Getting Started With Silvopasture Using Soil Health Principles
Integrating trees such as a pecan orchard with your grazing system adds biomass to soil, shade for livestock and potential new income...
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Jul 11, 20232 min read
How To Switch To Regenerative Management Without Big Upfront Costs, Tough Trade-offs
Start small, and start with what you have, Noble leaders say (originally published for Noble Rancher). When Noble Research Institute...
Jun 23, 20231 min read
Episode 8: Leading Montana Ag Forward
Thriving rural communities. A prosperous agricultural economy. How would Montana Farm Bureau leaders move their organization, their...
Jun 12, 20231 min read
A Restoration Tale: Ruminants Small and Large Help Regenerate Depleted Prairie
See how a researcher and his family restored soil health, native grasses and diverse forages to abused and neglected land. Today, herds...
May 31, 20231 min read
Episode 7: Failure Doesn't Have to be Fatal
"Too often, financial and emotional strain causes near-sighted vision. Desperate times may call for desperation measures, but desperate...
May 24, 20231 min read
How to Find Tenants Who Will Take Care of Your Soil
Shared goals and long-term mindsets make the best partnerships for regenerative management of leased land (originally published in Noble...
May 20, 20231 min read
Episode 6: Approach and Attitude Dictate Outcome
"If all we do is focus on what we don't want to have happen and protest what's going on, then we're not involved in crafting what a...
May 11, 20232 min read
How To Be Regenerative on Other Peoples’ Land
Good communication and getting landlord buy-in are good starting points when building soil health on leased grazing land (originally...
Mar 30, 20231 min read
Freedom is a Vessel for Responsibility
"Every time we ask for more freedom, it has to be matched with taking more responsibility for that freedom." No word is mentioned more...
Mar 27, 20231 min read
How To Optimize Spring Grazing On A Regenerative Ranch
Have a plan with options, observe closely, and be ready to adjust as needed (originally published for Noble Rancher). Achieving ideal...
Mar 24, 20231 min read
Growth Starts With Good Questions
"If we're asking good questions, we're giving ourselves the basis to grow and improve our industries, and our businesses, and improve our...
Feb 7, 20231 min read
Tools to Start Your Soil Health Journey
There’s no silver bullet, definite answer or formulaic ‘how to’ in regenerative ranching. (originally published for Noble Rancher). Shawn...
Dec 27, 20221 min read
Unity Through the Democratic Process
"If the farmers were stronger together, they were surely stronger still when they brought members of their community together to work...
Dec 23, 20221 min read
Plan Now for a More Profitable 2023
Three key financial statements and how they can guide your regenerative ranch into a bright New Year (originally published for Noble...
Dec 20, 20221 min read
Vitality in Rural Communities
Montana has the second highest leadership demand in the country. Montana State University research indicates that 1 in every 22 adults in...
Dec 15, 20221 min read
Recover from drought with a regenerative future in mind
As painful as droughts can be, making a drought management plan can help your ranch emerge stronger and more resilient on the other...
Dec 13, 20221 min read
Empowerment Through Education
Less than 40 percent of 1910-era homesteaders in north-central Montana had previous agricultural experience. Who would help empower these...
Nov 28, 20222 min read
Parallel journeys to the radical center
A dual by-line with my friend Becca Skinner, originally published in On Land Magazine. LAURA: They glide through the icy water with...
Nov 7, 20221 min read
Career Conversations with Ag Journalist Laura Nelson
What are the skills we need to tell meaningful stories? How do we stop being afraid of failure in order to succeed as rural...
Nov 6, 20222 min read
The Competitive Drive
An athletic mindset earns Wyoming family Certified Angus Beef Commercial Commitment to Excellence honors (for Angus Journal). Whether...
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