Winter can be hard on soils and on the organisms that live in them. Our livelihood is dependent on healthy soils, and those soil bugs, so we take steps to keep them happy and comfortable all winter long.
🌱 We don’t till, or plow, our fields. No-till farming means less traffic across our field (less compaction) and less disturbance within the soil.
🌱 Because we are no-till, you see all of the “trash” from our cash crop on the field. That trash provides protection for the soil, and food for our soil bugs, all winter long. Every part of the plant has nutrients. When we leave the trash on the field it breaks down and returns those nutrients to our soils, where next year’s crop can use it.
🌱 We plant cover crops- crops planted in between cash crops and not for harvesting. This is triticale, one of our favorite covers. We could write a book on how cool cover crops are, but here’s the quick run down on what this guy will do: break up the soil, allow water and oxygen to better infiltrate, make nutrients more accessible, increase organic matter, provide food for the soil bugs and more.
🚜 Producer Note: This triticale was broadcast with fertilizer at a rate of 50 pounds/ acre.