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The Importance of Plant Diversity
In a recent article written by Jay Fuhrer, a retired soil health specialist from the NRCS, titled “The Elusive Holy Grail: Plant Diversity and Why You Need It,” he emphasizes that to sustain farming practices indefinitely, it is crucial to cultivate a healthy landscape characterized by nutrient-dense crops, achievable through the adoption of plant diversity principles.

Plant diversity plays a vital role in the functioning of ecosystems, yet it is often more challenging to implement than to discuss. For millions of years, plants and microbes have coexisted and supported one another. However, the advent of European settlement introduced agriculture, which replaced the rich diversity of grasslands and forests with monoculture landscapes, thereby disrupting essential ecosystem processes.

The integration of no-till farming with crop diversity and cover crops can help to reverse this detrimental trend, steering agriculture towards a more sustainable model. By expanding crop rotations, farmers can emulate original plant communities, facilitating the incorporation of cover crops and diverse livestock, which in turn extends photosynthesis periods and increases carbon availability for microbes.

A practical illustration of these principles can be found at Bacon Heights Farms, situated near Regan, North Dakota. Owners Steve and David Bauer have successfully harnessed the advantages of plant diversity. The evolution of their farm has transitioned from dairy operations to hog farming, and ultimately to the management of cow/calf pairs.

Over four decades ago, the farm ceased tillage practices, initially adopting direct seeding techniques, and for the past twenty years, has utilized a no-till planting system. The Bauer’s have incorporated a variety of crop rotations, which include peas, buckwheat, spring wheat, durum wheat, adzuki beans, pinto beans, soybeans, corn, oats, malting barley, and sunflowers. In 2007, they introduced multi-species cover crops into their rotation, utilizing species such as camelina, buckwheat, oats, radishes, peas, cereal rye, and turnips.

The farm employs a multi-paddock grazing system that allows for extended rest and recovery periods, along with seasonal usage adjustments, which promote the growth of native rangeland wildflowers, vetches, and various grasses, including Big Bluestem. By utilizing large cattle herds for brief durations, the farm fosters grassland plant diversity and increases plant biomass, facilitating grass banking for grazing in late fall and early winter when conditions allow. Hay fields are harvested once and subsequently grazed, with winter feeding practices aimed at enhancing soil carbon, improving soil aggregates, and addressing previous erosion issues.

As a result of their increased plant diversity, the Bauer’s have observed several benefits, such as the elimination of insecticide use, a reduction in the use of fertilizer, fungicide, and herbicides, increased labor and equipment efficiency, a wider range of marketing opportunities, and an overall improvement in soil health.