Did you know the world record holder for dryland (i.e. non-irrigated) #corn yield is a #regenerative farmer in North Carolina? 🤯
Last week at Carolina Farm Trust’s Systems Change Conference, I had the privilege of visiting the record-breaking land managed by Russell Hedrick.
🌽 Russell broke the world record in dryland corn yield with a bin-busting 459.51 bushels per acre in 2022, a feat made all the more impressive by the fact that this first generation farmer only began in 2012, and his would-be record-breaking land was tight, red, NC clay with 1.7% organic matter.
In 2022, that same ground was 8.2% organic matter down to 6 inches and 6.5% down to a foot deep, with crumbly, light #soil structure down further than that. I also found it to be riddled with little worm channels.
🤔 In a world of widespread soil degradation, how did that transformation come to pass?
To start with, #CoverCrops — eleven species in the mix so far.
Even on his hills, chevron rollers will lay out 95%+ of the cover, enabling Russell to use only 17-25% as much herbicide as his neighbors.
Compost gave the land another dose of OM, and livestock integration built soil carbon further while providing another income stream.
🚜 Knowing that most phosphorus loss is from erosion itself, he started applying fertilizer in bands 6-8 inches deep, reducing P losses upwards of 99%, and permitting him to reduce N & P purchases by 35%.
With those lower fertilizer concentrations in the tank, Russell is able to mix in #biological products from Holganix & Enlightened Soil Corp. 🦠
Economic foresight is a factor in his success as well. Vertical integration via Foothills Distillery & Heritage Ground kept the farm alive through the 2015 drought.
Russell was quick to point to a team of minds behind his success: Regen Ag Lab with their Haney test, Dr. Liz Haney with whom Russell formed Soil Regen, the good folks at RhizeBio like Joshua Toal and Keenan Gerhart who have tested the soil DNA, innovators like Bill O'Neill & Sarah Martello behind AgWise, and DJI drones.
And the fact that all those folks came together on the farm last week to share their work was a joy.
Russell also has good friends to compare notes with like Adam Chappell, who farms cotton in Arkansas. I asked Adam why he was listed in the program as a “regenerative farmer. What’s that mean to you?”
Adam told me he was just looking for ways to make better money farming. Turns out building your soil so that you’re buying less fertilizer, herbicide, pesticide, and less diesel to go apply it all, makes pretty solid business sense.
Why bother haranguing farmers about climate or offering complicated carbon credits when ecologically informed stewardship already pays off in dividends?
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Russell's operation is an open book. Google him for more about seeds, equipment, and such.
Thursday I’ll show you something else really interesting and tasty I found in Russell’s field.
