USARAAI SUMMIT 2019
Part 1: Finding Faithful Stewards of the Land
It was the summer of 2019 … seems like so long ago! I ran into our friend Wayne Hughes and he asked me if I’d read a book by this guy Gabe Brown. He said it had turned his thinking upside down, where farming and grazing were concerned. I told him I hadn’t heard of the book but would love to read it. He just happened to have a copy with him, and he loaned it to me. As I was leaving, he told me that there was going to be a Summit, and Gabe would be the keynote speaker. I thanked him and went on my way.
A Turning Point
When I finally got some time, I opened the book “Dirt to Soil” and started reading. I could hardly put it down! It was about the Brown family and their story of how they came to understand that Nature is in charge. Gabe wasn’t raised a farmer, but married into a farming family, so all he knew was traditional, conventional farming methods, with plenty input. In time he bought part of the farm and continued to farm as he always had, which didn’t profit enough to support the family. He and his wife had off-the-farm jobs too.
Then disaster, in the form of storms and wind, over the next 3 or 4 years, wiping out his crops. Now he couldn’t afford to fix equipment, buy seeds, fertilizer, and pesticides, which he thought he couldn’t farm without. His back was against the wall. He spent the next year walking his farm, paying attention to what he saw in flora and fauna. He noticed life where he hadn’t seen it before, and he began to wonder if he might be doing things wrong. Maybe nature had it right all along!
The rest of Gabe’s story is filled with what happened when he allowed his mind to change and learn, and how it greatly improved his farm, his cattle, and his own life.
Finding the Faithful
His discoveries were eye-opening to me as well, and I wanted to learn more. I bought a ticket to the 2019 USARAAI Summit, which was held at the UT Ag Farm. A large group of people were milling around the building and the coffee pot on that crisp September morning. I found some familiar faces as I got coffee and went to find a seat.
After the welcome and introductions, the first speaker, Ray Archuleta, began with his presentation. Ray is a well-known soil scientist, and he dove deep into what soil is and why it matters. He taught about the three pillars of learning – tools, skills, mindset. Changing your mind changes the game. We learned about mycorrhizal fungi and its relationship with plant roots, and the other life forms in the soil. I couldn’t write fast enough to keep up with all that was coming at me! There were the 4 eco-system processes that are necessary – capture sunlight effectively, the water cycle needs to work, a good nutrient cycle, and diversity. Plants are energy (sunlight) transformers. Nature is self-healing-regulating-organizing, and soil disturbance really messes with this. There was much more.
At break my mind was buzzing with so many new ideas, terms I’d never heard, but I could relate. It was as though I was getting a bad itch scratched. Things I’d thought for a long time now made sense. I couldn’t wait to hear more!
By Sherrie Ottinger
