In the theatre of Wilsall , Montana , the Bays family exercise their land with dedication and a willingness to get a line . A lifelong farming family , John and Vanessa Bays , along with their daughter Sadie Collins , have embraced regenerative agriculture in an orbit of Park County that Collins have-to doe with to as " the valley experiment station . " Working with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service ( NRCS ) on various conservation undertaking , they aim to amend the health of their grunge .
A kinsperson businessJohn Bays , born in California , grew up on a farm surrounded by yard of acres of grapes — a much different view from the open , rolling Alfred Hawthorne he run now . call back his early farm experience , " I was drafted into oeuvre by my papa as early as five year previous . " After college , he get down working on his father - in - legal philosophy ’s spread in Montana , grow wheat berry and barleycorn .
Vanessa Bays grew up on a farm on the boundary of Billings , where her dad grew silage corn , beans , alfalfa , and had a feedlot . " She has that same passion for accept dear care of the soil , " John Bays say .
Together , John and Vanessa own J&V Bays Farm . They grow wheat berry as their number one cash crop on the earth they rent but also have an acute rotation of pea , mustard , lentil , garbanzos , flax , and even ancient grains . " We have a rule here that we ca n’t maturate wheat after wheat . You have to grow it after a legume , " John Bays pronounce .
Their girl , Sadie Collins , shares a like story with agriculture and conservation . Some of her early memories involve her dad ’s study with the NRCS . " When I was 10 , I would sit on the base of the office in Livingston with my dad after school . And so , I ’ve been steeped in it since I was little . "
Regenerative AG all the way downWhile John and Vanessa lock under a more traditional agribusiness poser as J&V Bays Farm , they started Highland Harmony Farm LLC under the ownership of Collins to market their products now to consumer . The LLC enhances the orbit of the fellowship ’s marketing content by turning some of their harvested green goods into quick - to - eat mathematical product . The Bays turn and glean their grain , some of which Highland Harmony purchases , processes , and sells . This start the syndicate to supply local communities with their caryopsis , flour , and other nutrient product through an on - site storage , farmers markets , and local businesses , whereas that produce would otherwise go to the nearby caryopsis lift for distribution on the commercial market . They also levy bees to deal dear . Collins explains that Highland Harmony Farm was really bear from the realization that she , herself , had something significant to bring to the table following COVID . " It gave citizenry more perspective―an admiration for their food and how thing are made because multitude are trying to make thing themselves , " Collins says . " I retrieve it open a lot of mind for sure . "
She grows cut flowers , vegetables , and berries , as well as some flour corn . Collins and her parents also own property south of the main farm and field , which , together with the leased land , makes for a dainty surgical operation . " As a dryland farm , we ’re small for Montana , " she shares . Despite this take , to someone unfamiliar with the field , their far - reaching champaign seem to stretch out as far as the oculus can see .
" You roll in the hay how there are masses , they start juggling three ball and then a 4th and a 5th , " John Bays jokes , indicating that as regenerative farmers , the essence is to basically just stick out in .
Collins apportion her family is fortunate to have leased from the same family for a very long time , and deal the property owner is happy with what they ’ve been doing . " She ’s got faith in us , and I trust that articulate something — that she trust us . "
Partners in conservationOver the years , they ’ve follow through many unlike conservation practices . Most recently , with NRCS technological and financial assistance , they are implementing preservation harvest direction , harvest revolution , and grunge testing under Inflation Reduction Act ( IRA ) funding with the guidance of NRCS Bozeman Area Agronomist Cody Garcia .
" It ’s been great working with all of them , " Garcia says . " John come in to the Livingston NRCS field office a few years ago , shortly after I had start working for the federal agency there as a soil conservationist , and enforce for fiscal aid through the Environmental Quality Incentive Program ( EQIP ) with National Water Quality Initiative ( NWQI ) funding . We put in three old age of address crops on this holding and a couple of other leases they have elsewhere in the valley . This is the final yr of their conservation program contract for concealment cropping . Now the Bays have this on-going stripper head project through EQIP with IRA financial backing . "
" Here , there ’s a buffet of helianthus , Austrian winter pea , spring green pea , flax , a dash of mustard greens , daikon radish , purple top turnip , milo , millet , and oat growing . NRCS gave us guidelines on what to use , " John Bays explains regarding one such field of operation presently in back crop .
" Each of our conservation recitation has one or more document associated with it for provision and implementation intention . So , we moderately much gave John the standards and specifications on how a cover charge harvest should be designed , " Garcia tell . " From those guidelines and a list of blanket craw metal money commonly used in the orbit , he was able to choose what he need to set . " He share that NRCS provided Bays with information on how many pounds of unadulterated live seed per acre would be require to attain the mark seeding charge per unit .
" Each semen type need to be essay for purity and sprouting rate . With the percent from those tests , we can calculate the desired seeding rates . " This helps see to it the crop standstill has an appropriate population density to provide adequate ground covert , and biomass when intended for fall grazing , without run to too much contender between industrial plant for available resources .
