Regenerate

Regenerate the Land

Living Heritage Farms desires to make healthy soil a priority.  We desire our soil to look rich in color and teeming with life including fungi, bacteria, protozoa, nematodes, and earthworms.  The healthier the soil is the more productive it will be.  We don't want to settle for sustainable agriculture that just sustains its current state - we want to regenerate it, improve it.

Our initial focus for soil health will be improving the percentage of organic matter in the soil.  We will utilize cover crops to provide organic matter, fix nitrogen, shade soil from evaporation and suppress weeds.  We will not till the soil, instead we will direct seed.  Cover crops will be terminated either by frost killing, fodder for livestock, mowing, or harvesting.  The land will never be left bare, and organic matter will always be left in the soil for the microbiology to feed on.  As the levels of organic matter increase so does the ability to hold and retain water, reserve nutrients, improve soil structure, and prevent erosion.  Applications of synthetic substances will be avoided to allow the microbiology in the soil to flourish. 

The system we seek to establish is a holistic approach to agriculture.  This concept seeks to replicate the natural systems that God uses in His creation.  Healthy soil feeds a diverse population of plants.  These plants collect solar energy from the sun and converts water, carbon and nitrogen from the air into living plant tissue.  Plants feed the organisms above and below the ground.  Waste from the organisms feeds the plants.  They inner-connectivity between the soil, plants, and animals is essential for regenerating the land. 

Our ideas are following the approach of William J. Spillman (1863–1931), who is considered the founder of agricultural economics.  In 1883 WSU's agriculture department was established, and the following year Spillman joined the staff as a wheat breeder.  He believed in this same holistic approach - that farmers should integrate livestock and rotate crops, rather than continue the monoculture production that was just emerging due to the increasing industrialization of farming.  He later went on to be employed as a scientist and popular agricultural educator for the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).

At Living Heritage Farm, the health of the land is of critical importance.  It is our calling to be a faithful steward of the land, recognizing that none of this is our own, but our Heavenly Father's, and we are simply tenants passing through.