Gabe Brown was a big hit a the 24th Annual OGS Spring Conference on March 10-12, 2017. Gabe is a nationally-recognized innovator of cover crop cocktails in no-till grain and livestock production systems. Gabe shared what he has learned over the 20+ years that he has worked to decrease costs and increase income on his 5000-acre farm by building soil health and diversifying production.
The ongoing question among our farmers is “Can these soil building systems be applied to smaller farmsteads in NC and Western NC?” We believe so. Here are some resources:
Russell Hedrick of Hickory, N.C., a young farmer in our area is using Gabe Brown’s methods. You can read about him here:
Cover crops, no-till shine in drought year
Cover crops, no-till shine in drought year article by John Hart | Sep 20, 2015 in the Southeast Farm Press
Also, this video, Under Cover Farmers – Full-Length Feature explains in depth how three farmers in Stanly County, NC, started using multispecies cover crops and how they were able to realize economic returns on their investment in the first year.
Under Cover Farmers
You can find it on youtube here.
Farmers realize the benefits, challenges of soil-improving cover crops
Article here. By Ron Nichols, USDA/NRCS | Dec 18, 2013
