Field-Scale Production
Our field crop system is where we grow crops that are needed in large quantities and can last a long time in storage. Root crops like potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, beets, rutabagas and turnips are all important sources of calories, and their long storage life allows them to be grown in bulk and then consumed over a long period of time. Grains and pulses for dry harvest - like corn and beans - are also grown in this system, as well as melons and winter squash.
Long-Term Rotations
These types of crops tend to grow slowly and be in the field for a large part of the growing season, lending themselves to longer-term rotations that span several years. Most of our field crop areas spend part of every year growing cover crops to rejuvenate the soil, and are also allowed to return to perennial pasture for grazing on an approximately ten-year cycle. This increases soil structure, microbial diversity and fertility, reducing the need for mechanical intervention and inputs from off the farm.
Cover Cropping
Cover crops are plants grown specifically for the benefits they provide to the soil, and are not harvested directly. For example, when there’s time between a fall-harvested crop and a spring-planted one, a mix of grasses and legumes can be grown over the winter period and then either tilled in or mowed down before planting the spring crop. This helps to keep the soil surface covered, keep roots growing to enhance soil structure, keep photosynthesis going to add carbon to the soil through root exudates, and to create biomass that provides fertility for the next crop. We try to use cover crops wherever there’s space in the crop plan, and it helps keep our soil fertile and full of thriving microbiology.
Appropriate Mechanization
Growing these larger-scale crops requires some degree of mechanization, which not only reduces the back-breaking labor of farming, but also allows a small number of farmers to provide an abundance of food for a much larger community. In our field crop system, we use tractor-based tools with great care, aiming to minimize disruption to soil biology caused by tillage, and the compaction of soil structure caused by excessive passes with heavy machinery. Using cover crops, crop rotation, mulches and shallow cultivation, we’re able to produce large amounts efficiently without damaging our soil or using excessive fossil fuels.