John Mesko: (00:29)
Welcome back to The People Of Soil Health. I'm John Mesko, your host, and I'm excited to be joined today by one of our soil health partnership farmers, Mikayla Tabert, who – along with her husband, Ben, and her parents, David and Peggy Miller – run Trinity Creek Ranch in Red Lake Falls, Minnesota. The farm was started by Mikayla's grandfather back in 1952, and today diversity and innovation are key factors in their operation. And we hope to hear more about that today. Mikayla, welcome to the podcast.
Mikayla Tabert: (01:00)
Hi John. Thanks for having me.
John Mesko: (01:02)
Well, as we spoke offline here a minute ago, and as I mentioned, diversity is very important at Trinity Creek Ranch. Tell us a little bit about the different crops and livestock that you're into there.
Mikayla Tabert: (01:15)
Yeah, so our farm runs about 150 cow-calf pairs and that is working with our crop system, because we're trying to graze them as long as possible and trying to not feed them [beyond grazing]. We've just seen that the time and money spent on feeding and hauling manure is quite large and so we're trying to do that and that kind of drives a lot of our crop decisions.
Mikayla Tabert: (01:42)
And so, on the crop side, we are raising a pretty diverse crop rotation with corn, soybeans, wheat, and peaola – which is a poly crop of field peas and canola. We also raise alfalfa for hay production. We have tall fescue, but this is for turf grass seed production, not so much for the forage, but we are able to graze it after harvest. We do have a little bit of cereal rye, mostly just for cover crop seed, and then we also raise sunflowers. With our crops, we're trying to incorporate cover crops as much as possible and increase our plant diversity, so basically our goal is to not have a monoculture. We're trying to either have something interseeded or something in front of and after, hopefully, that crop, just trying the best to do that. And then, on the side, we do sell forage and cover crop seed and Pioneer seed, as well. So we've got a lot going on, but with the four of us working, it does help that to manage that.
John Mesko: (02:47)
That's incredible. I mean, there's a tremendous amount of activity there in place, and I'm sure it gives you a lot of opportunity to take advantage of situations where one of those enterprises is performing better or is more profitable for a certain time based on some extenuating circumstance and gives you some more flexibility.
Mikayla Tabert: (03:08)
Yeah, I would agree. It helps us be a lot more resilient. You know what crop commodity prices can be like, or you get a wet year, dry year, certain crops do better than others and it's just... We like having that diverse mix that we can have a fail-safe. And if all else fails, we always have the cattle. For example, last year we had a pretty cool fall and a lot of people worried if corn was going to make maturity and – it would have hurt if it didn't make maturity, don't get me wrong – but having the cattle that we could graze that corn is a nice fail-safe. Having livestock is helpful for things like that.
John Mesko: (03:49)
I agree. I think that it's an extra level of management, but it's that base stability that you're looking for. But out of curiosity, has your farm always been this diverse? Like we said, your grandfather started this a long time ago. What was it like when he was running it and how has it evolved?
Mikayla Tabert: (04:11)
Yeah. Back when my grandpa farmed, I think it was more of the norm to have a lot of things in their crop rotation. They had things like potatoes, edible beans, barley, sunflowers, oats. Sowing the corn wasn't really even in the equation this far north at that point in time. But having a diverse rotation is a lot of management and it definitely complicates things. It's not for everyone. So I totally understand when my parents moved in to take over the operation, especially as they had me and my brother as kids, it really kind of got boiled down to corn, soybeans and wheat, which is still a fairly diverse rotation, with some alfalfa in the mix. They still had cattle. So, it kind of simplified a little bit. And then when my husband and I joined the operation again in 2016, we were starting to learn more and more about soil health, trying to boost our profitability and so we started growing more crops, trying things.
Mikayla Tabert: (05:09)
We went to a soil conference in Bismarck that really opened our eyes to how we could do a lot more with what we had. And truthfully, we were just sitting around the table, I think, fall of '17, looking at our breakevens. It was pretty depressing, to be honest. And so we were like, "Well, we're not going to make much, or, any money anyways, let's actually try and learn some things and see if we can do things better." So that's what really lit a fire on to the diversity that we... we're looking at crops that we could grow, say after grazing cereal rye in the spring with... we started calving at that point in time in the spring now. And so just trying to find things that fit that and not necessarily a cash crop that we can make cash on, but ways we can save money on feed because that's another profitable way to raise cover crops.
John Mesko: (06:05)
Absolutely. That enterprise stacking is different with every farm and it takes quite a bit of understanding of your, not only your operation, but local opportunities that might be available or whatnot. So, I'm sure it certainly keeps you busy to keep all those balls in the air.
Mikayla Tabert: (06:24)
Yes, it does. We have an almost one-year-old and we really have felt like we are not doing as well this year as we have previous years in getting everything done.
John Mesko: (06:36)
I'm from Minnesota and I'm very familiar with Red River Valley. A lot of folks that may be listening to this podcast probably have heard of the Red River Valley, but very few people in my experience really understand the fertility of the soils there and how productive the farm ground is. And yet it's pretty far north, as you were mentioning, even as your grandfather's farming, you said corn, soybeans, varieties and hybrids had not been developed really for that part of the country. So, how did the soils in that region, combined with some of the challenges that come from being located that far north, impact the way that you farm?
Mikayla Tabert: (07:15)
Yes. The shorter climate is definitely a challenge. We're on the edge of the Red River Valley so we don't have as much of the heavy clay soils. We almost, we’re in that outwash so it's very variable. We can have some really light soils and then some heavy soils not very far from it. And so that's kind of been a little bit of a challenge that we've really adapted variable rate fertility and seeding because of that. But as far as being so far north, I remember when we started doing this, just being really jealous and feeling discouraged, looking at... you read the magazines of people down in Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska getting these huge, massive cover crop stands, say after wheat, or they just have the season and we just don't have that. And that was discouraging, but that's what pushed us into doing things like interseeding, poly cropping, relay cropping, basically just trying to have more of the cover crop stand in the crop or before the crop. We just don't have the season for doing something... we can't seed something after soybeans or after corn very consistently.
