Merit or Myth

South Dakota Voices for Soil Health – A Brighter Tomorrow

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South Dakota Voices for Soil Health

In today’s society, it’s become a rarity for the “little man” to truly get their voice heard. Big corporations and industries (with their equally big spending) dominate the airwaves and often push a message that comes with an agenda (one that, unfortunately, isn’t always truth-based).

But despite this ever-growing trend, it’s generally the “little man” who has their finger on the pulse of what’s ACTUALLY happening – who is on the ground-level, seeing the things that big corporations can only talk about.

So when it comes to soil health, no one is more of an authority on the topic than the farmers and soil health advocates themselves. It’s about time they had their voice heard – and the USDA’s South Dakota Voices for Soil Health series is on a mission to do just that.

South Dakota Voices for Soil Health

Map of “Voices” getting involved all across the state of South Dakota

With a focus on shared knowledge and growth regarding soil health practices, the South Dakota Voices for Soil Health project is giving a platform to farmers and ranchers state wide. Made up of Earth Team volunteers, the 90+ voices already involved in this project are networking to spread their knowledge and experiences for all to hear.

South Dakota Voices for Soil Health

A look at handful of featured “voices”

These producers are stewards of their natural resources, and as voices for soil health, they actively advocate for shared knoweledge – not just for current generations, but future as well.

As Day County, SD farmer Steve Sigdestad says in one of their upcoming videos,

We want to take care of the soil because it’s going to be here a lot longer than any of us are going to be here. We’ve got to be stewards of the land, because they’re going to point back to us in history and say, ‘These guys messed up.’ And we don’t want to be that generation.”

Check out the 20 producer profiles already completed and keep an eye out in the coming weeks to hear more from farmers and advocates like Steve all across the great state of South Dakota.

Join the revolution!

– Barrett

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Introducing the Soil Health Revolution “Merit or Myth”

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Merit or Myth Soil Health Intro

Greetings friends!

For those of you that have followed along with us on our site (as well as hopefully on Twitter and Facebook… if not, what are you waiting for!?) you know we’ve been promising an official intro video for a few weeks now.

Unfortunately, we ran into a few snags on the production side of things… mostly on my end…

Us attempting to discuss soil health

When you forget your own name on camera…

But now that we remember how to say our names, we couldn’t be more proud to finally unveil our official introductory video!

So if you’re familiar with our content, but still a little in the dark as to how we’ll be crafting this project, this video will shine a light on our goals and methodology for engaging with farmers, producers and conservationists across the Mount Rushmore State!

In our two trips thus far, we’ve traveled over 8,000 miles, accumulated dozens of hours of interview footage, built a social media audience soon to be 500+ strong, and have been lucky enough to take some stunning photographs.

Dakota Lakes

Overlooking property near Vivian, South Dakota

And it’s all been leading up to this. So check out and share our intro video and continue to follow along on our quest for improved soil health, sustainability and farming efficiency. Much more to come!

Join the revolution!

– Barrett

Farming: A Lesson Well-Learned

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Author and inspirational speaker John Maxwell once said, “The greatest enemy of learning is knowing.”

This couldn’t be more accurate than when it comes to sustainable farming practices. But truth be told, most of the problems we as humans face today (on and off the farm) aren’t due to our lack of knowledge, but to our certainty of it!

Two contractors don’t fight over dissimilar work philosophies unless both of them “know” the way to do the job.

A political party doesn’t oppose another unless it “knows” (and it always does…) the right direction for our nation.

And many of us fail to properly assess opposing farming techniques because, after all, we KNOW which ones work, and we KNOW which one’s don’t..

But at Merit or Myth, we’re here to ask… do we, really?

LEARNING FIRST-HAND

South Dakota farmer Monty Williams wouldn’t say he “knows” much. After all, by his own admission, he’s no agronomist. He claims to not even be much of a “soils guy”.

But what Monty (may believe) he lacks in conventional “knowing”,  he more than makes up for with his desire to learn! 

