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SOIL HEALTH IN PRACTICE - REAL SOLUTIONS FROM REAL FARMERS

Poly Cropping Utilize Your Current Equipment: Growing a companion with
your primary crop needs to be easy and not cost you much in
You don’t have to reinvent the wheel when it comes to regen- capital investments. Heerman plants his companions in the
erative agriculture, but you may have to dig deep into agricul- same row, putting different seeds in his air cart compartments.
ture archives to find the next big idea. After listening to Derek Then he uses his Shelbourne-Reynolds stripper header to har-
Axten speak at the No-Till On The Plains Winter Conference vest his companion crops. With many pea varieties, harvest-
about growing companion crops, Haxtun, CO farmer John ing monocultures can prove to be a challenge because the peas
Heerman researched companion cropping options and found are so close to the ground, but Heerman has found that the
there were several key points to consider: rye gives Austrian peas something to vine up, keeping them
Do Your Research: Like most regenerative farmers Heerman off the ground and making them easier and faster to harvest.
doesn’t believe everything he hears, and is thoughtful about In 2019 he was able to harvest his companion crop peas at 6
making big changes. After hearing Axten, a Canadian farmer, MPH vs. monoculture peas at 1.5 MPH.
speak about companion crops Heerman did more research. He Consider Herbicide Options: When planting companion
found a plethora of recent information on companion crops in crops you must manage herbicide labels. Heerman said he
Canada and from the 1920s and 1930s in Nebraska. You must liked stacking chickpeas/flax because you can find grass her-
analyze the data, but even old information can still hold valu- bicides labeled for both giving
able knowledge. You don’t have to take huge risks. Heerman ad- you more options. With rye/
vises research to, “Find something that is proven and cleanable.” flax or rye/Austrian peas
Manage for the Primary Crop: Heerman’s companion crop companion crops you don’t
of rye/Austrian peas was managed with the rye as the pri- have any herbicide options
mary crop and the Austrian pea as the auxiliary crop. The post-emergence. He noted
Austrian peas were a new market in the area, but Heerman that the rye crops usually do
already had established markets for the rye. He approached a good job of keeping fields
the companion crop as a way to increase diversity and farm clean, so he is not concerned
profits; however, he wasn’t willing to sacrifice the main crop. about the lack of post-emer-
He found the Austrian peas created no yield drag compared gence herbicides.
to his monoculture rye fields; all the Austrian peas became As with any rotation you must keep the whole system in
a second income stream on the rye companion acres. Like- mind. In Heerman’s semi-arid environment, managing for
wise he manages his chickpeas as the main crop and the flax carbon in the system is important. Five years ago, he elim-
becomes the extra income from those acres. inated fallow on his farm. His fall planted crops consist of
rye companion planted into chickpea and flax companions
or covers. He likes the increase in residue the flax brings to
the chickpeas, decreasing the chance of bare soils. His com-
panions have also increased diversity and decreased pest
problems in his cash crops. Heerman has also cut out fertil-
Photos by John Heerman for residual nutrients from those legumes in the following
izer on crops that are primarily legume crops and accounts

rye crops. By continuous cropping rye behind the chick-
pea companions or covers, Heerman basically has no fallow
expenses. He converted months that were a significant ex-
Easy Separation: In order to capitalize on the second pense into an income producing crop. “I have basically $0
income from the same acres, crops must be separated. All to get back to my next rye crop,” Heerman states.
Heerman’s companion crops include different size seeds so There are resources available to help you decide what is the
they can be separated using a basic seed cleaner. Heerman best decision on your farm. Talking to those who have had
suggests taking a handful of the companion crop seeds and success and failures with the practice can teach you valuable
mixing them together then separate them out to see how lessons. Expanding your network and being in the position
easy or hard it will be. The larger the seed size discrepancy to hear those other producers is key. Then, do your own
is, the easier it will be to separate the seed. research and make your decisions.

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