Biological & Regenerative Ag News

Going for More

Phil Schwantz is a third-generation farmer who’s proud to be the steward of his grandfathers’ farmland. He lives on the farmstead where his paternal grandfather and father farmed and rents land from his aunt that was once farmed by his maternal grandfather.
He also feels fortunate to be working with Midwestern BioAg on a program that has created “an explosion” of earthworms on his 500 acres of tillable farmland. A leading indicator of soil health, earthworm activity can increase soil infiltration and improve water-holding capacity, help …

Michaels to Scientists & Policy-Makers: Look at Farm Progress

Midwestern BioAg CEO Tony Michaels told one of the most influential audiences of scientists and policy leaders in the U.S. that many of the necessary advances in agriculture were already happening on Midwestern farms.
In a keynote address to the annual meeting of the National Council for Science and the Environment (NCSE), Michaels described progress at several farms currently being managed with the help of Midwestern BioAg products and services.
In each case, before touching on environmental issues, he made it clear that these farms have …

Improving Yields & Quality

The first year of using Midwestern BioAg (MBA) fertilizers led to a 15 percent yield increase in soybeans, while oats grown on soils that had used MBA fertility for multiple years saw significant gains in nutritional values, according to two studies done in concert with a large food company (LFC). In both cases, the BioAg fertility program outperformed industry-standard recommendations.
The soybean results come from the first year of a six-year study designed to analyze how Midwestern BioAg fertilizers and practices affect soil biology, crop yields …

Waking the Soil

Forty-year farmer and Marine veteran Gary Rademacher never stops improving. When he first started farming near Holdingford, Minnesota in the 1970s, 100-bushel corn yields and 40-bushel soybean yields were the status-quo. “Those were bar-stool yields,” said Rademacher, “yields you could go into town and be proud of.”
Rademacher’s farm has come a long way in the past 40 years. Today, he averages 200-bushel corn and 66-bushel soybeans in the short Minnesota growing season. “If you always do everything the same, you’ll get the same yields.

Better Soil, Bigger Yields

Shullsburg, Wisconsin, farmer Chad Gleason is enthusiastic about everything he does — from managing his 400-head steer finishing operation, to growing corn and hay for his livestock with help from Midwestern BioAg.
Gleason farms on a wide variety of soil types — some of them are great like his Tama soil (reputed to be the best soil in the world), and others that are not so great in the hills.
But all of the fields are going gangbusters since he decided to utilize the products and …

The Farming Pharmacist

A New Jersey native — with no farmers in his family tree — is now a successful beef breeder and cash cropper in Minnesota’s Winona County, southeast of Minneapolis. Tom Scarponcini came to his beautiful Rushford-area farm by way of Maine, where he started a small enterprise pasturing 16 head of cattle and learning about rotational grazing. “I wanted to be a farmer, but I have no idea where that came from,” he says.
After getting a taste of farming in Maine, Scarponcini wanted to expand …

Helping Hunger Task Force Feed Those in Need

The Hunger Task Force works to end hunger in the Milwaukee, Wisconsin, metro area. Their farm, located just southwest of the city, serves over 40,000 people in need each month. The farm produces over 800,000 pounds of fresh produce each year, cultivating nearly 30 varieties of fruits and vegetables.
Formed in the early 1980s, the Hunger Task Force’s mission is to provide food to people in need today, to achieve a hunger-free community tomorrow. Some 75 percent of their produce recipients are a particularly vulnerable population: …

From the Farm of Gary Zimmer

Dear Farmer/Agribusiness person,
Field Day at Otter Creek is coming soon and what do we have to show you this year? In the past year, many changes have been made to our 1,000-acre operation — we have a lot that’s new in 2015.
The dairy herd grew too large for our facility, so we sold half of our cows early this year. My daughter Sadie bought the remaining herd and manages them here on the farm.

Celebrating Our Soils

During the International Year of the Soils, the United Nations is spreading a message similar to what Midwestern BioAg has been practicing on its research farm for over a quarter of a century.
But this 2015 celebration of soils is missing a crucial element, said Midwestern BioAg Co-Founder and President Gary Zimmer.
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization’s International Year of the Soils campaign was initiated to raise awareness and educate society, decision makers, and the public about the crucial role of soils.

Midwestern BioAg Expands South and East

Two new regional Midwestern BioAg facilities, one in Ohio and the other in Illinois, will improve customer service and make more product locally available as Midwestern BioAg continues to grow and expand.
At Bellefontaine, Ohio, approximately 60 miles northwest of Columbus, the new BioAg facility includes 5,000 square feet of warehouse space and 2,500 square feet of office space. The warehouse provides on-site storage, improving product availability as well as serving as a clearinghouse for organizing small loads.

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