Over the past 100 years, gratefully we have increased food production per acre on our farms. According to the USDA, corn yield in the USA has increased from 117 bushels per acre in 1989 to 177 bushels per acre in 2018. As we have increased production, the plants we grow have been harvesting the minerals from our soils and we have not been replacing them.
A team of researchers for the University of Texas published a study in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition that showed reliable declines in protein, calcium, phosphorus, Iron and vitamins in fruits and vegetables from 1950 to 1999. With faster growing plants and higher yields, we are asking a lot of our soil and we have put little back into this relationship. At Redmond we care deeply about helping tip the balance back in favor of healthy soils. As with any relationship, this will require time, attention, and investment. This is one relationship we cannot neglect.
Nutrient decline in our soils will be a significant problem for future generations if we do not replenish the soils that feed us and the livestock we depend on. Redmond is excited to be a part of the solution. There are very few products out there that include the micronutrients that our soils need to be healthy in the long-term. We have been blessed with deposits of natural minerals that feed the soil and replenish the minerals lost from decades of intense production. The unique balance of minerals in Redmond products comes directly from an ancient mineral sea bed--mined in Redmond, UT. Learn more about our naturally mineral deposit here.
Nature has an amazingly restorative capacity. When we feed the soils with the things that it needs, the biology in the soil wakes up and becomes a living, breathing thing with the capacity to grow nutrient-rich crops that feed 7.7 billion hungry people.
The microbes in the soil need nourishment. Our job is to feed those microbes what they need, then they and the earthworms and all of the other magical things that naturally exist in healthy soil feed the plants that feed us. An amazing testimonial of this is found in the documentary The Biggest Little Farm. In this film, a couple sets out to establish a 200+ acre farm using traditional farming methods. Over the course of eight years, they prove what is possible when you choose to work with nature.
We all know that doing things right and doing things in the quickest, cheapest are very different methods. We have been asking much of our farm and pasture ground for decades while giving little back to it. We need to find the third alternative where we get the yields that we need and add cost-effective inputs to our soils that feed the microbiology and restore it to health and vitality.
This is the heart of who we are at Redmond Agriculture. Many of us are farmers ourselves. We have grown up smelling fresh plowed ground and fresh cut hay. We love the heritage of agriculture and feel a need to see it continue and even advance in healthy sustainable ways. We are grateful to be your partners in this effort.
We have been selling you agricultural minerals since 1958, but we feel a need to do a better job of sharing our motivations behind what we do. This is much deeper than a product transaction for us. We truly want to be your partner in the health of your soils and animals. We are committed to communicate with you more frequently and this blog is part of that effort. Give us a call today at
To a bright, healthy future,
Rusty Bastian
Redmond Agriculture
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