Local farmers get sustainability grants to improve soil and food production

It's all about the dirt. Improving the soil improves the plants, improves the yield, improves the quality and amount of locally grown food, and benefits the environment, which is why Boulder County is investing more than $300,000 in grants to local agricultural projects and farms through the Sustainable Food and Agriculture Funds.

Michael Moss of Kilt Farms has two properties he leases from the county. One of them, on the Diagonal Highway west of Niwot is a productive organic vegetable farm. But the 13 acres he has in Gunbarrel is a long-term rehabilitation project. "It's always been bad," he said. "Even old farmers like John Ellis say it's never been good ground."

Moss has never grown human food on the land since he took it on five years ago. It's just not ready. But he thinks it will be ready in a couple of years. The $75,000 grant he got from the county will help him continue nursing it back to life with cover crops, which are plants that aren't harvested as human food.

The purpose is to hold the soil in place and build organic matter, especially through the roots system. Cover crops can also help retain moisture and support healthy bacteria as part of a functional soil ecosystem. This year, Moss is also going to add managed grazing with borrowed cattle that can add nutrients to the soil through their manure and the microbes in their gut.

The grant will also help him pay to test the soil and nutrients in the plants. "The goal is to improve the ground, but the broader goal is to catalog and document and showcase these techniques." Moss said. "At the end of two years, my goal is to have a workshop to lay out the nuts and bolts and data." He's hoping to have a successful plan to share with other local farmers who want to rejuvenate their land.

Wyatt Barnes of Red Wagon Farms got a $40,000 grant to invest in new equipment and processes that will help him build soil health and grow more organic vegetables, more efficiently. He said the money will help push their work along faster, "We have been working on all sorts of things that somehow relate to sustainability for many years," Barnes said. "We have been growing cover crops to reduce erosion and improve our soil, we have tried to increase habitat for birds and native pollinators, we have tried to improve our farm and efficiency so we can afford to pay workers enough to live in Boulder."

Specifically, Barnes said the grant will allow the farm to make more vegetables available during colder months for local restaurants and customers who buy CSA memberships, or Community Supported Agriculture shares. "For me, having people eat high quality local food is my main objective." Barnes said they'll be investing in equipment to help double or triple storage crops, like carrots and other vegetables.

The equipment will speed up harvesting in fall, which means Barnes can plant cover crops earlier and irrigate while ditches are still running. Establishing cover crops sooner helps the plants thrive in late fall and survive the winter. "Getting the cover crop to emerge and be a few inches tall by November is very important to hold soil from blowing away during windy winter periods," Barnes said.

The grant money came from the Sustainability Tax, passed in Boulder County in 2016. There were 58 applicants, but only 11 were funded. Successful applications included educational projects for beginning farmers, school gardens, building healthier soils and improving local food production and distribution. "These practices increase soil nutrient levels, foster healthy ecosystems, sequester carbon, and help crops become more resistant in the face of climate change," according to a news release from the Boulder County Commissioners.