TRANSKRİPT 🔗
1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:16,040
Welcome to Regenerative Reflections, a podcast produced in partnership with MU Extension.
2
00:00:16,040 --> 00:00:22,360
I'm Michaela Voris, your host from the University of Missouri's Center for Regenerative Agriculture.
3
00:00:22,360 --> 00:00:27,380
Our mission is to provide farmers with the research, resources, and connections to implement
4
00:00:27,380 --> 00:00:32,160
practices that improve soil health, crop yield, and livestock systems.
5
00:00:32,160 --> 00:00:36,920
This week I chatted with Zach Tolson, a farmer part of our Nutrient Management with 4R Approach
6
00:00:36,920 --> 00:00:38,960
Incentive Payment Program.
7
00:00:38,960 --> 00:00:43,040
This is one of eight incentive payment programs part of the Missouri Climate Resilient Crops
8
00:00:43,040 --> 00:00:45,920
and Livestock Project, or CIRCL for short.
9
00:00:45,920 --> 00:00:50,880
The CIRCL project seeks to empower farmers and producers to add or maintain regenerative
10
00:00:50,880 --> 00:00:53,240
practices on their operations.
11
00:00:53,240 --> 00:00:57,960
To Zach, the most important part of this program is reducing inputs and revitalizing the land
12
00:00:57,960 --> 00:00:59,640
for the next generation.
13
00:00:59,640 --> 00:01:04,760
Before we talk to Zach, let's check in with Dr. Newell Kitchen, a soil scientist and agronomist
14
00:01:04,760 --> 00:01:09,340
and the owner of Agronomic, Geologic, and Environmental Sciences, LLC.
15
00:01:09,340 --> 00:01:12,720
He also works as a consultant for us at the Center for Regenerative Ag.
16
00:01:12,720 --> 00:01:17,340
Dr. Kitchen, can you give us some context on what this nutrient management practice
17
00:01:17,340 --> 00:01:21,080
is and why it's important to our agricultural systems?
18
00:01:21,080 --> 00:01:27,760
There are aspects of nutrient management that have a tremendous impact on soil carbon.
19
00:01:27,760 --> 00:01:33,800
Soil carbon is kind of at the heart of this whole project and being able to restore or
20
00:01:33,800 --> 00:01:41,000
preserve carbon in the soil is kind of the building block for soil health and for helping
21
00:01:41,000 --> 00:01:48,480
to store carbon relative to greenhouse gas kind of issues.
22
00:01:48,480 --> 00:01:55,640
So when it comes to nutrient management specifically, it has to do with nitrogen, so there is no
23
00:01:55,640 --> 00:02:05,200
other nutrient, fertilizer nutrient, that has as much impact on soil carbon as nitrogen.
24
00:02:05,200 --> 00:02:12,000
The nitrogen practice that we've come up with is one that we feel like is a practice that
25
00:02:12,000 --> 00:02:21,960
will help encourage increased nitrogen use efficiency and also help in some of these
26
00:02:21,960 --> 00:02:26,120
goals that we have that have been established relative to carbon.
27
00:02:26,120 --> 00:02:28,200
Thanks, Dr. Kitchen.
28
00:02:28,200 --> 00:02:35,520
If you have any questions about the nutrient management program, you can reach him
Load full transcript
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