On May 21, Eastern Montana Regenerative Agriculture (EMRA) is hosting a workshop at Springhill Ranch, Wibaux, Montana, jam-packed with techniques for creating and utilizing biological inputs at any scale. Whether you are raising a garden, hay or row crops, this hands-on workshop is designed to provide practical tools and techniques that you can take home and start building biology and soil health right away.
The workshop will begin at the ranch’s hay ground west of Glendive, where Colin McClure will explain how to interpret and utilize soil sample results to guide management and monitor soil health over time. You’ll also get your hands dirty right away examining soil and plant physical characteristics that can help tell the soil’s story for free, immediately and with very little expertise required. In addition to working as a vital part of the Western Sustainability Exchange (WSE) team, Colin is also an agroecological coach and consultant in his own business called Aggregation Agriculture, working with Kip and Adele Stenson to help them best utilize their homemade biologicals and how to accurately supplement minerals that are unavailable in their soil. Stensons have seen the nutritional quality of their hay increase utilizing only a limited amount of homemade biologicals the past two years, so they are seeking to both focus and scale up their production and utilization of biologicals.
The workshop will travel to the home ranch west of Wibaux for the afternoon portion of the workshop where Stensons will explain their journey of starting with purchased worms and a pile of cardboard, straw and manure on the barn floor three years ago to where they are now scaling up their production of vermicast, Johnson-Su compost, biochar and weed tea. They will demonstrate the DIY setup they have used for two years to grow, harvest and utilize these biological resources in various ways. You will see the evolution from beginning with almost zero equipment and supply cost but a large sweat equity and ingenuity investment, to their current transition to more equipment cost (though still far less than one year of chemical fertilizer application) for a large reduction in labor and increase in the scale of production.
Simeon Kleinsaser, of Hiwasee Products, will demonstrate Stenson’s brand new vermicast/compost extractor which can create more extract in two hours with one person running it than four people created last year in a week. Simeon possesses a wealth of knowledge about equipment and all things biological.
The workshop is slated to end by 5 p.m., but participants shouldn’t plan to rush home then. EMRA is providing dinner at the ranch, where Simeon, Colin and the Springhill Ranch team will be available to visit and answer questions about processes and equipment – both commercial and DIY. EMRA is coordinating this event, sponsorship from Hiwassee Products and Bird Conservancy of the Rockies
Register at emragroup.org/events