Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
Editorials & Other Articles
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Farming weird ( trying, and thriving, outside the corporate paradigm) [View all]
Farming weird
August 29, 2023
By Art Cullen | Storm Lake Times Pilot
We had the pleasure of attending a Practical Farmers of Iowa field day at the Zack Smith farm just east of Buffalo Center in Winnebago County. The heat dome lifted for a glorious Saturday morning as Smith and friends toured us through test plots of corn next to forage pasture — and down the pasture lanes creep autonomous, solar-powered livestock pens with chickens, goats, hogs and calves feeding on the succotash.
...
Costs are down, earthworms are abundant, the soil is soft and full of life, and yields are up — over 300 bushels per acre on the corn, year after year in severe drought, with minimal chemical costs.
We have been following Smith through the years to see how his experiment is standing up. People thought he was cracked to give up a lucrative Pioneer dealership a few years ago to pursue his passion of “farming weird” full-time. His dad, Raymond, is terribly proud of the results although he can barely believe the numbers.
Over the field, the skeptics will say, Smith is only yielding 150 bushels per acre. He points out that they fail to factor those hogs munching on last year’s corn stalks. He told the crowd of 115 farmers (twice the size of his field day two years ago) that if you can fetch the prevailing premium price for pasture-raised meat those forage strips could be yielding $10,000-15,000 per acre.
more...https://www.stormlake.com/articles/farming-weird/
August 29, 2023
By Art Cullen | Storm Lake Times Pilot
We had the pleasure of attending a Practical Farmers of Iowa field day at the Zack Smith farm just east of Buffalo Center in Winnebago County. The heat dome lifted for a glorious Saturday morning as Smith and friends toured us through test plots of corn next to forage pasture — and down the pasture lanes creep autonomous, solar-powered livestock pens with chickens, goats, hogs and calves feeding on the succotash.
...
Costs are down, earthworms are abundant, the soil is soft and full of life, and yields are up — over 300 bushels per acre on the corn, year after year in severe drought, with minimal chemical costs.
We have been following Smith through the years to see how his experiment is standing up. People thought he was cracked to give up a lucrative Pioneer dealership a few years ago to pursue his passion of “farming weird” full-time. His dad, Raymond, is terribly proud of the results although he can barely believe the numbers.
Over the field, the skeptics will say, Smith is only yielding 150 bushels per acre. He points out that they fail to factor those hogs munching on last year’s corn stalks. He told the crowd of 115 farmers (twice the size of his field day two years ago) that if you can fetch the prevailing premium price for pasture-raised meat those forage strips could be yielding $10,000-15,000 per acre.
more...https://www.stormlake.com/articles/farming-weird/
1 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read