Soil Health
Investing in Soil Health
A good crop starts long before the seed goes in the ground. Healthy soil is the foundation of everything we do. It stores water, feeds plants, and supports the entire growing system. That’s why we work to build and protect soil health year after year—helping us grow quality food today while caring for the land for future generations.
Crop Rotation as Regenerative Ag Practice
Hailed as a farming best practice to improve soil health, crop rotation offers additional benefits. For decades, R.D. Offutt Farms has worked with neighbors and other family farmers to rotate crops from one year to another. Increasing our average potato growing rotation to once every four years has resulted in higher yields, allowing us to decrease total potato acres grown annually.
Responsible Use of Crop Protectants
Across Minnesota, there is significant variation in soil structure, weather and other factors impacting input decisions. Given all these differences, we believe that the most sustainable way to farm is one field at a time – giving the individual crop what it needs. Using modern soil sampling methodologies and historical data, we apply just the right amount of inputs on crops, and no more. Our long rotation schedule also leads to healthier fields, further reducing inputs. R.D. Offutt Farms manages inputs in accordance with strict regulatory guidelines by Minnesota Department of Agriculture and label requirements established by the Environmental Protection Agency.
Increasing Usage of Organic Fertilizer
Using natural fertilizer adds organic matter to the soil and helps improve water retention and, as a result, our potatoes flourish. For more than 30 years, turkey manure has been used as an organic fertilizer at our Little Falls, Minn. farming location. In recent years, we have more than tripled our use of locally purchased turkey manure across multiple farms.
Cover Crops Reduce Soil Erosion and Runoff
Cover crops are planted for the soil, instead of your plate. They are not cash crops but serve a critical purpose – taking care of the soil so it can take care of other crops. R.D. Offutt Farms has planted cover crops for more than 20 years. Typically, cover crops are planted in the fall and incorporated into the soil in the spring. We use a variety of cover crops, including rye, oats, mustard and tillage radish. Annually, we plant more than 20,000 acres of cover crops across our Midwest operation.
R.D. Offutt Farms’ Agronomy Team
Our farms benefit from a dedicated agronomy team – experts in soil management and crop production – who oversee soil and land management, nutrient and water application, pest control and minimizing environmental impacts. Led by Nick David, Midwest Regional Agronomist, our agronomists have more than 60 years of collective experience working on our farms.