Survive the drought. Use cattle. #notill #cattle #farmers

Norton, Kansas was at the heart of the devastating 2011 & 2012 years of drought.

Michael Thompson, learning from Gabe Brown, is now regenerating his soils with no-till and cover-crops practices coupled with Adaptive Multi-Paddock (AMP) grazing - giving his farm resilience for all the drought years since.

His exemplary work was given the Kansas Farm Bureau Natural Resources Award.

“The drought was basically the adversity we came up against. We weren’t willing to sell all our cattle and our livelihood, so we decided we had to do something about it. So we started subdividing and changing our grazing strategy, and it’s been good to us during the drought.”

About this farmer:
Michael Thompson
Kansas
25 inches yearly rainfall

[MrGusto-chwc]

Good job. Farmers like you will change the world. I'm glad we finally have farmers listening to science and not the chemical sales man.

[insAneTunA]

Happy to see farmers discover the huge benefits of micro biology. Micro organisms made life on land possible to begin with. It is the foundation of life on land.

[bobgreene]

Outstanding proof that farming of any kind must work with, rather than against, Nature.

[firewoodsteel]

I am no farmer but my grandfather and uncles have been doing this in Cuba for more than 80 years. Subdividing the land into pretty small parcels and keep changing them around, then plant 2 crops together in certain areas so that insects attack the stronger crop and the other crop would have more yield (corn wit tomatoes) pesticides are scarce.

[sharifritz]

Joel Salatin in Virginia has been doing this for years. He speaks at homesteading events to talk about regenerative agriculture.

[hannesverhees]

Good work, you know how its supposed to be ! Work with nature, not against it !

[terryrichardson]

Finally I never thought they would learn a good way to Farm . Using your head . Don't listen to the chemical companies and fertilization companies . I Salute You Fantastic

[ptaylor]

Oh my. My family is from Norton. My grandfather was the doctor who was superintendent of the State Sanatorium for Tuberculosis. My dad grew up there and then he joined the staff. I spent the first 2 years of my life there and every summer visiting my grandparents. The Sanatorium had it's own farm to grow food for the residents. It's a wonderful place with wonderful people.

[raraavis]

A round of 👏👏👏 for farmers trying their darndest to make do despite or even fix these problems. You guys are real heroes!

[heatherforde]

You should look into what Australians are doing to refurbish the land. They create landorms to catch water, then plant trees and plants to keep the water there, and it's amazing how the land comes back to life when you let it be as it should be naturally. Thank you for what you're doing!

[maureenmckenna]

So glad people are using these strategies, now proven to help the richness of the soil.

[helenvanpatterson-patton]

Wow. That is a remarkable difference!

[jayray]

Its a shame farms are shutting down people loke you are the back bone of this country with out guys like you all that hard work trying to turn a profit just to get kicked in the Teeth by the government i thank you sir for all that you do to keep the world fed

[stevefrench]

Kinda funny how all these farmers are going back to how people used to farm..

[clayed]

Recreational Tillage - its what some farmers do in the spring and fall when the weather is good, and they have nothing else to do. They’d be better off taking the money they spent on tillage and spending it on a vacation.
No-till has been around for more than half a century. It’s benefits are well documented and used widely in the US although it’s extremely hard to get some diehards to stop tilling.
That wonderful smell that you get while tilling a field is much needed bacteria and microbes dying.

[markm]

The difference between a legislator and an insect pest is that the insect problem is seasonal.

[angelinaabarca]

I'm so grateful that you all are bringing the importance of OUR earth, soil, dirt, people even in the city's don't realize we are not doing anything to put back in OUR SOIL, then don't want to get started on muskrats and moles, deferring the water weaking the ground below us. Just really wanted to say THANKS FOR SHARING

[mikes]

Very good to see!! I'm so glad it's working for you!!!!

[gingercox]

Stand strong, keep doing this, it’s a win, win. And we need lots of win win to defeat the corrupt and criminal WEF who seems bent on destroying all life on earth.

[kirrileepoehland]

I love this and am so grateful for your care of your soil. Life!!!