It’s this attitude that has lead to Monty’s biggest breakthroughs on his ranch in Pennington County, South Dakota. From converting to no-till 20 years ago to increasing planting depth, Monty is a farming trailblazer – never satisfied with conventional knowledge unless it’s first put to the test. But that doesn’t mean it’s all been smooth-planting. Monty knows first-hand the struggles that come with farming.

Monty Williams

COMMUNITY LEARNING

The potential avenues for learning today are astounding. After all, we each carry the entirety of all human knowledge within a roughly 6” x 3” device that we carry in our pockets (thank you, Internet)!

Monty Williams has done his fair share of browsing when it comes to farming practices. But his primary source of learning is much closer to home… and usually the “competition”.

I have to study everybody. When I drive down the road… well look at this crop, what’s he doing over here. Well that’s a good idea, maybe we ought to incorporate that. You have to not just stare at what you’re doing, but look around.”

The ability to learn from our peers is one that takes grace and humility. What’s more, with constant access to the internet, it’s often easy to forget that one of the greatest sources for learning is just a door down. But, as Monty puts it, it’s not just about the individual farmer learning to improve his yields – it’s about the collective:

We have to make these changes ourselves. And like I say, that mindset is a tough thing to get over, it’s a tough hurdle. Same thing with my grandpa,(he was) always summer fallow, winter wheat. Couldn’t change off of those things. We can’t do what they were doing, we’ve gotta be moving forward.”

Monty Williams' ranch

(left to right) Buz Kloot, Monty Williams, Kent Cooley, Matt Odden

The key word to us in this quote has nothing to do with farming practices, but is all in the two-letter noun “we”. As farmers, we’re always greater than the sum of our parts. And we, our families, and our futures would all benefit from working together, helping each other, and learning side-by-side.

After all, we’ve made great strides as a species directly through our ability to learn. But none of us have learned very much of anything if we still think we know it all.

Join the revolution,

– Barrett

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SOILS: A Quality of Life Issue?

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We’ve all heard a lot of varying takes on soils…

Are they living or are they dead?

Do they require time to rest or more diversity?

Amongst all of these uncertainties, one thing can be agreed upon – they are the foundation on which all farmers are building. And laying a trusty foundation is something we are all striving to do… we just have different ways of getting there.

Farmer Al Miron certainly does.

THE MAN FROM MINNEHAHA COUNTY

You can’t help but feel a little extra sense of warmth when sharing a room with a man like Al Miron – from his welcoming of us onto his farm to inviting us for some fresh watermelon, Al is certainly as gracious and kind-hearted as they come.

But that doesn’t mean that he’s going to shy away from voicing his thoughts on soil health.

In fact, Al had one of the strongest opinions that we heard when it came to no-till practices.

Al Miron

Quite the statement, huh? But anyone who has spent time with Al knows that he’s a man of his word. What’s more important here isn’t Al’s quote, but that his is far from the only voice expressing the “merit” of this long-viewed “myth”.

TILLAGE? NO THANKS

When it comes specifically to management issues like no-till, we quickly found that farmers like Al don’t just have a passion for these practices, but a JOY!

That’s right, from all across The Mount Rushmore State, farmers that we met with were emphatic about the benefits of minimum disturbance not just on their crops, but on their lives! Time and time again, those we interviewed expressed probably THE most beneficial aspect of adopting this natural system – quality of life.

And isn’t that what all of this is about anyway? Quality of life for ourselves, and our families? Quality of life for our crops, our land (present and future) and nature as a whole?

Sheep grazing at a no-till ranch in Butte County, South Dakota.

We at Merit or Myth have seen substaintially positive evidence of no-till not only in the soils, but on the smiles of countless faces along the way. And we can’t wait to see who’s smiling next.

For those of you looking for more, you can check out a brief interview with Al and others in our Travelogue series. In the mean time, be on the lookout for more videos, and musings in the weeks to come.

JOIN THE REVOLUTION!

– Barrett

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An Outsiders’ Love Letter to South Dakota

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View from Blue Dasher Farm (Photo Credit: Dr. Jonathan Lundgren)

What is the most powerful lesson that South Dakota has to teach me?

