The Natural Resources Defense Council recently awarded one of its 2012 Growing Green Awards to Gabe Brown, of Bismarck, N.D.
Brown, a cash grain and cattle producer, is a no-tiller who uses cover crops and rotational grazing of cattle to boost soil health, fertility and water holding capacity. He says the focus on soil health rather than off-farm inputs such as fertilizer and pesticides has dramatically lowered his beef and grain enterprise costs and improved his profits.
The award from the National Resources Defense Council comes with a $10,000 prize.
The NRDC's 2012 Growing Green award winners were selected from nearly 250 nominees in the categories of food producer, business leader, food justice leader and young food leader by a panel of sustainable food and agriculture advocates including Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivore's Dilemma; Nikki Henderson, executive director of People's Grocery in Oakland, Calif.; Josh Viertel, president of Slow Food USA; and Myra Goodman, co-founder of Earthbound Farm, the largest grower of organic produce in North America.
Gabe Brown examines a cover crop that he will have his cattle graze before no-till planting corn.
To see a NRDC's video about Brown's operation, and to read a description of the farm written by Brown for the NRDC, see http://www.onearth.org/blog/regenerating-landscapes-for-a-sustainable-future.