Wind and water have eroded Montana soils since the first plow turned earth on the Northern Plains more than 150 years ago, taking with them one of the state’s most important resources. Since then, tillage, plus the fertilizer and pesticides common in industrial agriculture, have continued to degrade the soil that agriculture depends on. With climate change threatening almost 25,000 Montana agricultural jobs in the next 50 years, many farmers, ranchers and researchers believe the status quo is no longer adequate. And though conventional farming continues to account for the overwhelming majority of Montana’s $4.6 billion ag sector, things are shifting.
Organic has been a USDA certification since 2002, while regenerative lacks a codified or even consensus definition but generally includes a suite of techniques like cover cropping, crop rotation, no-till and livestock integration that decrease erosion, improve biodiversity and capture carbon.
This series, supported by the Solutions Journalism Network, reports on how Montanans are using organic and regenerative agriculture to revitalize rural economies. Part 1 introduced producers using these methods to build topsoil, drought resilience and profits, while Part 2 explored how investing in soil health can reinvigorate farms and the rural communities that depend on them. Part 3, the series’ final installment, looks at the impact of the Natural Resources Conservation Service, a federal agency born of the Dust Bowl.
read the series
Common Ground, Part I: ‘Soil is our livelihood and we better protect it, or we’re screwed.’
With climate change threatening almost 25,000 Montana agricultural jobs in the next 50 years and a movement toward ecologically based agricultural practices gaining ground nationwide, an increasing number of Montana producers are building topsoil, drought resilience and profits by integrating practices like organic or regenerative systems.
Common Ground, Part II: Building on soil in Big Sandy
In Big Sandy, farmers are adding value to their operations by investing in soil health, reinvigorating both their farms and the rural communities that depend on them.
Common Ground, Part III: Rebuilding soil by building relationships
In the Judith Basin, the Myllymaki family has gone all in on regenerative farming techniques aimed at building the health of the soil that sustains them. A national agency born of the Dust Bowl helped them get started, and is now seeding local initiatives to bring a more diverse swath of local knowledge into conservation…
FEATURED IMAGES
As Kurt Myllymaki removes a temporary fence, his cows move from one pasture to another. In 2016, Kurt and his family transitioned their family’s operation outside of Stanford from conventional to regenerative agricultural practices, sparked by a five-acre cover crop experiment in partnership with the local NRCS field office. Credit: Jason Thompson / MTFP 
As with the majority of Montana and much of the West, drought conditions this summer meant harvests were smaller and earlier than usual. In a year like that, harvesting any crop at all is a success. Yields in Bob Quinn’s research plot near Big Sandy averaged around 20% of normal. 
Outside of Pep’s Bar, Cafe and Lanes, a mural captures the spirit of Big Sandy: Seven red combines line up in a wheat field at sunrise, ready to harvest a local farmer’s crops after he was diagnosed with cancer. 
The local market in Big Sandy, The Grocery Store, sells local produce in season and a handful of other local products, but like most food service businesses in the country, mainly offers food trucked in from elsewhere. 
Seth Goodman and Chad Fasteson drive by the research plot. Quinn leases much of the family’s 4,000 acres to Goodman and Fasteson, who are farming it organically. Credit: Jason Thompson / MTFP 
Quinn’s safflowers were far enough along that they had bloomed and were forming seeds before the grasshoppers got to them. 
John Wicks planting organic barley at Tiber Ridge Farm in June 2021. 
John Wicks planting organic barley at Tiber Ridge Farm in June 2021. 
John Wicks puts away the fill auger on his air cart after planting the last of his organic barley at Tiber Ridge Farm near Chester in early June 2021. 
New seedlings come up through last year’s crop residue at Happy Steer Ranch near Shelby. Because Korey and Wendy Fauque want to maintain soil structure, they use a “no-till drill” to plant directly into the soil. Instead of tilling to fight weeds, they spray herbicide, albeit smaller amounts than most conventional systems. 
Wendy Fauque (right) and Willow Wieskamp set up a temporary electric fence at Happy Steer Ranch near Shelby. They move the cows daily as part of an intensive grazing system. The animals fertilize the soil with manure and aerate it with their hooves, while the Fauques are able to make a profit by grazing their cover crops. 
Three generations of Myllymakis work together regularly on the family’s diversified 8,600-acre regenerative farm and ranch. Here, Kameron, Bruce and Kurt talk about moving a fence. Credit: Jason Thompson / MTFP 
Fields of alternating crop and chemically forced fallow south of Tiber Reservoir. “Chem fallow” has been common in Montana since the herbicide Roundup became readily available in the 1990s, because the technique preserves water and prevents erosion, but as weeds become increasingly resistant to herbicide, farmers are forced to use more each year.