Soil Health
Farmers and ranchers in Paradise Valley know a thing or two about having a full plate. There are never enough hours in the day for the seemingly endless tasks that need to get done. So why would we ask you to add one more to your to do list?
The answer is every farmer and rancher has a vast army of free labor eager to improve your bottom line, free up days of hours, and build value in your largest asset. These free laborers are microbes and there are more of them in a teaspoon of healthy soil than there are people in the world. You don’t have to put them on the payroll, you don’t have to feed them ever increasing amounts of expensive conventional inputs, and when taken care of, they will take care of you. Learn more about the benefits of healthy soil and how microbes help create usable nitrogen for plants.
You can’t manage for something you don’t know and you don’t know what you have living in your soil until you test. Direct microscopy testing with Earthfort Labs will give you insight into who you have on your free payroll. Are you understaffed? Do you have the right ratio of microbes for what you are growing? Are they functioning to their full potential?
Soil Quality 101
This short video goes over the basics of soil biology and how you can apply them to make your operation more profitable and easier on our shared watershed. It contains local case studies of a variety of cropping systems, as well as reclamation, and highlights both water saving and input reducing best practices.
Feed Livestock & Build Soil with Cover Crops
Most of the agriculture in Paradise Valley leads back to livestock, especially cattle. Couple that with our relatively low precipitation (16 inches annually) and limited late summer water, and what we tend to graze our crops in the summer and grow forage for use in the winter. In parts of Idaho where they have as few as 12 inches of rain annually, many of the cash crop producers are experimenting with cover crops that don't need extra water but can generate revenue via forage, while building health soil and controlling for voles that many without cattle have to face.
Testing & Enhancing Your Soil
In partnership with Montana State University ( Professor Jed Eberly), Regenerative Land Solutions (Ford & Vern Smith), Earthfort Labs, our local NRCS office (Jessica Mayo), we are providing scientific, technical, and financial support for local farmers to not only test and interpret their soil microbiology, but to do something about it via a HB 223 grant. To participate, please complete the form below and we will contact you on how to get started.
Soil Animals Represent 25% of all Biodiversity
