to healthy, robust plants—whether
they are crops, animal forage or
trees. When we plow the soil, we
disrupt those beneficial network
connections, deterring green
plants from getting all the nutrition
they need to prosper. .
To manifest SGA’s vision,
SGA will be partnering with Greg
Glenn—thanks to a connection
made by Land Link Montgomery —
an experienced regenerative
farmer and CEO of Rocklands
Livestock Company. Using another
term that also captures SCA’s goals
for the Linden Farm, Greg explains
that, “Agroecology is a form of agricultural
production that considers
and utilizes the entire farm ecosystem—including
wildlife—for the
balanced, optimized production of
various agricultural products, such
as meats, eggs and dairy, fiber,
garden and forest produce, honey,
timber, and more. In agroecology,
each component of the ecosystem
is utilized for the benefit of the
whole ecosystem.”
An important goal of the
partnership will be to document
changes to the soil and to the land.
Baseline soil studies have already
been executed. Keeping records
of all the processes and techniques
used on the farm, testing soil annually
to verify how the changes
in farming have affected the soil,
and documenting how the ecosystem
is altered will support our
understanding of the changes that
we can see. Additionally, through
partnerships with scientists and
academics, teachers and students,
the land, while being farmed will
also be studied, deepening our
agricultural knowledge. We anticipate
more partnerships with farm-
ers who want to use regenerative
farming methodologies on small
parcels of the farm to grow vegetables
or berries, for example. A
small apiary that already operates
on the farm will also likely expand.
Transition begins this year;
fields of annual row crops are to
become pasture, beginning with
planting a diverse cover crop
that will reduce soil compaction
with the deep taproots of tillage
radishes and improve soil fertility
with a mixture of cowpeas, red
clover, and more. After several
months’ growth, these annuals will
be replaced with perennial species
that will comprise the foundation
of the pasture.
Since ruminants play an
important role in improving the
land’s health, sturdy perimeter
fencing must be installed before
they arrive. Why livestock? Imagine
the rolling American prairie, with
vast herds of bison, or the African
savannahs with large mixed herds
of ungulates. To avoid predation,
those herds evolved to move about
frequently. Although those ecosystems
are now fragmented, we
recognize that they were incred-
Once permanent pasture is
established, the next step will
be to transition into silvopasture,
i.e., the deliberate planting
of trees onto the pasture as
part of the livestock operation.
Trees provide shade for animals
in the heat and some shelter
from winter conditions. Equally
important, trees offer habitat
for wildlife and food sources for
pollinators, plus the potential
for another income stream: a
harvestable crop, depending on
the species chosen. The addition
of trees means the land will
sequester even more carbon and
capture more precipitation.
ibly healthy and diverse. We know
that the roots of American prairie
grasses reached many feet down
into the soil. To mimic them,
ruminants will graze small areas
intensively, using temporary fencing,
before being moved to a fresh
section of field. Plant growth in perennial
pastures is actually stimu-
10 plenty I Summer growing 2020