Anyone who has kept up with us at Merit or Myth knows that there is a growing list of benefits that are associated with cover crops. From reducing runoff and erosion to increasing organic matter and suppressing weed emergence, it seems more research comes out every year proving the merit of this practice. As with…
There are many issues facing the modern-day farmer, though most of them are nothing that new. After all, nature has always kept us on our toes in the form of drought, flood, and other extreme events. You would think that with technological advances and increased agricultural acumen, however, we would have taken steps towards reducing…
Extinction is a perfectly normal part of nature. Scientists of all backgrounds, belief systems and areas of study can agree on this. What is often overlooked, however, is the potential cost of extinction – whether within a single ecosystem or multiple. Still, no one plays a larger role when it comes to the loss or…
Pop quiz: What farming practice prepares the land for growing crops through the digging and stirring of soil? If all of us were posed this question, I’m just about certain we’d all be screaming the (conventional) answer: conventional tillage. In a way, we’d be right on the money, but there’s also another acceptable answer: earthworms….
In our last blog, we discussed the often-overlooked value of soil health and living soils. What is that value? Well, it all starts with… actually, don’t worry about it. While the evidence in support of regenerative farming (a philosophy and set of practices that drive soil health/biology forward) seems to be growing, it probably doesn’t do…
Soil is precious. This reality often gets lost in translation, but in truth, it is the core message of regenerative farming. Still, many of our actions within the ag industry seem to act in opposition to this truth. Of course, this is always to our own detriment. So how vital is soil exactly? Well, in…
Picture this: A proactive community of open-minded producers joining forces for the greater good. With all of them together, they work to increase yields and soil health, and gain a better understanding of their livelihoods. If such a community existed, would you be interested? It may seem “pie in the sky”, but one state down,…
Regardless of where you conduct your farming operation, the notion of changing your methods can be daunting. We at Merit or Myth have seen this time and time again firsthand. The deeper we dig into the S.D. farming community (and the farming community at large), the more we see a fundamental truth that defines what…
Being fairly new to the world of soil health, I’ve been introduced to a variety of interesting terms and sayings over the past year. Some of these words and adages were fairly self-explanatory… others sounded more like Greek to me. Of the latter, none were more perplexing than this head scratcher: “Mycorrhizae, superhighways of the…
Not getting the outcome we feel we deserve can be extremely disheartening in any walk of life. Nobody knows this truth more than farmers who pour their blood, sweat, and tears into their craft year round. If we aren’t getting the results we’re looking for, it’s often human nature to assume that something needs to…
