Black Cat Farm experiments with organic pasture cropping

According to Eric Skokan, owner of Black Cat Farm, one of the best resources Boulder County has to offer "is the total quantity of agriculture geeks we have here."

This summer, Black Cat Farm is beginning an experiment with the regenerative agricultural technique called pasture cropping, Skokan's own geeky agricultural project.

This project is one of several to have recently been awarded a 2020 Sustainable Food and Agricultural Funds grant by Boulder County. Black Cat Farm was awarded $43,500 for specialized equipment, supplies, and infrastructure to begin pasture cropping.

Pasture cropping is a technique that involves layering a traditional annual crop production like wheat into existing sod-based agriculture, like hay or a pasture for grazing livestock.

Skokan's farm is uniquely suited to experimenting with this particular style of organic, regenerative agriculture. While his organic farm grows a variety of vegetables and fruits, the "vast majority" of his 425 acres is currently being used to raise animals like sheep and pigs on pasture land.

In the dry climate here on the Front Range, these local pasture grasses usually turn brown and stop producing during the heat of the summer after the first cutting in June.

This is when the layering begins of one of a broad range of different annual plant types, like wheat, millet, sorghum or even asparagus or beans, in little strips in the sod fields during this fallow time in the growing season.

"This pasture cropping idea is a way of looking at that overall relationship between heat, warm season versus cool season, and plant types, and being able to fit in pieces of the puzzle to have a more complete picture," said Skokan.

Not only does pasture cropping increase potential cash crop yields for the farmer, it also benefits the overall health of the soil. Skokan mentioned that the new and varied plant growth is "essentially adding organic matter into the soil" creating an opportunity for "more resilient, better operating farms."

Skokan has "always been interested in pushing the envelope on sustainability issues" and has "been independently, slowly experimenting when our resources have allowed it, working on researching sustainability issues in agriculture."

But there are barriers to trying entirely new systems for growing crops, especially ones that are untested in this area. While a new cropping technique may show promise in research or university settings, it can be a big risk for a farmer to change systems and techniques for planting.

"Along comes the sustainability grant, which puts resources toward the same sorts of projects that we've dreamed about but we've never had the resources to really follow through on" said Skokan.

The research on pasture cropping shows varied results, from "this is a panacea, this is better than sliced bread" to "hey, this doesn't work too well" according to Skokan. His "goal is to digest the research that's out there and figure out what parts really apply on the ground in Boulder County and what parts we're going to leave behind."

The new sustainability grants help "erase those barriers of fear or lack of knowledge or lack of equipment," to undertake big, risky projects like this one for Black Cat Farm.

This year, there are even greater systemic issues to contend with. Skokan said "The covid outbreak has set us back quite a bit."

But while Black Cat Farm's response to the coronavirus and the shuttering of its two restaurants Black Cat Bistro and Bramble & Hare caused delays in their pasture cropping experiment, Skokan still anticipates the project will "be fully up and running and have real results this year."

"There is a big need in the agriculture community here in Boulder and really across the front range to make agriculture happen in a better way. We've made a lot of progress over the last 20 years."

Skokan hopes that his pasture cropping experiment at Black Cat Farms will help to move the needle even further, and said "I think there's going to be a really high level of success rate - the potential for change in the local community is great - it's huge."