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Minnesota farmer touts regenerative farming practices

Sustainability in agriculture has been defined many ways, but a Minnesota farmer prefers the term generational farming.

Kaleb Anderson grows row crops and raises cattle and pigs alongside his father, representing the third generation to farm his family’s land near Cannon Falls in southeast Minnesota.

Anderson says soil health is directly related to farm sustainability.

“And that’s not to say that we’re practicing sustainable farming practices here.  I view our practices as regenerative.  Our soils are anywhere from two to two-and-a-half percent organic matter, which isn’t great.  I know they were worse in the past.”

He tells Brownfield most farms across the country average about one percent organic matter.

Anderson credits his grandfather for starting the family on its conservation journey.

“He put in contour strips and fixed a lot of the damage that was initially done when he first came here.  He had a diversified farm of pigs, dairy, beef, chickens, layers, and broilers.”

The Andersons rotationally graze livestock, use cover crops on all tillable acres, and went 100 percent no-till for the first time this year.