Tag Archives: Missouri farms

The real dirt on regenerative farming

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Regenerative agriculture is a practice that is increasingly gaining notice from the general public.  However, within the farmer community — and beyond, more recently — there is some growing conflict on what regenerative actually means.

Are all organic farms automatically “regenerative” without further action? Can farm animals be raised in any way and be considered “regenerative”? Are small-scale, sustainable farms regenerative by default?  The answer to all the above questions is no. So what does regenerative farming mean? The good news is that it’s not complicated.

Regenerative agriculture means that farmers follow practices to make sure that the soil is regenerating, or improving. The essence of this concept s that farmers can use a balance of plants and animals, working together in a natural harmony, to draw carbon out of the atmosphere and put it back into the soil in the form of organic matter.

For a long time,   one of the biggest farming buzzwords was sustainable agriculture. But when you stop and think about it, reaching some level of sustainability just isn’t good enough for the problem we are facing with the environment. Think about it this way, if you had a cut on your arm, would you want it to sustain —not get better or worse — or would you want it to regenerate tissue and heal? This is the same idea we use in agriculture, how can we reframe soil as a living thing, and help it to regenerate?

Regenerative agriculture improves the ability of soil microorganisms to thrive, and, as a result, it increases the soil’s ability to infiltrate water. Simple. However,  it represents a radical departure from business as usual in the world of farming.  

Watch this video to find out more about where your sausage comes from.

One of the most well-known proponents of regenerative agriculture is North Dakota farmer Gabe Brown. You can find more details about his 5 principles of regenerative agriculture at his website: brownsranch.us

Here are some of the details of Gabe Brown’s regenerative practices: 

1. Keep a layer of armor on the soil surface. This means that crop stubble or grass residue is left on the surface in large quantities. Think of this as “mulch.” It slows down rainfall, so it doesn’t immediately run off and has a better chance to percolate into the ground.

 2. No mechanical tillage. Tillage provides a way for farmers to manage weed problems and loosen the soil. However, a significant amount of carbon is released when the soil is turned and exposed to the atmosphere.

 3. Maintain a living root in the ground. Living roots release liquid carbon (as sugar) underground and feed the soil biology. Beneficial microorganisms feed on these sugars and create underground communities.

 4. Diversity.  Have LOTS of types of plants growing at the same time. Each plant releases a different “flavor” of sugar (liquid carbon). These different sugars attract a diversity of microorganisms.

 5. Here comes my favorite…integrate livestock into every plan! The positive animal impact is the process of assisting the earth to digest plant matter and keep those nutrients cycling from plant to animals to soil and back to plant. It turns out that if you graze livestock in the right way, you get more and more grass with less and less human interference. . 

As time goes on, I’m sure you will hear more about restorative agriculture.

To distinguish whether a farmer is truly living up to the standards outlined above about restorative farming is relatively easy. The litmus test is as simple as the definition. Do you see lush, green grass? Do you see groups of animals that are tightly bunched and continually moving over fresh, clean ground? If you see that in pictures or at a local farm,, the chances are that soil life is on the rise and carbon is being sequestered in the ground. 

Finding farms that use restorative agriculture processes  is quite simple. It is also important that more and more farms incorporate these practices as time move on. The health of our planet depends upon it. 

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The sun and regenerative farming – The magic of photosynthesis

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6H2O + 6CO2 = C6H12O6 + 6O2

There it is. Photosynthesis. The miracle that makes life on earth possible.

For those of us who aren’t chemists, the above equation essentially reads:

Take six molecules of water plus six molecules of carbon dioxide, thrown them into the blender of plant physiology, and, somehow, you create one large molecule of sugar and six molecules of oxygen.

Just take a moment to let that sink in. The plant takes in water and CO2 and releases sugar and oxygen. This still blows my mind. The oxygen we are breathing right now, at some time in the not so distant past, was exhaled by grass or trees. When we breathe out CO2. They breathe IT in.  The other byproduct of this chemical reaction is sugar. Which brings us to another miracle of life on earth: Grass.

Stomata are the tiny mouths on the leaf of plants. There are a whopping 300 of these “mouths” per square millimeter that take in CO2 during respiration. These “mouths” are like solar panels that start the magical process that turns carbon dioxide into sugar.

What happens is a change in energy from one form to another. Solar energy is transformed into calories. That alone is incredible. For most people who have studied photosynthesis in high school biology, this is the end of the story. In reality, it is just part of the story. The miracle of photosynthesis only gets more incredible, the more you dig in.

Some of these sugars created in this process run all the way through the plant from top to bottom. Many of these sugars are released from the roots. This sugary substance is injected underground by the plant’s roots; as part of the process, there is no waste.

