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The Wonder of Farming with Nature

John Snyder’s Soil Health Journey Started with a Question: Where are the Worms?

By Barb Sogn-Frank
October 22, 2021

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Ben and John Snyder discuss their soil health practices with Minnesota Commissioner of Agriculture Thom Petersen.

Some five decades ago, a young aspiring farmer named John Snyder brought his bride Bernadette back to Minnesota from Tennessee to begin their farm and family dream together. The newlyweds settled in on a piece of rolling farmland near Preston in southeastern Minnesota where oak savanna forests, limestone ridges, and prairie meet. That first farmhouse had no running water, but it was home. And with just a few hundred dollars in the bank, they launched their life’s work with cattle, dairying, growing corn, soybeans and a family.

Fast forward to October 202I: their farm dream has taken on proportions they’d never have imagined decades ago. In addition to conventional row crops and hay, the Snyders also raise hogs and goats. All along, as John and son Ben planned, planted and harvested, they took care observing their land, its weather, and water patterns. They paid attention to the farm’s wildlife and the health of their crops and livestock as carefully as they managed seasonal planting, production cycles, and farm finances.

Over time, John got concerned about some things he was observing on the farm. “Something was wrong with my livestock – puffy joints, ornery…I went to the vet and he recommended no Roundup Ready infused feed and to go with non-GMO feed. I did, and the animals got healthier and happier,” he says. “I think Roundup is doing more damage than we know. I’m talking as a farmer here, I’m not a radical, left-wing, socialist…There’s something going on there. I got a lot to learn and I think we all do.”

Soil erosion and the lack of life he’d been noticing in his soil bothered him too. Where were the worms?

Snyder says his brother, who has some of the best farmland in the area, loves to fish. When it was time to go drop a line, he’d say, “I gotta go to the Amish to get some worms.” Even though John’s brother’s farm looked great, John says, “His soil didn’t have the life and diversity that you find in Amish country where they use more diverse cropping and livestock integration.”

John and Ben made the switch from Roundup Ready seed to non-GMO and organic production. That required taking a different approach to weed control that relies on a rotary hoe, a cultivator, and an electric weed zapper along with a mix of cover crops. John’s learned that, “…timing is critical. You’re not a windshield farmer anymore. Next year I’ll do barley. Also, clover, alfalfa, and grass, and then I hay it for a couple of rounds. You gotta break up the cycle, you gotta have oats or beans. All your weeds germinate at different times so you gotta change up your tillage.”

They switched to spring interseeding of cover crops in standing corn. About 200 of their 700 acres are now either certified organic or in transition away from conventional non-GMO corn and soybeans to organic. Their remaining acres are conventional, non-GMO crops and cover crops.

The Snyders are happy about the many positive changes they’re seeing on their farm with the switch to regenerative practices over the past few years. Their plants withstand drought better — a particularly key characteristic during the summer of 2021 — because there’s more moisture retained in the soil. Wildlife is more plentiful around the farm. An added benefit is lowered cost of production. “Conventional corn’s $260 a bag,” John says. “My preferred organic seed corn is $160 a bag. And fertilizer just went up in price six times in six weeks.”

“What’s underneath your feet is what’s making the health of those plants,” John Snyder says of this thriving stand of organic corn.

The ‘Wonder Field’ Tells the Story

Recently, on an unseasonably warm, overcast October afternoon, John hosted a group of about a dozen visitors including Thom Petersen, Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Agriculture. They came to see and hear about what Snyder calls his “wonder field” — a stand of 11-foot-tall organic corn. It is indeed a wonder to see and walk through; the response of the visitors that day was genuine awe and appreciation.

John and Ben led the group into the midst of the massive stalks to demonstrate how to calculate an estimate of bushels-per-acre-from this field. There was a hand count and folks calculated the averages on their phones yielding a reasonable estimate of 188 bushels per acre, which will make for a profitable harvest for the Snyders.

“What’s underneath your feet is what’s making the health of those plants,” John told his guests emphatically.

Towards the end of Commissioner’s visit, the two of them had a chance to walk and talk a bit. To John, this was the most important aspect of the Commissioner’s visit. While it was nice to have him stop by to see the Snyders’ soil building results firsthand, the vital element was for the Commissioner to leave with a visceral understanding of what the future of farming could and should be for the next generation.

LSP soil health organizer Barb Sogn-Frank can be reached e-mail or at 507-479-9119.

Category: Blog
Tags: cover crops • crop rotations • non-GMO • Soil Builders' Network • soil health

Video: Soil & the Next Generation

In a Land Stewardship Project video, John Snyder describes why building soil health on his farm is key to allowing him to pass the land on to the next generation. Check it out here.

Soil Builders’ Network

Join LSP’s Soil Builders’ Network to get regular updates on workshops, field days, and on-farm demonstrations, as well as the latest soil health and cover crop research. For more information on joining, see the Soil Builders web page.

Grazing Events

LSP in holding two events on managed rotational grazing in November:

  • Nov.11: Canoe Creek Dairy, Decorah, Iowa
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14882 255th Ave, Sleepy Eye, MN 56085, USA

Join the SFA to learn how to process your own chickens at home. At this workshop, participants will actually be processing 35-40 chickens from start to finish, and they will learn how to kill, scald, pluck, and eviscerate the chickens. Each attendee will have the opportunity to perform the complete process with instructor help on several birds. 

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Grazing for Invasive Species Management in Oak Savannas
Wednesday September 17
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Myre-Big Island State Park, 19499 780th Ave, Albert Lea, MN 56007, USA

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Bluffton Resort & Bar, 2619 W Ravine Rd, Decorah, IA 52101, USA

This Ducks Unlimited workshop will feature a discussion of how livestock producers can utilize cover crops and native grasses to extend the grazing season. Featured speakers include Adam Janke, who will discuss Iowa State University’s research on CRP grazing, and Brian Dougherty of Understanding AG, who will discuss the economics of grazing cover crops. There will also be a presentation on Ducks Unlimited’s Advancing Markets for Producers Partnership. 
 
For details, see this flier. or call Ducks Unlimited’s Liam Bonk at 612-483-3577. To register, click here.

Thursday September 18

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Minnesota Women in Conservation: Conservation Land Walk in Dawson
Thursday September 18
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Dawson, MN

During this Minnesota Women in Conservation event, participants will walk around a “homestead” farm site — exploring areas and goals the landowner hopes to improve in the future, including pollinator habitat, perennial plantings, wind breaks, privacy/noise screens, water quality improvements, well sealing, and compost placements. Participants will hear feedback and recommendations from a conservation professional on potential programs that could assist the landowner in achieving those goals. 
 
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 Farm Aid is heading to Minnesota for the first time for its 40th anniversary festival on Saturday, Sept. 20, at Huntington Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. The event will launch a year-long celebration of four decades of impactful advocacy, historic cultural moments and unforgettable music.

Farm Aid 40 — a full day of music, family farmers, HOMEGROWN food and agricultural experiences — will feature performances by Farm Aid board members Willie Nelson, Neil Young (and the Chrome Hearts), John Mellencamp, Dave Matthews (with Tim Reynolds), and Margo Price, as well as Billy Strings, Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats, Trampled by Turtles, Waxahatchee, Eric Burton of Black Pumas, Jesse Welles, Madeline Edwards and more artists to be announced.

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