesston had a busy morning eating mango and eggs, playing by himself while I read, knocking over bowls of dog water and treasured mugs, bath time and now a nap. Ah, nap time. This is when I often look at my to-dos and say to myself, "Just begin."

Yesterday I met with Jackie Eshelman, my friend, one of my teachers, and one of my favorite co-conspirators. Jackie is many things, in the context of our work together she is a soil health/ ecological health monitor and co-owner of UVE, our region's Savory Institute hub. She recently completed an intensive course with Nicole Masters, the CREATE course. Jackie has been monitoring our farm's ecological outcomes for the past 3 seasons, and this year her deep dive into the microbiological life of soils is informing our management in a new and exciting way.

Our meeting yesterday was to review soil sample tests from our Home Farm, and from a new lease we took over this spring, a farm I'll refer to as M1. Nicole Masters referred to this as the smug test, when you take a look at how good you're doing and compare that to of your neighbors' outcomes. Yes, there is some smugness in this. Frankly, the hot mess that is the new lease M1 we have taken on, it is now our responsibility, so the smugness has shifted to, "Oh shit, we have so much healing to do..." A perfect example of how our life here on land is often a deep breath followed by the mantra "Just Begin."

Before I lean into some smugness, I want to highlight my first takeaway from our soil tests. While our Home Farm is doing pretty well, we have plenty to improve and learning new methods to wake up biologically sleepy soils is step one. We must lift our calcium levels, and add more carbon to the soil to create greater porosity. We will be creating more organic matter if we can accelerate the abundance of fungal and bacterial life. That's where my focus is at for Home Farm.

The next biggest takeaway, was the comparison of key minerals and nutrient between our Home Farm, and the new lease "M1". For a little background on M1; the farmland has been conventionally farmed for many years by other farmers, we took over the lease/ management this spring. The land is adjacent to our Home Farm, according to USGS maps it should be the same soil type (Clay Loam), but the management has degraded the soil structure so much it's not a different soil type (Sandy Loam.) The land has been mono-cropped with a classic protocol of NPK (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium) fertilizer amendments, along with herbicides, pesticides and fungicides as considered needed. I had assumed the presence of those key nutrients would be decent given the consistent application of NPK fertilizers, but what the soil tests reveal is SO INTERESTING.

To put this into context I'll briefly explain that Home Farm has been Organically farmed for approximately 8 years, we have managed Home Farm for 5 seasons. We have never applied synthetic fertilizers, herbicides or pesticides. Manure, diverse cover crops, rotational/ adaptive grazing and biodynamic influences have been our fertility protocols.

Let's compare the most basic soil nutrient data between these two pieces of farmland that sit side by side geographically. Beyond NPK there is a lot of deeper information we have gathered regarding trace mineral levels, bacterial and fungal life, water holding capacity and other key soil health indicators, but for now the basics of NPK which every single farmer cares about will tell the story. Keep in mind now, M1 has seen the application of NPK fertilizers year after year, and Home Farm has not ever, under our management.

M1 NPK Levels

N= .8

P= 15.4

K= 146

Home Farm NPK Levels

N= 13.7

P= 59.2

K= 248

At M1, magnesium/ salt levels are also very high, so while this soil has little to no aggregate structure it also has no porosity. Essentially it's been managed into becoming sandy compacted soils with nowhere for nutrients to bond. Therefore, even when NPK fertilizers are applied year after year, nothing sticks.

So, that farmer has just wasted a lot of his money, his time, his most precious resources, and all those compounds are ultimately draining off into the tributaries and screwing our river ecosystem. What a waste.

When I looked at these numbers side by side, I could not stop thinking about how many resources were poured into those M1 soils in the form of synthetic fertilizers to infuse these dying soils with the nutrients needed to grow crops, but look at the outcome. So much money, so many resources, so much runoff into our tributaries, so much loss of soil structure, so much loss of vitality. Despite years and years of NPK inputs, the soils are so constipated, there is no retention of nutrients, meanwhile soil structure and biological life in the soil is trashed.

Recently I've come to some clarity about how my approach to talking about conventional vs regenerative/ Organic/ holistic land management must shift. Regenerative/Organic farming isn't just about altruism, this is better business. How will we shift the minds of the most powerful and profit driven agriculturalists? Show them the numbers, the numbers don't lie.