This was the question that was on my mind as we anxiously drove out of the Hawkeye State and pulled into Sioux Falls. Would it be one of appreciating mother nature? Would it be one of community? Or would it simply be the undeniable impact that soil health is having on this great state?

I would quickly find the answer to be “yes” to all of the above… but not necessarily in the way that I had anticipated.

Soybeans in Vermillion, South Dakotah

SOUTH DAKOTA
BEAUTY

It was clear as soon as we crossed state lines that God had blessed South Dakota with inescapable beauty – the diverse peaks, valleys, and terrain are something more out of a desktop background than a real-life encounter. But regardless of if you see them in person or on a screen, they aren’t just external surroundings – they are something that changes the inside of a person as well. So it wasn’t tough to see that, just like the land, something else about this place was disarmingly unique…

SOUTH DAKOTA
COMMUNITY

On our trip, we had the pleasure of visiting with farmers, conservationists and scientists. The joy of conversing with customer service employees, administrative faculty and everywhere in between. It was through these fateful encounters that I was granted another powerful lesson – greeting a stranger with a firm handshake and a smile is no greeting at all – welcoming them with open arms and open hearts is the only true way to introduce yourself. And no matter where we stopped, Bear Butte to Vermillion, Huron to Rapid City, this wasn’t just an isolated incident, this was the way of life.

With Rancher Dave Ollila and family in Butte County, South Dakotah

Stopped for a “selfie” with the Ollila family in Butte County, South Dakota.

SOUTH DAKOTA
SOIL

So it’s no wonder why this eclectic group of welcomers are passionate about one of their greatest resources: soil. It’s inspiring to see how they have turned that passion into knowledge, and that knowledge into a lifestyle – from the usage of cover crops, to adopting “no-till” practices, to enhancing diversity. Each of their stories are different, but they all come from the same heart. And we couldn’t be more excited to start sharing them with you!

South Dakota Farmer Al Miron

Enjoying a laugh with farmer Al Miron located just outside of Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

IN THE END

It goes without saying that the memories and relationships built within this trip will endure – for that, we are profoundly grateful. And though our heads are still spinning after 10 days and over 4,500 miles traveled, one thing is perfectly clear: this isn’t just a campaign for soil health, it’s a campaign for people. And I’ve never met a group of people more worthy.

Stay tuned,

– Barrett

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*FEATURED IMAGE CREDIT: Dr. Jon Lundgren, Blue Dasher Farm

The Truth is Out There

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The growing amount of information on soil health is quite astonishing. Just hop on over to Google and search “Soil Health” and you’ll see for yourself. As of this writing, there were 18.1 million hits!  But that’s just the tip of the iceburg; when it comes to the nuts and bolts, everyone seems to have a different opinion.

There are several organizations out there trying to get a handle on the effectiveness and prevalence of cover crops alone – one thing we know for sure is that they are increasing.  Yet my experience is that most farmers are still hungry for information about soil health.

Many of the questions that farmers raise are management related, and often these questions are related to the transition to no-till like: “how do I plant through all that residue?”, “how will my soil temperatures at planting be affected?”, “how do I get my soils dry without tillage?”, “how do I manage for weeds without tillage?”, and “does this stuff make economic sense?”.  Let’s face it, these are valid questions that need to be addressed.

There’s a quote attributed to Harrington Emerson that goes as follows:

As to methods, there may be a million and then some, but principles are few. The man who grasps principles can successfully select his own methods. The man who tries methods, ignoring principles, is sure to have trouble.

We want to get a little more specific to South Dakota where we plan to engage with farmers, conservationists and researchers to address some of the above questions, but to do that, we also want to look at some of the underlying assumptions and views that give rise to these questions, and look at alternative assumptions.  As we do this, we want to ask questions of things we encounter: “does this have merit or is it myth?”, hence the name “Merit or Myth”.

Watch this space in the next few months for video, blogs travelogues and podcasts as we travel across the Mount Rushmore state asking the question: Merit or Myth?

– Buz Kloot

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