Episode 123: Breaking Traditions in Dry Climates with Keith Morter

Regenerative Agriculture Podcast

AEA Marketing

Earth Sciences, Science, Natural Sciences

4.7 • 546 Ratings

🗓️ 28 June 2024

⏱️ 90 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Keith Morter, a dryland wheat farmer from Oregon, transitioned to regenerative agriculture management practices. Keith initially used standard, conventional methods like plowing and extensive chemical applications on his operation. Dissatisfied with the results, Keith shifted to direct seeding and eventually embraced regenerative practices. By drastically reducing nitrogen use and implementing holistic management techniques, Keith observed significant improvements in soil health, crop resilience, and pest resistance.

Despite challenges like low rainfall and high summer temperatures, his farm now thrives with healthier soils and sustainable crop yields, demonstrating the transformative potential of regenerative farming in challenging environments.

In this episode, Keith and John discuss:

Reduction of nitrogen use and its impact on soil health
How breeding crops for specific traits can lead to nutritional and microbiome imbalances
Soil cover and moisture retention strategies in dryland farming
Challenges in finding markets for specialty crops
Innovative seed treatment methods
Micronutrient application and management
How cover crops enhance biodiversity and ecosystem health

Additional Resources:
To learn more about Keith and his farm, please watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yX3Es7w6yNE&

About John Kempf
John Kempf is the founder of Advancing Eco Agriculture (AEA). A top expert in biological and regenerative farming, John founded AEA in 2006 to help fellow farmers by providing the education, tools, and strategies that will have a global effect on the food supply and those who grow it.

Through intense study and the knowledge gleaned from many industry leaders, John is building a comprehensive systems-based approach to plant nutrition – a system solidly based on the sciences of plant physiology, mineral nutrition, and soil microbiology.

Support For This Show & Helping You Grow
Since 2006, AEA has been on a mission to help growers become more resilient, efficient, and profitable with regenerative agriculture.

AEA works directly with growers to apply its unique line of liquid mineral crop nutrition products and biological inoculants. Informed by cutting-edge plant and soil data-gathering techniques, AEA's science-based programs empower farm operations to meet the crop quality markers that matter the most.

AEA has created real and lasting change on millions of acres with its products and data-driven services by working hand-in-hand with growers to produce healthier soil, stronger crops, and higher profits.

Beyond working on the ground with growers, AEA leads in regenerative agriculture media and education, producing and distributing the popular and highly-regarded Regenerative Agriculture Podcast, inspiring webinars, and other educational content that serve as go-to resources for growers worldwide.

Learn more about AEA's regenerative programs and products: https://www.advancingecoag.com

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hi, friends, this is John. Welcome back to the regenerative agriculture podcast where we have all
0:04.5	kinds of fun conversations usually related to agronomy and soil health and plant health and
0:09.3	regenerating ecosystems. I've been looking forward to the discussion today where we get to
0:15.1	have a conversation with Keith Mortar, who I first met a couple of years ago from up in the
0:19.9	Pacific Northwest farming and I think one of years ago from up in the Pacific Northwest,
0:25.3	farming, and I think one of the driest places on the globe where wheat is grown.
0:28.9	And, yeah, it's been interesting, too.
0:35.0	I think Keith also produced the highest test weight wheat that I've heard of recently,
0:39.2	and I think we'll have some fun conversation. So, Keith, thank you for being here. Thank you for being willing to share your story and what you've been working on and thinking
0:43.6	about. Tell us a little bit about your farming context, the history of your farming operation, the
0:50.2	scope of what you're working on today, and how you got to be where you are now.
1:00.0	Yeah, John. So my parents didn't inherit what we have. My parents bought what we have. They moved here in 1961. And we did conventional agriculture like everybody did until about 2009.
1:08.5	And in this dry environment, we did everything that a regenerative person probably
1:12.8	would not do. We plowed the ground with chisel plows. We've rod-weeded the ground all summer long,
1:19.1	put her fertilizer down and seeded. That was the traditional means of putting the crop in in this area.
1:24.6	Hundreds of thousands of acres in the Pacific Northwest is put in this way.
1:29.1	In the early 2000s, direct seed came in. A lot of guys started switching over to it. There was a lot of
1:35.8	soil erosion benefits to it. There's one of the reasons for it. Finally, we got on the bandwagon
1:41.8	and finally bought a drill and started direct seed in fall of 2009
1:46.2	by 2012 at this point I was pretty much in charge of what I was doing my dad had retired by that point
1:55.0	and so I was pretty much in charge so by 2012 we started doing a lot of grid sampling and variable rate seed and variable
2:04.8	rate fertilizer and weren't having the effect on the soil that I was really hoping to see long-term.
	...

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