I had the privilege of teaching our kids about the water cycle the other day. (See our daughter's diagram below for a refresher course!) All of the water that is on earth is what has been and will always be. Like many of our science discussions we gravitate to our farm and food production; things we are immersed in everyday. I found myself reiterating the importance of taking care of our water for ourselves and our community, locally and globally.
For decades on our farm we have been focused on water quality. It’s no surprise that agriculture can have a big impact on water quality, but management practices we take will determine if that is a positive or negative impact.
So on our farm, with one of our core values being stewardship, we are committed to doing all that we can to positively impact our ground and surface water. We do this by planting cover crops to capture nutrients and reduce soil erosion, by not tilling our soil, by using precision applications of nutrients, including manure from our livestock, to give our crops just what they need and mitigate nutrient runoff into the waters.
It was mind boggling for us to think that the water we use to sustain our lives today may have once passed through a dinosaur! But also humbling to realize the large responsibility we have as farmers to care for our water resources for the future. On our family's farm, we are committed to doing our best with the resources we have been entrusted with.
My Best,
Beth Tharp