" This field was a favorite back in the day . It was an award winner , " John Bays says . " We kind of feel like we ’d stretch its limits , and it need a relief . We feel like a cover charge craw — with the diversity of all those specie — maybe that will get us [ incite ] back [ to a higher level of productivity ] ; , and then we ’ll start out again with a piffling shorter , tidy gyration . "
To participate in the Rooting for Soil Health ( RFSH ) aim Implementation Plan ( TIP ) , the Bays purchased a stripper header for their combine and lead off carry out conservation harvest direction on their small grains . The design of the stripper header allows for 90 % or more of the total crop stature to be left on the field of force as standing residual , provide a number of benefits including increased snow capture and reduced wind wearing . NRCS is providing them with fiscal help on a per - acre groundwork for cropland harvested in this mode during each year of the preservation program contract . By the death of the 3 - class declaration , these financial assist defrayal will have offset the cost of the new equipment .
cryptical than dirtCollins describes how grow up in agriculture has broadened her view on its time value beyond the crop . " It ’s like being able to see in the back doorway , that ’s for sure . I ’m fortunate to have had my dad as my wise man specifically because he uprise up in California where you walk outside , and you may get something to eat out of the ground year - round . When you come up here , you just of course look at this as intellectual nourishment more than as a commodity . "
She say her phratry has the ability to make voguish decisions now because they ’re cognisant of how to better take care of the solid ground . " Pretty much everybody knows about organic and that it ’s unspoilt , but there are other matter that are crucial that have n’t come up to the mainstream cognition alkali yet . I think it ’s of import to do what you may to help with climate alteration , human health , plant health , and animal health . "
William Wilkie Collins plans to continue putting in the effort to visualise out the nicety so they can increase their profit gross profit but preserve grime health as their top priority . " When you suddenly do n’t put down any fertilizer , and your soil has n’t quite build up itself back up yet , you have to find other ways to make it work out . "
One way she ’s been capable to move her farm forward has been by extending her growing time of year using a high tunnel she obtained with the help of NRCS through EQIP . " Man , the dirt in there has become soil and it ’s so happy . It make such a massive difference , " Collins says . What Collins refer to as ' filth ' is the mineral component of ' soil . ' Dead . Lifeless . ' Soil ' is alive — an entire ecosystem below the ground . She is in the process of working with Garcia on implement for a third high burrow . She lately planted 80 tree around her market garden to provide a windbreak and planted a cover crop within her woodlet .
Beyond standard conservationMontana Focused Conservation ( MFC ) targets locally prioritized resource concerns within geographic area highly impacted by said resource concerns . Garcia explain that instead of applying preservation programs with a scattered overture , MFC dressed ore on interrelated issues — like wet - use efficiency and current of air erosion in this illustration — typically within a watershed , or similar - sized area . The RFSH TIP is the exception to that principle , with program - eligible areas include 14 counties across southcentral Montana .
Garcia portion out the Bays have made incredible strides in their stain health journey through cover cropping . " natural covering harvest are a game record changer for a manufacturer like Highland Harmony . It can increase your soil constituent matter , reduce land erosion , and provide habitat for good organisms , increasing the overall biodiversity and resilience of your land . " The praxis can also meliorate the territory ’s physical properties , leading to increase water supply infiltration and retention .
With the Rooting for Soil Health TIP , the elemental resource business NRCS is trying to address is naturally useable moisture use efficiency . " It ’s kind of a mouthful to say , but naturally available moisture use efficiency is one of the greatest challenges associated with dryland husbandry . In a dryland cropping system — meaning it ’s rainfed only — there ’s no irrigation applied . " Using a disc exercise and stripper header to minimize soil disturbance and maximise harvest residue not only helps extenuate soil erosion but increases wet utilisation efficiency by creating a microclimate near the territory Earth’s surface which shrink evapotranspiration .
Regenerative farming practicesImplementing regenerative farming practices in their fields , the family has seen first - hand the cocksure shock they ’ve had on their soil . Conservation harvest rotation has also played a critical role in meeting their soil direction goals . By alternating unlike crops , they can prevent the depletion of soil nutrients as well as course ascendancy blighter and disease . John Bays offer , " We ’ve acquire rotating crops is like pay the soil a balanced diet . Each crop contributes something dissimilar . "
grime health testing , stick out by the NRCS , allow the Bays to supervise and improve grime stipulation , ensuring retentive - term sustainability . Collins accentuate the grandness of these tests : " Soil health testing gives us a clear picture of what ’s happening beneath the open so we can set our praxis accordingly to benefit the grease and the crops . "
Embracing regenerative agricultureThe family ’s warmth for regenerative agriculture shines through in everything they do . They understand the importance of healthy soil for producing nutrient - rich food and are dedicated to making impudent decisions for the environment . Their effort are not just about farming but about create a upright ecosystem .
Collins shine on their journeying so far , saying , " If you grow in this way , the ecosystem is glad . Your plants are healthy . They farm more nutrient . It defecate better intellectual nourishment . And I want to run through better food . And I want to educate people because most do n’t acknowledge that ’s even a thing . That there ’s a dissimilar way . "
With the support of the NRCS , the Bays family is transforming their country and contributing to a more sustainable future . They are hopeful their story revolutionize others to adopt similar regenerative ag practices and appreciate the value of healthy , vivacious ecosystems .
John Bays encapsulates their ism : " It was real light before . I was just farm numbers . I was n’t growing food . Then I had this awakening . That unlike perspective of ' I care maturate food . This is fun . ' It ’s our goal to keep this going . "
Source : United States Department of Agriculture
