Episode #11: Harnessing the Power of Cover Crops with Tyler Tobald

Patrick Cavanaugh spent 13 years as an engineer on the space shuttle program, and today he leads soil and vine health at Union Grove Farm in North Carolina. Keith Berns and Patrick talk about how Union Grove is rebuilding degraded farm ground with vermicompost extracts, cover crops, and rotationally grazed sheep, and how Patrick measures whether the soil is getting better. The ideas apply to any farm, not just vineyards. Join us at Union Grove for the Regenerative Nexus, November 10–12, and sign up here: https://greencover.com/pages/events/r...

Along with her family, Benina Montes of Burroughs Family Farms runs the world's first regenerative organic certified almond orchard, producing walnuts, olives, year-round sheep, and 8,000 laying hens in California's Central Valley. She and Keith talk about how a catch frame harvester lets her keep the orchard floor covered, how cover crops and grazing cut her water use by about 30%, and how she markets her almonds, almond butter, and eggs directly instead of selling into the commodity market. In honor of the International Year of the Woman Farmer, Benina also shares what she's learned about working across generations and raising kids who might one day come back to the farm. Check out her products at https://burroughsfamilyfarms.com/ and visit https://greencover.com/ to build a cover crop mix for your own orchard or pasture.

Kevin Elmy joins the podcast to share how he turned a sandy, worn-out quarter section in Saskatchewan into 26+ inches of rich topsoil, using winter cereals, cover crops, and livestock instead of synthetic inputs. He digs into practical wins any farmer can try this fall — interseeding winter triticale with durum, letting cover crops do their job early instead of chasing a big biomass at season's end, and reading soil biology signals (like weeds and blackberry brush) instead of reaching for another chemical fix. Kevin also explains why deeper, healthier root zones make "mining the soil" a myth, and why nature works in teams, not silver bullets. He closes with simple advice for anyone starting out: find a mentor group, commit to one field for three to five years, and always keep something green and growing.You can find Kevin's book on Cover Cropping in Western Canada here: https://www.amazon.com/Cover-Cropping-Western-Canada-Kevin-ebook/dp/B08K9BXXZ4?ref_=ast_author_dp&th=1&psc=1Green Cover's book on the basics of cover crops: https://greencover.com/pages/books-and-courses

Podcast host Keith Berns sits down with his brother and Green Cover co-founder, Brian Berns, Green Cover sales rep Zach Louk and Green Cover's Contract Seed Production Manager, Scott Ravenkamp to describe how each of the six Soil Health Principles is applied on each of their vastly different operations.

A single Nebraska field trial revealed that fall-applied biology can fix nitrogen straight out of the air and unlock phosphorus already locked in the soil — turning $30 worth of product into over $450 in nutrient value. Keith Berns sits down with David Olson of Sustainable Growing Solutions to break down the science behind the Decomposer and HyprCycle+ program, from how saprophytic fungi break down lignin and cellulose to why fall is the best window all year to build a fungal population in your soil. If you're tired of paying for fertility your residue could be generating for free, this episode walks through the data. Learn more about the Decomposer product: https://greencover.com/products/metagrow%E2%84%A2-d-comp?_pos=1&_sid=7f44692af&_ss=r Learn more about HyprCycle+: https://greencover.com/products/hyprcycle