For soil health practices to be truly sustainable, they must be economically viable, environmentally beneficial, and socially supported. As the first blog in this series illustrates, the Land Stewardship Project’s Soil Health Hubs sit at the intersection of these three “legs of the stool.” “Economic” and “environmental” viability may seem like no-brainers, but why is the “social” component of building soil health so key? It turns out that without it, the other two legs of the stool have little chance of remaining balanced long-term. Acquiring information on innovative practices and systems that are not part of the mainstream requires the social connections that come with community. And the social component of the hubs is a two-way street. Farmers socially support LSP’s Soil Health Hubs by participating in them, recruiting their neighbors, colleagues, and friends, and providing essential feedback. In return, they receive invaluable social and community currency, which are critical resources in the potentially isolating world of farming.
In the rolling hills outside of Zumbro Falls in southeastern Minnesota, Reed Duncan and his wife, Denise, exemplify the social and community value that LSP’s Soil Health Hubs provide to farmers such as themselves. This summer, Reed went from being a brand-new Hub member to joining three soil health-related events in under three weeks. He kicked off his participation by hosting a Soil Health Hub meeting on his farm where he grows Kernza, oats, corn, a four-way blend of cover crops, and hay. This fall he will add wheat to his rotation at the request of Denise. He also pasture raises beef cattle, pigs, and laying hens. Reed wanted to host fellow Hub farmers so he could hear their thoughts on his fencing dilemmas and share his own experience growing perennial Kernza for grain, animal feed, and straw.
At the meeting he hosted, Reed shared his cover cropping goals. Rather than setting these goals in isolation, Reed and Denise received direct feedback from the other farmers and collectively considered their plan for the coming year. This communication is a life raft for farmers growing crops outside of the conventional corn-soy-corn-soy monocrop rotation, and thus unable to get production information via traditional channels such as land grant universities or input suppliers. Farmers provide each other with lived experience, advice, and diverse perspectives on problem-solving.
Before heading out on a tour of his family’s farm, Reed said to the other farmers gathered in his barn, “I like coming to these things because I like learning what everybody else is doing and then throwing my two cents into it if I have any. Now we’re transitioning to organic, and there are a couple of organic guys in this group. I want to get some of their ideas.” Everyone in Reed’s Soil Health Hub is actively farming, so they can exchange localized technical knowledge that meets the moment. “I like coming to these because it’s local. I’ve been to a lot [of events] that are a ways away. An hour away can make a big difference in farming practices. I like building off of what works for my neighbors,” said one farmer at the meeting.
At one point, the group walked over a nearby hill to see an area where Reed and Denise are struggling with fencing a protected waterway. The group threw out ideas and trouble-shot solutions. Rather than a top-down perspective, the Hub members spoke from their direct experience moving animals, avoiding waterways, and working within different government funding programs. As one farmer put it, “You learn from other people’s mistakes or successes.”
The following month, Reed attended two more soil health-related events. First, he attended an event sponsored by the Land Stewardship Project, organized by the Practical Farmers of Iowa, and hosted by Eric Heins of Hoosier Ridge Ranch. (You can learn more about that event in episode 375 of our Ear to the Ground podcast series.) Later that week, he and his teenaged daughter, Shanae, drove almost 60 miles south to attend another LSP Soil Health Hub meeting at Brad and Leslea Hodgson’s farm near Fountain, Minn. This meeting focused on grazing, native species habitat, and burning as a management strategy. Despite emphasizing different farming techniques and topics, social value remained.
Reed absorbed a wealth of knowledge from his fellow farmers during the meeting. He also participated in meaningful, relevant, and timely conversations that are applicable to operations like his own. When asked what he took away from the meeting at the Hodgsons, Reed said, “They’re doing similar stuff that I am trying to do. I would love to implement some of their grazing practices on my farm. I like how they’re moving their cattle, and I want to give that a try.”
At all the meetings that Reed participated in, there was time for both technical farming-focused conversation and organic community building. Meetings always include a snack or meal that gives farmers time to pull one another aside and talk about specifics, catch up personally, or get to know someone new. We refer to this as “talking shop.” Farmers often comment on the value of the from-the-ground-up community building that happens at these events. As Mike Rupprecht, a Soil Health Hub member and veteran grazier, said in the first blog in this series, “Why am I here? Because I love being around people who are farming like Brad and Leslea are.”
If a meeting goes as planned, farmers should leave feeling like they have learned something and have a community to fall back on when they run into problems and have more questions. “Once you go to one you would probably want to go to more to keep learning. It might not be the most complicated thing; it might be something simple. Like gosh, why didn’t I think of that?” said Reed when asked what he would tell a neighbor who might be interested in participating in his Soil Health Hub.
That’s the power of these hubs — they weave social sustainability into the farming landscape.
Sarah Wescott is an LSP soil health organizer based in southeastern Minnesota. More information on the Soil Health Hubs is available from Wescott, Alex Romano, or Shea-Lynn Ramthun. More on building soil health profitably is available here.