Long crop rotations are the cornerstone organic practice for soil health and weed suppression. A field that is in rye one year, will have a whole year in a cover crop, before being planted with a different cash crop like spring wheat. This field will not see rye again for six years.

The soil is allowed to recover from the nutrient demands of each crop, and weeds and pests are never given the same conditions or timing two years in a row.

Cover crops are medicinal to the land.

They are called a “cover” because they protect the soil from being exposed to the natural elements. They establish living roots in the ground and hold the soil in place, so that we don’t lose it to erosion.

Bare soil can also result in the death of microbial communities, which are vital for plant health.

Our cash crops, like wheat, are grasses, so we choose cover crops that are from a different plant family like red clover: a legume.

By alternating the plant families we create biodiversity. Legumes can also take free nitrogen out of the atmosphere and fix it in the soil for our next cash crop to feed on.

This way our farmers don’t have to rely on synthetic fertilizers, that leech into our waterways and cause devastating algae blooms in near and distant lakes.

Our farms use cover crops to fix nutrients into the soil.

If we need additional fertility, our farms only use organic, biological fertilizer such as chicken litter. These are recycled materials from existing agricultural systems.

Conventional farms rely heavily on synthetic nitrogen fertilizers, which are created in an extremely energy intensive process that relies on fossil fuels.

This Haber-Bosch process accounts for about 2% of both global energy production and carbon emissions.

Nitrogen fertilizers also contribute to nitrous oxide emissions, which have a global warming potential of 300 times that of carbon dioxide.

Tillage refers to any method of physically disturbing the soil. On a farm, this is done with a plow or discs, where you cut through the soil and turn it over.

On an organic farm that doesn’t use herbicides to kill weeds or cover crops, some amount of tillage is always necessary. However, the costs must be recognized and managed.

Excessive tillage can damage the delicate microbial ecosystem below ground, and the physical structure it creates.

ROC farmers are asked to document every time they use a tillage implement, and to plan for opportunities in their rotation to no-till plant, or to use shallow discs.

Both organic and synthetic fertilizer application is the primary source for nutrient water pollution and the creation of dead zones in our natural bodies of water.

Hilly farmland can contribute to this run off and soil erosion, if it’s not managed properly.

Strip planting on slopes prevents this soil loss, as well as keeping a vegetative perimeter barrier around the fields. This way plants and plant roots will absorb any excess water.

All of their other practices mentioned above help to create soil structure and aggregation. This increases the lands water infiltration and water holding capacity.

Excess rainfall on bare, unhealthy soil would puddle or pond on the surface, and roll to the nearest stream, taking loose soil and fertilizer with it.