התמלול המלא של Zach Tolson

at kitcheninatmissouri.edu. 29 00:02:35,520 --> 00:02:37,920 Without further ado, let's hear from Zach Tolson. 30 00:02:37,920 --> 00:02:55,960 All right, well, Zach, it's great to have you and it's great to talk with you today. 31 00:02:55,960 --> 00:02:57,560 Thanks for having me. 32 00:02:57,560 --> 00:03:02,360 So to get started, why don't we talk about a little bit about yourself and then also 33 00:03:02,360 --> 00:03:05,480 an introduction to your farm and your business? 34 00:03:05,480 --> 00:03:12,120 Yes, so my name is Zachary Tolson and I farm a couple hundred acres in Grundy County, Missouri. 35 00:03:12,120 --> 00:03:19,480 I've been doing that since 2015 and then I also work for an independent ag retailer. 36 00:03:19,480 --> 00:03:22,000 It's Butterfield and Associates here in Meadville. 37 00:03:22,000 --> 00:03:27,040 Can you give us an idea too about how you came across the Center for Regenerative Agriculture 38 00:03:27,040 --> 00:03:29,900 and Nutrient Management Practices? 39 00:03:29,900 --> 00:03:37,520 We have a 4-R certified advisor, Caitlin Dinsmore, who I've worked with a lot through this process. 40 00:03:37,520 --> 00:03:43,960 She's been a huge help as far as that goes and I've learned pretty well everything about 41 00:03:43,960 --> 00:03:46,500 these programs through her. 42 00:03:46,500 --> 00:03:51,200 So how long have you been doing nutrient management practices and what practices do you do on 43 00:03:51,200 --> 00:03:52,200 your farm? 44 00:03:52,200 --> 00:03:58,840 As far as on the nitrogen for corn, I've always done the split application and what this has 45 00:03:58,840 --> 00:04:05,640 kind of helped me do is look a little bit more at the amounts I'm putting up front and 46 00:04:05,640 --> 00:04:08,600 then also for that post-pass. 47 00:04:08,600 --> 00:04:15,400 With this program, pushing more onto the 25% on the top dress side of things, that's kind 48 00:04:15,400 --> 00:04:22,380 of made me look at my numbers again and kind of cut back on the initial amount of anhydrous 49 00:04:22,380 --> 00:04:28,760 that I'm putting out and look more of getting a little bit more of that nitrogen in the 50 00:04:28,760 --> 00:04:30,520 in-season portion. 51 00:04:30,520 --> 00:04:36,200 So are there other nutrient management practices that you've maybe tried that haven't been 52 00:04:36,200 --> 00:04:40,380 successful or are there some that have been more successful than others? 53 00:04:40,380 --> 00:04:45,580 As far as just on the conservation side of things, I've done no-till for a long time 54 00:04:45,580 --> 00:04:51,060 since ever since the very beginning and I've had great luck with that. 55 00:04:51,060 --> 00:04:57,060 And as far as on the other side of things, you know, just try to get a good amount of 56 00:04:57,060 --> 00:05:02,500 dry fertilizer out there each year and not over-apply by any means. 57 00:05:02,500 --> 00:05:07,220 I'd like to ask, so obviously the Center for Regenerative Agriculture

has Regenerative 58 00:05:07,220 --> 00:05:12,960 Agriculture in the name, can you kind of explain to me what regenerative agriculture means 59 00:05:12,960 --> 00:05:17,560 to you, if you even have a definition that you like to work with? 60 00:05:17,560 --> 00:05:18,860 Yeah, sure. 61 00:05:18,860 --> 00:05:27,860 So we only have what we have as far as the land and the fields and with my farm I'm pretty 62 00:05:27,860 --> 00:05:34,380 set and just with what I have I'm very happy with the amount that I farm, but I certainly 63 00:05:34,380 --> 00:05:38,500 wanted to continue to produce for generations to come. 64 00:05:38,500 --> 00:05:45,600 I have a son I'd like to pass it on to one day and I want to do the best practices possible 65 00:05:45,600 --> 00:05:50,580 to make sure that all this ground is just as good, if not even better, for the future 66 00:05:50,580 --> 00:05:51,580 generations. 67 00:05:51,580 --> 00:05:57,740 I know you mentioned earlier that you had certain goals for your nutrient management. 68 00:05:57,740 --> 00:06:00,400 Would you like to maybe talk about some of those goals? 69 00:06:00,400 --> 00:06:05,840 You know, any nitrogen that's put out there and is lost to leaching or anything is lost 70 00:06:05,840 --> 00:06:07,400 in revenue as well. 71 00:06:07,400 --> 00:06:13,680 We want to keep all that nitrogen there in the soil and so it is, you know, stabilized 72 00:06:13,680 --> 00:06:20,180 and there for plant uptake and, you know, completely available, not only for the farm 73 00:06:20,180 --> 00:06:24,680 and for environmental reasons, but also just on the revenue side of wanting to make sure 74 00:06:24,680 --> 00:06:32,080 that what I put out there is all used and is all put towards yield of that crop and 75 00:06:32,080 --> 00:06:34,420 not being leached away in the soil. 76 00:06:34,420 --> 00:06:40,100 Have you heard any success stories from maybe farmers around you or fellow co-workers who 77 00:06:40,100 --> 00:06:45,500 have tried a nutrient management program similar to this one or anything like that in terms 78 00:06:45,500 --> 00:06:46,500 of revenue? 