Mikayla Tabert: (08:32)
We just don't have any time. The snow's on the ground, it's frozen. So that's really pushed us into finding new ways to insert diversity into our rotation in other ways.
John Mesko: (08:44)
Yep. I totally understand that. And one of the things that we hear so often from people in the main part of the Midwest, the Corn Belt, the areas that you mentioned are, "Well, we can't do it because the season is short” and it's nice to be able to point to someone like what you're doing there and say, "Oh, well, they're doing it. So I think maybe we should reconsider what really can be done." But you've been working with us at Soil Health Partnership, with us to do some research on your farm really since 2019. Can you share with us a little bit about some of the health goals and how our trials there are helping contribute to those goals?
Mikayla Tabert: (09:24)
So even going backwards, when my dad started farming here, his real goal was doing no-till and strip-till was to decrease erosion and increase soil organic matter. Now I would say the erosion is pretty well handled, but the soil organic matter really didn't change. And that's been one of our big goals and that's not the only measure of soil health, but that's one that's pretty tangible. And so that's still our goal and with that, that we're trying to decrease our synthetic inputs, our fertilizers, our chemicals. Not to eliminate, but that's just a big cost and there's information out there that's kind of showing that those things can actually hurt your soil health in your productivity. So, our goal is to have that healthy functioning soil that doesn't need a bunch of inputs to have a productive crop.
John Mesko: (10:19)
So you've been two seasons into this now with Soil Health Partnership; what are some of the things you're learning?
Mikayla Tabert: (10:26)
Just this, as far as cover crops. We definitely need a complete plan. As far as your rotation, your chemical residuals for cover crops, just how you're going to terminate the cover crop. In our specific Soil Health Partnership plot, just because of how things worked out, we've had soybeans there three of the last five years, and we're really seeing how much our crop rotation has helped with weed control because going back to beans that many times, we've actually had some resistant weeds that we really haven't struggled with much and they’re moving in the area too, but I think a lot of it is our crop rotation. So we definitely learned that.
Mikayla Tabert: (11:06)
Another thing from our Soil Partnership work is learning more about some of these soil tests that are out there. We haven't had much experience prior besides the typical inorganic tests. So getting to see some of these tests and, because of COVID, we didn't get to see the tests for this year, but we're looking forward to next year hoping to see some changes from the cover crop. So, that would be some of the things that we're learning.
John Mesko: (11:33)
Oh, that's great. One of the things that has been a benefit to SHP for being located near the farm is the virtual field day we had back in September where you and your family were able to show off some of the unique cover crop work that you all are doing there. And you showed some of the modified equipment for things like interseeding cover crops in the corn. Some of those innovative projects that you shared really got a lot of excitement. One of our other SHP farmer's, Justin Knopf from Kansas, was really excited about the work you're doing. And I think it goes both ways. You were saying earlier about how you look to the south and you're envious about how the growing season allows for these grand cover crops to develop.
John Mesko: (12:20)
But, I think it goes the other way when people in those areas are looking at some of the things that are going in areas like the Red River Valley, where the climate is so challenging and they see the innovation that you guys are implementing and getting in place in your farm. How do you keep the innovation and the adaptation going and how does that fuel your interest and your goals?
Mikayla Tabert: (12:47)
People see what we're doing and around here and they definitely think we're crazy because... maybe we are, we probably are. But I think a lot of it is my mom definitely works on the farm, but she's not so much into the decision-making stuff, but my dad and I, and my husband, we all have our own followings that we're watching on YouTube or podcasts. My dad is really into Twitter. We follow some Facebook groups, but I think being around, or even virtually contacting other people that are doing things beyond you, I think helps stretch us and see other ideas. But having, especially the three of us, all seeing things in different ways. We try to sit down together and discuss things and see what we want to change, what we want to try and with our different strengths and perspectives, we can maybe help evolve that into an idea. So, that really is a huge part, I think.
John Mesko: (13:50)
Yeah, I think you're hitting on something that is really, in part, I think an outcome of another generation coming back to the farm and injecting new ways of thinking, new ways of communicating, new ways of gathering information. And one of the things that I always point to is new relationships. With the advent of technology and certainly one of the positive outcomes of COVID has been our ability and our need to become more familiar, more comfortable with meeting people electronically and exchanging information in new ways. Being able to get comfortable with that and incorporating some of that on a regular basis, like you say in your operation, I think that's really energizing. It's exciting for me to hear it. I'm sure others will have similar experiences. If people want to follow along with the work that you're doing there at Trinity Creek Ranch, what's the best way for them to keep track and keep updated?
Mikayla Tabert: (14:47)
Yeah, probably the best way at this point is we have a Facebook page, Trinity Creek Ranch. We started that with the intent of marketing our beef, but we're trying to show what we're doing in every way. And another way, my dad is very active on Twitter. His Twitter handle is @Trinity CreekR. I'm on Twitter as well @MikaylaTabert, but I'm not as active as he is. So that would be some ways you could follow and see what we're doing.
John Mesko: (15:15)
Okay. Well, that's great. Well, Mikayla, this has been really enjoyable. Really appreciate your work with SHP and the things that you're doing there and being a light and a beacon for all of us, some of the innovation and the interesting things that you're coming up with to overcome challenges. I wish you the best this winter. Stay safe and thank you for joining us.
Mikayla Tabert: (15:35)
Thank you, John.
