On January 21st, growers, agriculture professionals, and sustainability-focused community members converged on Burroughs Family Farms for their 4th Annual Regenerative Tree Nut Field Day. Our team had a great time connecting with friends both new and old at our program’s table, learning about the cutting edge of regenerative agriculture practices and research, enjoying a farm-fresh lunch, and getting our hands dirty in the field during the afternoon soil demonstrations! We can’t thank our friends the Burroughs enough for hosting us in their beautiful orchards in Denair.
Read on for a full recap of the day!
Throughout the day, members of our Solutions in our Soil team connected with field day attendees and presented some of Sustainable Conservation’s newest materials around our water and soil work. Most notably, it gave the team an opportunity to promote and discuss last year’s Cover Cropping in the SGMA Era report.
What are cover crops?
Cover crops are non-income-generating crops that protect and improve the soil between regular annual crop production or between rows of perennial tree and vine crops. Cover cropping provides many diverse and important benefits in California, including reducing erosion (and the air-polluting dust it produces), increasing carbon storage and water infiltration, and improving habitat and soil biodiversity.
Coordinated by our team, the report was the culmination of a convening series with dozens of soil health experts, meticulous research, interviews, and writing to clarify the complex relationship between cover crops and groundwater use within the framework of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA). Positive and effective at-scale cover crop implementation, like on the Burroughs’ orchards, can help validate our team’s recommendations, present anecdotal evidence, influence peer growers to adopt the practice and sway policymaking to incentivize cover cropping.
The day’s programming began in the Burroughs’ storefront and indoor event space, where Keith Berns from Green Cover gave the keynote presentation on “carbonomics”. His lecture stressed how growers can reduce their water and fertilizer costs by incorporating regenerative agriculture practices, most notably cover cropping. Berns’ most unique metaphor described soil as a battery, and plant cover as solar panels that can recharge the battery in a cyclical manner.
The microphone was then turned over to Benina Burroughs Montes, Managing Partner at Burroughs Family Farms, who led a grower panel featuring Chowchilla grower Steven Haworth, Revel Brughellli from Martella Farms, Justin Wylie of Wylie Farms, and Andrew Carroll from EcoThrive farm management. The panelists all shared what their respective growing operations have recently done to build soil health and increase their climate resilience. They also shared their own personal motivations to increase the health and sustainability of their working soils, ranging from future profits and business viability to personal philosophy and family.
After a delicious lunch, attendees staved off food comas by heading out into the Burroughs’ beautiful almond orchard for a set of in-field demonstrations. The demonstrations showcased the Burroughs’ excellent soil health through soil-water infiltration timing, diverse cover crop growth, soil moisture and soil structure. The field demonstrations also provided an opportunity for other growers to learn about the Burroughs’ process for orchard irrigation, harvesting, and maintenance.
The Burroughs Family of Farms has long been a leader in conservation-minded agriculture, with decades of commitment to soil health, biodiversity, and regenerative practices. Their dedication earned them the 2020 California Leopold Conservation Award — an honor Sustainable Conservation is proud to help administer each year — but they haven’t stopped innovating. Instead, they continue to refine and expand their approach, all while being an open book for other farms to learn from. Seeing their work in action was inspiring, and our team left the day energized by the conversations, field demonstrations, and shared knowledge. We can’t wait to return next year to continue learning, connecting, and championing solutions for resilient farms and soils!