From the Desk of Gary Zimmer

Earn the Right | From the Desk of Gary Zimmer

By: Gary Zimmer, Founder · Soil, Newsletters, Soil Biology, From the Desk of Gary Zimmer, Biological Farming

Here we go again. In your farming career, you have about 40 chances. You could do the same thing every year. Make money, make life easy, and get rich when you sell the farm. But farming is not just about the money and getting rich, it’s also about responsibility and pride. We want to do what’s right for the land, the environment, and the consumer. Obviously, we wouldn’t have to regenerate anything if it was all being done perfectly.

By: Gary Zimmer, Founder · Bio-Cal®, Fertilizer, Soil, Cover Crops, Tillage, Nutrients, Soil Biology, Nutrient Efficiency, From the Desk of Gary Zimmer, Biological Farming

Dear farmers and agriculturalists,

I have been at a few events this fall and there sure is a lot of interest in carbon, quality feed/food, and soil regeneration. High fertilizer, especially nitrogen, and chemical prices have also been farmers’ concerns. No-till constantly comes up – it is a practice, not a farming system, that may help or may not lead to improved soil health and sequester carbon. Having said that, why would you till if you don’t have to?

From the Desk of Gary Zimmer

By: Gary Zimmer, Founder · From the Desk of Gary Zimmer

It’s a nice sunny March day today. Spring must be right around the corner. Are you ready?

I have spent my career working on soil health, nutrient delivery and quality feeds and foods. Yield is minerals, sunshine and water mixed in a carbon biological base. It’s not about how cheap the nutrient is or how much I add, it’s about uptake, availability, and exchangeability. When this company first started, it was about the source of nutrients and how we delivered them.

From the Desk of Gary Zimmer

By: Gary Zimmer, Founder · From the Desk of Gary Zimmer

I’m sitting at our big table in the farm office this morning looking out at the rain. Two months late, but here it is. We got so dry this fall it was hard to work down the corn stalks after seed corn harvest. Overall our crops are OK, and some are looking really good. We’re now gearing up for a fresh start next spring. We need to put on our fall fertilizers (mostly Midwestern BioAg calcium sources and manures), do fall tillage and plant cover crops …

From the Desk of Gary Zimmer

By: Gary Zimmer, Founder · From the Desk of Gary Zimmer

Farming is an ever-changing and challenging business. By this time of year, crop outcomes are mostly out of our hands. Being organic, operations at Otter Creek Farms are always intense, from planting time all the way up until the window for weed control passes.

In southwestern Wisconsin, organic production got off to a poor start with all the rain and cold. However, the last ten days in May were great, and the crops are looking good.