By Curt Wohleber
In the hills outside St. Louis, creeks swell fast after hard rains, and fields can pay the price. At Big River Grain and Cattle, Daniel Bonacker recalls, repeated flooding was carrying away topsoil. In 1983, Bonacker’s grandfather switched to no‑till farming, which minimizes disturbance of the soil. This reduces erosion by improving the soil’s ability to absorb and hold water.
In 2012, Big River Grain and Cattle faced the opposite problem: drought. Bonacker’s father decided the farm would seed a semi‑load of cereal rye as a cover crop that fall to sequester the nitrogen that the failed corn crop did not use. By improving soil structure and organic matter, cover crops can also help soil retain moisture longer.
The payoff arrived the next spring: a living, green cover that protected the soil surface and jump‑started biological activity. “We never went back to leaving the soil bare,” he said. To combat weeds, Bonacker started “planting green” – seeding cash crops into actively growing rye, terminating the cover crop later in the spring. This further protects the soil and gives weeds less of an opportunity to take root. “That gives you the most bang for the buck from your cover crop,” he said.
No-till and cover crops are examples of regenerative agriculture, a farming approach focused on restoring and enhancing the health of soil ecosystems, said Rob Myers, director of the University of Missouri Center for Regenerative Agriculture. These practices aim to improve soil health, make crops more resilient, reduce input costs and protect water quality.
Bonacker notes that Big River Grain and Cattle never made overt decision to adopt regenerative agriculture, a term barely in use in the early 1980s. It was just a series of practical choices sparked by specific challenges on the farm, he says.
Source : missouri.edu