CHATHAM, Mich. (WZMQ) – Three U.P. farms had a chance to share their experiences in regenerative agriculture and soil health during a free educational event this week.
‘Soil Life is Farm Life’ is a two-day event created by the Alger and Delta Conservation Districts and MSU Research Extension, combining input from Yooper Country Farms, Log Cabin Livestock, and Rock River Flower Farm to showcase the use of natural upkeep methods within its soils. This is the first time the MDARD-funded program has been brought to the region.
Day one’s portion included informational tours of the farms. This allowed for participants, being local growers and market vendors, to see first-hand how these methods have provided benefit to their output.
“We’re very big on regenerative farming and keeping the soil healthy,” said McKenzie Guzman, owner of Yooper Country Farms. “It’s very important to educate other people, because there is so much wrong information out there, it’s important to come and see what can actually be done without any chemicals.”
Next to its benefits, the environment also brings its own obstacles. Guzman says recent storms have interrupted certain growth in things like her carrots, but with these methods, that regeneration keeps an even cycle.
“The plants come back healthy from all of these things, because they have what they need in the soil,” she explained. “By allowing the soil to do what it does naturally, we’re not creating any more problems than we’re fixing.”
A main goal for the conservation event all comes down to collaboration. With opportunities to network and share strengths and weaknesses, ideas are bound to be brought home to other farms around the U.P.
“Everybody works together, everybody is sharing information very openly,” said Guzman. “We have to support each other, and we have to share even the hard details, like financially, ‘is it even a possibility?’ which I think a lot of small farms struggle with.”
The event will continue Wednesday with presentations from soil health researchers and MDARD officials at the MSU extension farms in Chatham.