These soils we are looking at healing at M1, this is what a majority of America's farmland is looking like these days after decades of lies sold to farmers. The chemical dependency the farming industry has been tricked into, IS NOT WORKING. What we have are farmers and soils that are so chemically dependent, if they don't apply that infusion of nutrients each season, those soils have next to no nutrients in them. Let me also add some nuance in here, I believe there are specific circumstances when the application of an herbicide in a certain context is the right move to assist a long term restoration effort. We have never utilized herbicides, I hope we never have to, but I wanted to say that so any reader doesn't take this piece and apply blanket conclusions. For most of these farmlands and farmers, coming off the sauce cold-turkey isn't an option. The transition will have to be done in stages, we have no time to waste, just begin.

In 2014 the UN made this statement:

"If the current rate of soil degradation continues, we may have just 60 harvests left before all of the world’s topsoil is depleted. "

At the time this estimate was made, one-third of the world’s topsoil had already been depleted. That was six years ago, so let’s call it 54 harvests left.

How emblematic the state of our chemically dependent soils are, to the state of our society's healthcare/ sickcare system of this era. Human health and soil health are OF COURSE interconnected. The foods you eat, even the veggies or meats you think are healthy, if they are grown on or fed a diet coming from these kinds of soils, there is little to no nutrition in those foods. According to Nicole Masters, nutrient density in foods is down 40-60% compared to preindustrial times. The vegan/ mono-cropped/ soy/ pea protein/ chickpea (insert 50 other ingredients here) Impossible Burger ingredients are coming from these sick soils as well, in fact that industry is PERPETUATING the practices that lead to these sick soils/ sick humans. Veganism isn't the answer to restoring soil health or human health, biodiversity or increasing water holding capacity. Sorry to burst that corporate-funded marketing bubble.

When looking at the numbers, side by side, I ask myself, "Where is the success keeping farmers hooked? Is the next generation of these farming families staying on the farm or returning to work on the farm? Are the profits reflecting that this model is successful? Are the soils proving to be resilient through climactic stress?" No, no and no.

I understand how we got here. Our economic system is not one of a free market, give me a break, this is a corporatocracy and the chemical companies have controlled the market, the research institutions, the conferences, the education of an entire generation of farmers. The farmers have suffered, the soils have suffered and all of us who eat food are suffering in the form of degrading health.

It's easy to be sold something that provides a short turnaround solution. A farmer takes a soil test, the field man tells him this is the cocktail his soils need, it gets applied and for that season the farmer has the temporary fix the soil needs to product. It's daunting to look at the degraded state of M1 and know it's up to us to put in the years of rehabilitation it will take for this to be healthy farmland again. Like cutting off a junkie from their supply, these soils will have a period of systemic come-down before it can be on a path to homeostasis again. It's just all the other daunting things we take on here, Chris and I. We just begin.

It's never been more important to take a hard look at the outcomes of our decisions. In order for the farmers to shift their models and have a chance to peel back the façade of chemical promises and lies, the financial model and the governing bodies will need to support the time, the detox, and the rehabilitation of transitioning a mass swath of farmland to regenerative/Organic/ living soils systems.

Let me leave you with the reason I feel incredible hope based on momentum we see here, as boots on the ground, surrounded by what has been conventional farmland. The farmland at M1 was under lease by a farmer for many years, but the landowner approached us and asked us if we would consider taking it over and helping to transition it to Organic. That is profound change and it illuminates the shift coming. A neighboring farmer sent me a text earlier this year, expressing his desire to help his family make the shift after generations of doing it a certain way. He began recently connecting the dots that the same corporations controlling the pharmaceutical companies, control the farm chemical and seed companies.

If freedom as a virtual in rural America is as strong as it appears, I see a collective waking up to the freedom from chemical dependency in agricultural as an ethos we can all connect upon.

How to we break free of the chemical agriculture lies? Just begin. Begin with testing some of the protocols outlined in Nicole Master's work on just a section of land. Reduce the inputs on your fields each year as you increase the application of these soil health protocols to rebuild the biology in the soil. It doesn't have to be (often it can't be) all or nothing. Just begin. Soon enough, I believe any farmer who starts on the path will quickly appreciate the dollars staying in his pocket and out of the hands of the chemical companies, the increased retention of nutrients, and soon enough the increased resilience his land will have to the climactic extremes we are all living and farming through.

We are doing our best to organize our data and record our observations of changes through photos and soil samples, as well as written observations year to year. We will continue to share this information as we transition the M1 property and continue our efforts here at Home Farm. We hope that our dedication to this learning and record keeping will help other farmers interested in building health and prosperity for the long haul.

Want to support our soil restoration work? Buy a Meat Box from our farm!

Want to be a part of the 52 Week Club: Agrarian Writings? Post your “Just Begin” piece here in the comment section! I can’t wait to read your poem, ramble, song, essay or even just a piece of feedback to my thoughts.

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52 Week Club- Week 1 "Just Begin"