Bob Wackernagel
Montague, Michigan

Ecological issue: Manure management in an area where there is a high water table. 
Solution:  Wackernagel began composting dairy manure, using a 60-by-120 foot concrete holding pad and a one-half acre composting site. Wackernagel handles the manure with a compost turner he shares with four neighboring farmers. By turning his manure into compost, Wackernagel produces a highly marketable product that was previously a manure management problem. Every spring, he sells this “natural fertilizer” to area nurseries. Learn more...

Ralph “Junior” Upton
Springerton, Illinois

Ecological issue: Poorly drained land with an impenetrable layer (plow pan) six to eight inches down that crop roots typically can’t grow through.
Solution: No-till farming and cover crops. Upton began planting cover crops—rye grass, cereal rye and hairy vetch—after harvesting beans and corn. He developed a cycle that works on his primary goal of improving the soil’s water-holding capacity, but one that makes sense in his southern Illinois climate. Learn more...

Steve and Cheri Groff
Cedar Meadow Farm
Holtwood, Pennsylvania

Ecological issue: Severe soil erosion on a rolling landscape.
Solution: Cover crops and a unique no-till system. In the fall, Groff uses a no-till seeder to plant a combination of rye and hairy vetch cover crops. He lets the crops grow about 5 feet tall, then knocks down the thick mass of plants each spring using a specially designed rolling chopper. Then, Groff uses a special no-till vegetable transplanter designed at Virginia Tech to set vegetable transplants directly into the residue blanketing the soil. Learn more...

Richard and Peggy Sechrist
Fredericksburg, Texas

Ecological issue: Maintaining production and profitability in a fragile, drought-prone area of the country.
Solution: Pasture improvement and management intensive grazing. The Sechrists established a management-intensive grazing system for cattle in their dry, brittle environment. They use all organic practices for herd health and low-stress handling techniques. The yearly average rainfall of 26 inches can come in short bursts in between long dry spells. The Sechrists work within the dry cycles by maintaining their pastures in native grasses. Learn more...

Michael and Marie Heath
M&M Heath Farms
Buhl, Idaho

Ecological issue: Developing a systems approach to managing pests. 
Solution: Diversification and crop rotation. Heath grows potatoes, specialty beans, tomatoes and numerous other varieties of vegetables, alfalfa, dry beans, sweet corn, wheat, barley and hay. His operation is certified organic and crop roations limit pests that thrive on a single food source. The rotation spans about seven years: alfalfa hay for at least three, followed by a row crop like potatoes, beans or sweet corn, then a year of wheat or barley. In year six, Heath plants another row crop, follows with a year of a grain, then rotates back to hay.  The farm supports a healthy number of beneficial insects, and Heath keeps predators guessing with the long rotation.  Learn more...

Ed and Wynette Sills
Pleasant Grove Farms
Pleasant Grove, California

Ecological issue: Pest pressure and poor fertility
Solution: The Sills farm is divided into several fields for crop rotation. Organic rice is their primary crop, grown on about 1,100 acres each year. Sills also plants organic popcorn, yellow corn, wheat, dry beans and some oats.  Sills manages pests and improves soil fertility through rotation, cover crops, applications of poultry bedding manure and incorporating all crop residues. Learn more...