
10th Annual Soil Health Symposium Featured Speakers Paul Muller & Dru Rivers - Full Belly Farm, Guinda, CA
Over this time, Full Belly has worked to evolve a farm system that would serve as a healthy alternative to the current farm models. As partners in Fully Belly Farm, a 450-acre diversified organic farm, they have helped create a farm forcused on local/regional marketing; diverse cropping patterns; ecological health and diversity; soil building; carbon sequestration through cover crop management; innovative market strategies; growing new farmers through internships and new farm enterprises; and fostering vibrancy and beauty.
Each year, the farm produces a myriad of different crops including fruits, flowers, nuts, and vegetables, and has intergrated chickens, cattle and a flock of 250 sheep into the farm system.
They have helped to organize and moderate the Agriculture Roundtable series in the Capsy Valley to develop a regional agricultural strategic plan, and have participated in the work of California Ag Vision, Cal Can, Ecological Farming Association and the Yolo Land Trust.
The farm is visited by thousands of visitors each year to tour a working organic farm.
Paul, Dru and Partners share a love for creating beautiful, productive, and healthy farms-and for the ongoing evolution of farmers and farm design towards ecolgically stable, biologically vibrant and economically viable enterprises. Their farm is home to 30 years of raucous celebration of rural living at their annual Hoes Down Harvest Festival.
Contact Paul & Dru: Dru@fullbellyfarm.com
Visit their website: www.fullbellyfarm.com

Marlon Winger, Agronomist, USDA-NRCS
Improving soil health on your farm is a process or journey and the more we emulate nature, we can start to decrease inputs. Managing for soil health is one of the easiest and most effective ways for farmers to increase crop productivity and profitability while improving the environment. Results are often realized immediately, and last well into the future. Using these five basic principles is the key to improving the health of your soil. 1. Keep the soil covered as much as possible. 2. Disturb the soil as little as possible. 3. Keep plants growing throughout the year to feed the soil microbes. 4. Diversify as much as possible using crop rotation and cover crops. 5. Integrate livestock into the cropping system.
Contact: marlon.winger@wy.usda.gov
"How Producers in Idaho are Implementing the 5 Principles of Soil Health!

Dr. Saad Hafez, University of Idaho, Parma Research and Extension Center
Contact: Shafez@uidaho.edu

Brad McIntyre, McIntyre Farms, Caldwell, Idaho
"Expanding your Operation with a Soil Health Focus"

Steven Hines, University of Idaho Extension, Jerome, Idaho
USING SUMMER GRAZING OF COVER CROPS AS PART OF THE CROP ROTATION
This presentation will discuss a Western SARE funded project looking at the feasibility, benefits, and economics of adding summer grazing of cover crops into a crop limited barley/alfalfa rotation. A 320 acre pivot was no-till planted with a cool season cover crop mix in the spring. The field was fenced and cattle were managed to intensively graze approximately three-acre paddocks each day. The original plan was to sweeten up the forage with a warm season cover crop blend planted mid-summer. During the trial several successes and failures were experienced. Year-end analysis revealed the practice can be viable if several parameters are given careful consideration and the forage is properly managed.
Contact: shines@uidaho.edu

Pat Purdy, Picabo Livestock Company, Picabo, Idaho
I was raised in the small farming community of Picabo, Idaho near the world-famous trout stream, Silver Creek. Picabo was founded by my great-grandparents, the Kilpatrick's. The land around Picabo that the Kilpatricks homesteaded in 1883 remains in the family's hands to this day. I graduated from the University of Idaho in 1986 with a degree in Mechanical Engineering and started my career working for Honeywell's Defense Avionics Division in Albuquerque. In 1993 I returned to Idaho to work with the family's businesses in various capacities including wholesale supply and pump system manufacturing. In 2008 I joined my father, Nick, in operating the family farming and ranching operation, Picabo Livestock Company where we run a 700 head cow/calf operation and farm approximately 4500 irrigated acres in south-central Idaho. I began experimenting with no-till farming in 2014 and in 2018 planted 100% if our crops with no-till technology. I am married to Debra Wilson Purdy and have two children, Nichole and Christian. Pat recently served a six year term on the Idaho Barley Commissions and currently serves on the U of I College of Agricultural and Sciences Dean's Advisory Board.
Contact: Pat@purdyent.com