A symbiotic relationship exists between the grass roots, the beneficial bacteria in the soil, and mycorrhizal fungi. The plant roots feed the fungi these sugars — in the form of liquid carbon — and in turn, the fungi send out tubes, called hyphae, that shoot enzymes into rock to break it down and extract essential minerals and nutrients, which are delivered back to the plant roots.

Mycorrhizal fungi serve as the conduit for nutrients in exchange for sugar. The hyphae help plants access nutrients which are outside of their normal range or grasp. They also create an incredible root-like network that holds the soil and help prevents erosion. When bacteria and fungi complete their life cycle, they decompose and become organic matter.

In some places, 40% of all organic matter in the soil is composed of decomposing mycorrhizal fungi.  

So, why is that good news?

First, the process sucks carbon out of the atmosphere (where we don’t want it) and puts it back in the ground (where we do want it) as organic matter. Every farmer wants organic matter in their soil, it is what creates topsoil. This process is called carbon sequestration, and it is the most exciting win/win scenario we can imagine.

This organic matter is a key to regenerative farming. It will allow for MORE grass to grow, which means MORE cows and pigs can graze, which means more delicious meat, more farmers, and more carbon leaving the atmosphere and entering the soil where it belongs.

Photosynthesis is a great example of something so common, that we generally don’t think about it very deeply. But it is truly an original example of simplicity and elegance that fuels our world.

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The simple and sacred beauty of raising pigs naturally

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I’ve just walked back in from tending to our pastured pigs. Rotating them to new pasture is quite a process and usually takes about 30 minutes.

But that work time allowed me to watch purple martins dip and roll through the sky. I listened to red-winged blackbirds and western meadowlarks sing, and I heard woodpeckers tap, tap, tapping their way through the woods.

Singing Prairie Farm is brimming with life these days. We hear wild turkeys and coyotes daily, and consider each one a blessing — yes, even the howling wild canines. A hundred kinds of birds fill the air with their song.

The Prairie here, quite literally, sings.

Our family farm is in the northeast corner of Missouri. The land here is an ocean of small rolling hills and creeks interspersed equally with cattle pasture and timber. There is not a truly flat spot of ground within walking distance of my kitchen table.

Our pigs run over about 50 acres of ground. Each year we raise about 250 pigs on pasture in a way that is careful of existing wildlife, sequesters carbon, enriches our grassland ecosystem, and offers a level of respect and caring to the pigs that we would want if we were them.  

We raise our pigs in groups of 35 to 50; currently, a single strand of electrified poly-wire, hung about 18 inches off the ground is enough to keep them in the correct paddock. We rotate them when they have eaten all the grass and fertilized the run sufficiently for the year. That grazing process typically takes about a week. In the cool of spring and fall, we keep them moving about the prairie. When the heat of summer descends upon us, they move into the woods where the breezes are cool, and there is plenty of shade.

singing prairie farms naturally raised pigs

Moving them isn’t a very cumbersome process. I simply move the pigs’ feeders, waterer, and rain shelters into the new fenced run. Then, I lift up one of the tread-in fence posts that hold the electric wire so they can easily run beneath. The moment the wire goes up, they usually hesitate briefly, remembering that just a second ago there had been an electric wire in place. Then the “alpha” animal usually leads the “run,” as they wander over to the feeders which are full of about 8 pounds of 100% non-GMO grain. Quite often there are trees in the run for them to scratch their backs on. There are always acorns, worms, grubs, grass, roots, and clover to eat during the short transition.

Raising pigs this way allows the pigs to live happily, while also letting them get plenty of exercise. It allows pigs to experience life naturally and happily in a mostly stress-free environment. They spend their ample free-time mostly eating grass. This consumption of grass is what is so good for us, the humans.

One day we will harvest these special, sacred animals and consume them. In the roundabout mechanics of our digestion, we will replace the old, worn out cells of our bodies with the new fresh cells of their bodies. The realization that one day their flesh will be my flesh and that their blood in some small way will become my blood creates a unique bond. One that can never be dismissed or taken for granted.

At times like this, I think of the Lakota Sioux people. As Native Americans of the Northern Plains, their lives revolved around the buffalo. Its hide, its bones, and its meat were their mainstays. Their culture would not have thrived in that arid and cold habitat if not for their relationship to the buffalo. The fact that they required the buffalo to survive made them approach the species with sacred reverence.  

Today, it’s important to pause to recognize the sacredness of all the food we depend upon to build and fuel our bodies. Let’s all take responsibility to care for both plants and animals in a tender and respectful way.

There is a simple beauty each day in raising pigs naturally here on Singing Prairie Farms.