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Red Rooster Ranch: Spreading the Cover Crop Message

By Connor Dunn
November 6, 2020

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Staff from the Land Stewardship Project’s Bridge to Soil Health Program have been getting out and visiting farms the past few months. These visits are primarily to: network and meet with farmers in our Soil Builders’ Network, see what practices people are trying out on the landscape, determine what farmers want more information on, and look for ingenuity in the countryside to share with the wider farming community.

One farm I visited recently is Red Rooster Ranch, run by Mervin and Cherlyn Beachy. Ensuring healthy soil is a fixture of everything they do on the farm. Mervin first got into soil health by getting interested in the nutrient density of the food he was growing, and the connection between healthy soil and healthy humans.

One way they regenerate the soil on the farm is through growing and selling cover crop seed locally. The farm is full of different cover cropping experiments and rotations. This year, in the field corn, they did a side-by-side interseeding trial comparing cover crop mixes with and without early cultivation in the corn.

They have tried all sorts of different rotations in their fields, including oats followed by warm season cover crops for their livestock. Cover crops are not just used in their larger fields, the gardens have buckwheat/cowpeas growing in-between the sweet corn rows, cereal rye between the green beans, and various warm season cover crop mixes on fallow parts of the garden.

Mervin also works as a certified forage specialist for Bryon Seeds out of Indiana. He serves as a consultant to farmers looking for the right rotations and forages. Through his relationship with Bryon Seeds, Mervin has access to a wide array of cover crops — including mixes from Europe.

“Europe seems to have fine-tuned a lot of their cover cropping, as it is required to grow covers and have an extended crop rotation. They have specific cover crop mixes for growing corn, or wheat, or any other crop,” says Mervin. He has been trialing out these mixes in small plots side-by-side, so it is easy to compare and for people to come and see for themselves.

The Rock Creek and Upper Cedar River watersheds, of which the farm is a part, have been focal points for reducing erosion and improving water quality. Different watershed groups have asked Mervin to speak at events about soil health and cover cropping. Mervin has been drilling cover crops for the past five years and now annually custom seeds cover crops on about 2,000 acres, mostly cereal rye, for neighboring farms. Just prior to my visit, Mervin and Cherlyn hosted a field day on their farm. Attendees could see the cover cropping mixes and experiments in person.

When asked how we get more people to become interested in cover crops, Mervin responds, “Well, that’s a million dollar-question, I would suggest things like longer rent agreements, so extended rotations and diverse covers can be used, and so farmers can see their return on investment. Corn and soybean markets can be stressful, but focusing on soil health can be a game changer for reducing inputs and yield variability.”

Mervin adds, “It starts with things like this, having a conversation with one farmer, who then talks to five other people and then it spreads.”

Connor Dunn is a former LSP soil health organizer.

Category: Blog

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September 2025

Wednesday September 3

10:00 am – 3:00 pm
LSP Montevideo Office Coffee & Conversation
Wednesday September 3
10:00 am – 3:00 pm
LSP Montevideo Office Coffee & Conversation
111 N 1st St, Montevideo, MN 56265, USA

On the first Wednesday of each month, the Land Stewardship Project hosts coffee and conversation at our downtown Montevideo office (111 North First Street), and we hope you will have time to join us at the next one on Wednesday, Sept. 3, from 10 a.m. to noon.

The open house-style mornings feature a quick update on recent LSP work and then plenty of time to enjoy your coffee and build community the old-fashioned way, by talking face-to-face. This month we will give an update on our work to combat consolidation in animal agriculture and provide an overview of our recent town hall in Paynesville with Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison.  

 Come when you can and stay as long as you like! Don’t hesitate to bring along a friend or two — we always enjoy meeting someone new.

For more information, contact LSP’s Matthew Sheets at msheets@landstewardshipproject.org.

Friday September 5

9:00 am – 4:00 pm
Soil Health Field Day on the Cotter Farm: Austin
Friday September 5
9:00 am – 4:00 pm
Soil Health Field Day on the Cotter Farm: Austin
50203 205th St, Austin, MN 55912, USA

 Sign up today for a get-together down on Tom Cotter’s Farm. This field day brings together food companies, local farmers and other professionals in agriculture — a perfect opportunity for networking and discussion.
Hear from soil health experts, then board the Topless Bus to take a tour of Tom’s farm. A FREE TACO BAR LUNCH will featureTom’s own grass-fed beef, along with authentic, homemade tortillas and rice. Featured speakers include soil scientist Kris Nichols and agronomist Joe Ailts.
 
You can check out the field day flier here. For more details and to register, click here.

Saturday September 6

9:00 am – 5:00 pm
Soil & Food Health Field Day: Austin
Saturday September 6
9:00 am – 5:00 pm
Soil & Food Health Field Day: Austin
50203 205th St, Austin, MN 55912, USA

Details are here.

Monday September 8

7:00 pm – 8:30 pm
Anne Biklé in conversation with Ross Evelsizer: What Your Food Ate
Monday September 8
7:00 pm – 8:30 pm
Anne Biklé in conversation with Ross Evelsizer: What Your Food Ate
Pulpit Rock Brewing Company, 207 College Dr, Decorah, IA 52101, USA

Join Anne Biklé (co-author, What Your Food Ate: How to Restore Our Land and Reclaim Our Health) and NEIA RC & D Natural Resource Projects Director, Ross Evelsizer, for a conversation and Q & A session followed by a book signing. Everyone is invited to this free event sponsored by the Oneota Valley Literary Foundation, with support from Pulpit Rock Brewing and Dragonfly Books.
 
Details on the Sept. 8 event are here.

Tuesday September 9

9:00 am – 3:00 pm
'Growing Resilience' Field Day at Churchill Reserve Grass-Fed Beef
Tuesday September 9
9:00 am – 3:00 pm
'Growing Resilience' Field Day at Churchill Reserve Grass-Fed Beef
36001 63rd Avenue Way Cannon Falls, MN, 55009

Spend a day with Clean River Partners and farmers discussing their experiences with different conservation management practices as they navigate the challenges of making a livelihood, accessing land and markets, and dealing with unpredictable weather conditions.

Join farmers Bryan Lips (BT Farms), Wendy Johnson (Jóia Food & Fiber Farm), Todd Churchill (Churchill Reserve), Helen Forsythe (Feed the People Farm Cooperative), and more, to discuss topics like wide-row corn and cover crops, the Minnesota Agricultural Water Quality Certification Program, agroforestry, growing small grains, and prescribed grazing. 

For more information and to register, click here. 

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