Common Ground Comes to Pendleton

By Tim Copeland

Thanks to the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR), the acclaimed film Common Ground was shown in Pendleton for a one-time screening on Wednesday, February 7, 2024. The event, held at the Wildhorse Resort and Casino’s Cineplex, attracted an enthusiastic audience of more than 200 people.

Roots of Resilience board members Beth Robinette, Alan Raeder, and Tim Copeland were among the audience members. Alan Raeder was accompanied by some of his agroecology students from Walla Walla Community College.

Common Ground is a sequel to the 2020 film Kiss the Ground, based on the book of the same name. Kiss the Ground can be streamed on Netflix and is highly recommended for farmers, ranchers, and anyone interested in solutions for climate change mitigation.

The screening was followed by a lively question-and-answer session with Gabe Brown and Eric Fuchs, renowned regenerative ranchers and leading educators at the Soil Health Academy.

Common Ground is currently touring the nation. To find out when it will be shown at a location near you, please check the events schedule on its homepage. The film will be screened in Bend, Oregon, on March 29 and is expected to be available for online streaming by this fall.

We extend our gratitude to the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation for bringing this exceptional film to our community.

Applying Principles of Regenerative Agriculture

By Craig Madsen

The principles of regenerative agriculture work across all landscapes; they are about managing the ecosystem as a living system. How do we reduce disturbances to the soil (both chemical and physical), keep the soil covered, keep a living root growing to feed the biology, increase diversity (grow a diversity of plants), and integrate livestock? 

The challenge is understanding how to adapt the principles of regenerative agriculture to your specific situation. That is why some people have added a sixth principle: context.

Context is how you apply the principles to your particular situation. You need to consider your economic situation (finances, markets), environmental conditions (what to grow to add diversity depends on your soils, environmental conditions, as well as markets), and social conditions.

Can you form a group of like-minded people to experiment with and share learnings? Are you willing to do your own safe-to-learn experiments? Are you a person who is interested in continually learning new things? There are no failures, just learning opportunities.

The amount of information on how farmers have integrated the principles of regenerative agriculture on their farms and ranches has increased significantly over the last several years. The linked case study is about Drew Leitch, a North Idaho farmer, and his journey to make his farm more resilient. This is an in-depth case study.

Experimenting on your farm can be as simple as trying different fertilizer levels, adding a humate to your fertilizer to increase efficiency, or seeding a diverse cover crop mix. Plan a safe-to-learn experiment on your property this year.

Succession Stories from the Oregon Ag Trust

By Tim Copeland

Are you planning for retirement, succession, or the future of your farm and ranch?

Our friends at the Oregon Agricultural Trust have just released the first of seven videos they have produced on succession planning for farmers and ranchers. The Stories from the Field videos share real-life stories and perspectives from farmers and ranchers, and insights from service providers.  

The first video, Succession Stories, is displayed below. Additional videos will be released every Tuesday through March 12.