79 00:06:46,500 --> 00:06:51,620 Well, as far as a lot of the ones around me and everything, this is kind of the first 80 00:06:51,620 --> 00:06:58,940 year for all of us, but so far in the process we've had several that have already got their 81 00:06:58,940 --> 00:07:05,740 top dress on and done and it seems like everything's working along smoothly, so definitely looking 82 00:07:05,740 --> 00:07:12,140 forward to getting some good success stories here, but for the most part, this is all still 83 00:07:12,140 --> 00:07:13,700 new to us. 84 00:07:13,700 --> 00:07:18,460 So how has the reporting process for this program gone for you? 85 00:07:18,460 --> 00:07:20,100 What have you been finding so far? 86 00:07:20,100 --> 00:07:24,780 Just like with anything, there's paperwork to it and kind of crossing T's, dotting I's 87 00:07:24,780 --> 00:07:27,740 as far as just getting everything lined up. 88 00:07:27,740 --> 00:07:31,580 As far as this goes, so far it's went pretty smooth. 89 00:07:31,580 --> 00:07:37,700 I already had all the maps and all the plans were in place, did that earlier when it was 90 00:07:37,700 --> 00:07:42,500 slower and to where this time of year when we're busy, got a hundred things going on, 91 00:07:42,500 --> 00:07:47,500 the only thing that was left to do was just turn in the information for the over-the-top 92 00:07:47,500 --> 00:07:53,780 nitrogen and so that's kind of all that was left and just been plugging away at that as 93 00:07:53,780 --> 00:07:54,780 we do it. 94 00:07:54,780 --> 00:07:59,820 So would you say that having all that documentation up front, your maps, has really helped you 95 00:07:59,820 --> 00:08:00,820 in this process? 96 00:08:00,820 --> 00:08:01,820 Yes, absolutely. 97 00:08:01,820 --> 00:08:07,980 Yeah, that's a must to already have all that in place, had all the farms and tracks and 98 00:08:07,980 --> 00:08:14,060 everything all recorded and having all that in place while it's slow, you know, earlier 99 00:08:14,060 --> 00:08:20,260 in the year before planting season and everything, already having all that in place was certainly 100 00:08:20,260 --> 00:08:25,780 essential to where now, you know, just trying to minimize the amount of time and paperwork 101 00:08:25,780 --> 00:08:28,220 during the busy time of year here. 102 00:08:28,220 --> 00:08:29,220 Gotcha. 103 00:08:29,220 --> 00:08:30,220 Okay. 104 00:08:30,220 --> 00:08:34,300 So to kind of wrap it up, what would you say to a farmer who might be on the fence about 105 00:08:34,300 --> 00:08:38,540 regenerative agriculture or maybe doesn't know where to start with regenerative agricultural 106 00:08:38,540 --> 00:08:39,860 practices? 107 00:08:39,860 --> 00:08:45,980 We want to make things better and going forward we want to build up our soils and also just 108 00:08:45,980 --> 00:08:50,780 kind of protect our return on investment for sure as well. 109 00:08:50,780 --> 00:08:55,900 We have resources to pass on to him just, you know, looking on the website and everything 110 00:08:55,900 --> 00:09:02,300 else there's lots of good information out there to definitely be looking into, but it's 111 00:09:02,300 --> 00:09:08,140 a good thing and kind of a good direction to head for sure. 112 00:09:08,140 --> 00:09:10,220 Thanks Zach for taking the time to chat today. 113 00:09:10,220 --> 00:09:15,020 Again, I'm Mikayla Voris, your host from the University of Missouri's Center for Regenerative 114 00:09:15,020 --> 00:09:16,420 Agriculture. 115 00:09:16,420 --> 00:09:20,620 If you have questions, comments, or any thoughts on this podcast, let us know by visiting our 116 00:09:20,620 --> 00:09:25,700 website at CRA.missouri.edu and go to the podcast page. 117 00:09:25,700 --> 00:09:29,740 You can also find us on social media at MU Regen Ag. 118 00:09:29,740 --> 00:09:34,460 This podcast is produced by the MU Center for Regenerative Agriculture and MU Extension. 119 00:09:34,460 --> 00:09:38,380 The music you're hearing is called Back to the Woods by Jason Shaw and we snagged it 120 00:09:38,380 --> 00:09:40,140 from the Free Music Archive. 121 00:09:40,140 --> 00:09:43,520 Watch out for another regenerative reflection and we'll see you next time. 122 00:09:43,520 --> 00:09:49,520 Music. 123 00:09:49,520 --> 00:09:51,580 you 124 00:09:51,580 --> 00:09:53,640 you