PIERRE — There are many reasons for farmers and landowners to adopt regenerative land management practices, but few are as important as the prospect of introducing a new generation to a farming or ranching operation.
When Barry Little’s son Eli returned to the family farm in 2013 after graduating from South Dakota State University, he knew something had to change.
“The income for my family was sufficient, but when he wanted to support his own family, we wanted to get more involved in ranching. We saw ranching, particularly cattle, as an opportunity to create more income and space for Eli,” Little said.
With the acquisition of cattle, the Littles needed more feed.
“We started planting cover crops for grazing later in the year – not so much because it benefits soil health, but because we needed more forage to get us through this time of year,” Little said.
They also began incorporating small grains such as oats and wheat into their corn and soybean rotations. Although they did not initially adopt these new practices to improve soil health, the Littles improved their land by diversifying their rotations, leaving live roots in the ground longer each year, and keeping livestock on their crops. These soil health improvements began to pay off.
“We’ve become a lowest-cost producer. And over the last five years, we’ve significantly reduced the amount of fertilizer we use on our fields,” Little said. “We also no longer use fungicides and insecticides, so those costs are gone.”
Thanks to regenerative farming methods, Little was able to increase his profitability and bring his son into the operation. Today, the couple runs their Blioux River Ranch near Castlewood. “When you reduce costs and keep yields the same, you have more left over,” Little said.
Training the next generation
Jessica Michalski raises cattle and grows crops in eastern Clark County, South Dakota, with her husband, Darin, and son, Cutler. Early in their farming careers, the Michalskis began converting some of their farmland back to grassland. Jessica started working for the Natural Resources Conservation Service 21 years ago, and after some discussions with Darin, they decided to start no-till farming 15 years ago. Since then, they’ve seen a big improvement in their fields. “We’ve seen how well they do in drier periods, and the fields that may have been tilled more are drying out more. And we have fields that are still adequately moist because we’re retaining that moisture right there in the field,” Michalski said.
Today, Michalski is the state conservation officer for the Natural Resources Conservation Service in South Dakota, and her family’s operation exemplifies numerous conservation land management practices. They are increasing the diversity of their grasslands and working to promote native species. They also have a diverse crop rotation, including alfalfa, corn, soybeans, oats, millet, grass mixtures, and some other cover crops.
“We don’t just want it to be sustainable. We really want it to be regenerative because we’ve seen so much soil loss across the state from the recent wind and rain events,” Michalski said. “We just really had to make a decision that this is the way we want to operate.”
Michalski said her children have learned the importance of her regenerative practices through their daily interactions.
“They’re out there with us checking on the cows, seeing our grass, the wildlife, the pollinators and the seasonal wetlands with the ducks and fawns. And they see how healthy the land is. I think kids are sometimes more receptive and more observant than we give them credit for,” she said. “We’ve always had these open conversations at dinner. We’ve just had these open conversations with all three of our kids, and I think that makes a huge difference.”
Cutler, who told his parents during his junior year of high school that he would like to return to the business, understands why his family places great importance on being good stewards of the land, Michalski said.
“Cutler understands the stress in springs like this, where there’s a lot of closed cropland, and yet you’re not going to go out and till the soil. You’ve made that decision. You’re not going to do it,” she said. “And it plays a role in what condition you leave the land in for your future generations.”
Make room for new ideas
When planning for the future of their operations, farmers need to ensure not only healthy soil but also healthy offspring, according to Heather Gessner, livestock management specialist with SDSU Extension.
Gessner gives a course on planning successful business transitions.
She said that children from farms are exposed to many new ideas throughout their education, and that for a successful transition to a farming operation on the farm or ranch, the children need to have the space to explore those ideas.
“When we talk about bringing kids back to the farm, we often want them to come back to do our work,” Gessner said. That mindset doesn’t offer the younger generation much hope for the future and doesn’t prepare them to take on farm management decisions, she said. When young farmers share their ideas and face resistance from their parents, they can become discouraged about their farming careers.
“As we bring the next generation back, we need to give them a say and influence in decision-making,” Gessner said.
The best way to achieve this is to establish timelines for the next generation to take over some businesses, she said.
“You could set your child a goal of taking over the cow and calf farm by 2025 and the row crop farm by 2027,” Gessner said. “You have to ask yourself if you are ready for a partner or if you are looking for an assistant.”
Little said it was difficult at first to allow his son Eli to participate in decisions on their farm.
“I think that was difficult for me because for so many years I made all my own decisions,” Little said. “But we went to the Soil Health Conference in Brookings and he came home full of ideas. Once he understood what he was thinking, it’s now much easier to let him lead us in that direction every now and then. The direction he’s leading us in is that every year we’re more confident that what we’re doing is going to regenerate our soil and leave the land we’re farming in better shape than when we started.”
To learn more about regenerative agriculture practices, visit www.sdsoilhealthcoalition.org or contact the South Dakota Soil Health Coalition at [email protected] or 605-280-4190.
