It’s all in the Technique

SOA Blog Posts
Aug 8, 2017 · 4 min read

Agriculture is the largest user of groundwater in the Ogallala Aquifer. This raises the question: how do we continue to be successful agriculture producers and remain part of the breadbasket of America, but still steward our most valuable agricultural resource, water? I headed out to Tulia, Texas with Soil Mender Products to get a better understanding of what producers are doing on a daily basis to farm full yields while still being water conscious throughout farm season.

In 1991, Soil Mender Products was founded as a compost company. Since then, the company has evolved into a lawn and garden care company into the more current agriculture consultants that specialize in nutrient management. From the beginning, the overall goal has been to build a better foundation for a better plant. As Jason Birkenfeld, third generation farmer and an owner of Soil Mender puts it, “We want to grow better for a healthy plant, including the soil with it, for a sustainable plant that is natural to the plant.” Birkenfeld feels that 90% of producers want to be sustainable based on pure economics. “You want your business to be successful. Over watering hurts your land and your crop. The majority of farmers are the greatest environmentalists there are.” In order for the Birkenfeld family’s farming legacy to continue, the water they have must be used wisely, which is a concept that many small agricultural communities in the Ogallala region understand is essential if their economies and towns are to persist.

So just how does Soil Mender Products help producers be sustainable and water conscious? Reducing plant stress, keeping the plant happy, and having balanced nutrients are their three main objectives. Drought is the biggest stressor for plants at Soil Menders. Using antioxidants and amino acids prevents the plant and its roots from shutting down and fights the drought stress. As Birkenfeld put it, “every seed has genetic potential, but every bit of stress you put on it once it’s in the ground will affect the yield.” Paying direct attention to the stress creates sustainable high yields. Soil Mender Products prides itself on taking a step back from conventional textbook agriculture and asking the “Why?” question. As nutrient managers from agricultural production, Soil Mender Products takes soil samples to test tissue to create a customized product based on the data they find for each of their customers. Putting nutrients like potassium on corn helps the plant be less water hungry and not as susceptible to insects and disease. Meanwhile, when the nutrient is not so heavily focused on nitrogen like traditional producers, a healthy, happy plant is fostered. The company understands that there is not a “silver bullet” or one thing that will make a plant perfect, but taking grower innovation to find problem-solving solutions that often times do not fit in conventional agricultural practices has been a successful venture for Soil Mender Products.

Knowing what you have and your capability is important to sustainable agriculture. Understanding techniques like rotation and the basics of ergonomics combined with modern ingenuity like drip irrigation, moisture probe monitoring are steps in the right direction. In the future Soil Mender Products looks to create more nutritional ways for plants to be less water hungry, and will also be jumping into dry land farming stress reduction research. Soil Mender Products feels that in the next 10 years agriculture as a whole will have the same three goals, to reduce plant stress, keep the plant happy, and have a balanced nutrition. Check out Soil Mender Ag on Facebook for videos and other information about soil nutrition and the successes of Soil Mender Products.

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