To learn more about the Five Soil Health Principles, watch this recording of the Minnesota Lakes and Rivers webinar with farmer Jim Chamberlain. You can watch the webinar HERE.

12857 Nokasippi River Rd.,
Brainerd, MN 56401
(218) 232-7986

Abe Hollister, of Hollister Family Farms outside Brainerd, sees his farming practice as a “land healing ministry.” Abe was 21 when he accepted Jesus into his life. Through a church group he met soil health guru Kent Solberg and began an internship. As he drove around Minnesota, he was struck by the number of bankrupt industrial farms. He saw the lack of biological diversity, the polluted waters, the sterile soil.

Ken taught him that it did not have to be this way.

“I wanted to work to repair the land,” said Abe. “Sustainability fit into my Christianity. Spiritually I am more connected to what God has given me. I am building life.”

Abe began small. For ten years he and his wife Brea raised chickens and milk cows on 10 acres. They had a large vegetable garden. Then they rented an additional 40 acres. They bought another 40 acres and started renting an additional 40 acres.Today Abe, Brea and their five children raise cattle on about 120 acres of pasture and woods.

Before the Hollisters, the land had been heavily tilled and chemically treated. After 80 years of growing soybeans and corn, it was so degraded it could only support rye the last seven years before Abe bought it.

“It needed a rest,” said Abe. They stopped tilling and instead started a rotational grazing regime. Abe hand scattered clover, grasses, chicory, and legumes in the spring as an experiment. The seed was fallow for a year, and burst forth the following year. “In some areas the clover was thigh high,” said Abe. “It also stimulated our latent seed bank.” Other nitrogen fixers sprung up including plantain, red clover, birdsfoot trefoil, another species of legume. “Livestock can eat as much of these as they want without bloating, and it is a great source of protein.”

Abe, Brea, and their children Gideon, Adelynn, Mae, Signe and Warren work the farm together now. Abe notes that because they do not have heavy machinery, or chemical fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides or fungicides on the place, it is a much safer environment for his children and they can help out a great deal. It is also a healthier environment for birds, insects and other animals. Abe and his wife have both noticed a resurgence of creatures on the farm. Earth insects and worms have surged in the soil. “When we started, there was nothing living in our soil. Today the soil is packed with critters,” said Abe.

They have also seen a resurgence of many different bird species. “There are flocks of birds that come in at different times to eat the tops off the plants. In the spring flocks of cowbirds come to eat the insects off the cows.”

There was one problem, the local grocery store did not carry the type of meat they wanted, antibiotic free, steroid free, no added hormones, non-GMO feed.

They started small on a sixteen acre farm with three bred cows.

Said Tasha, “Even though I grew up on a hog confinement farm, I still didn't have much experience with cattle and wanted to start small.” That first year I looked for a larger place and in 2017 bought 480 acres near Fort Ripley, MN. “The farm was run down when I bought it,” said Tasha.

Soil was dead, with no worms, insects, fungus. I set up a paddock system and planted pasture.

Today I have about 60 cattle. I use hogs as part of my rotational grazing strategy. Into

this mix I have added about 2000 chickens, which get moved every day using Joel Salatin chicken tractors. The chickens add nitrogen to the soil and follow the cows to scatter manure and

manage pest insects.

“Every year I see a change in the soil. Without tilling, the microbiome is growing,” said Tasha.

She also noted that because she operates outside the industrial commodity market, she is unaffected by inevitable market fluctuations.

3 Sixteen Ranch offers chicken, pork and beef in a variety of packaging and cuts.  Beef will be available this fall.

Said Lance, “I just continued what my grandfather had been doing. Each year, we plant and harvest non-GMO corn for silage, which is fed to more than 60 head of cattle including Jersey and Holstein. To ensure customer satisfaction, we believe it is important to: reduce antibiotics of any kind, eliminate growth hormones, remove animal by-products from their diet and limit the herd size to ensure ample grazing conditions. Ultimately, we believe that a happy, healthy herd will result in a better, tastier product for you and your family to enjoy.”

The Brakstads have three hoop houses and do vegetables using hydroponics. They also raise some chickens, sell eggs, starter plants and other farm products. Brakstad Farms has 40 Community Supported Agriculture, CSA members and sell at farmer’s markets in Pequot, Ideal and Pine River.

The Pine Stone Farm sells beef, pork, chicken and other fowl, and eggs. Matthew has a greenhouse on their barn, and will now produce fresh leafy greens, and cabbages into the Fall and early Winter.

The majority of their market is word of mouth and direct sales to people who live in the area.

Matthew got into farming for his health. “At thirty years old the lifestyle trajectory I was on was making me feel worse and worse,” said Matthew. A licensed massage therapist and yoga instructor, Matthew began to focus on his diet, particularly the nutrient dense food that is a by-product of regenerative agriculture. “I wanted to build a circle from my income, my daily life to the food on my table. If you don’t have a healthy farmer, you can’t have a healthy farm.”

Matthew grew up in Brainerd, and had no experience farming. He started with rabbits and a kitchen garden at his home in town. By growing and eating the food he raised in town, his life began to change. Three years ago he made the leap and bought 40 acres of land. He is learning by doing, and leaning on the wisdom of other farmers like Jim Chamberlin with the Sustainable Farming Association of Minnesota. “I’m the healthiest I have ever been,” said Matthew. “I lost over 70 pounds, and now work to include more and more good into my life.”

For Matthew, the benefits go far beyond health. “Farming is a work of service,” said Matthew. “Serving the land, serving the culture, serving the people who eat our food. This (style of farming) is the solution to so many of the problems we have with water.”

Contact Matthew directly to buy his carefully raised meat and vegetables: https://pinestonefarm.com/contact/

Fair View Ranch is offering certified Angus beef for $4.00 a pound hanging weight. All beef is raised on our ranch. We raise our cattle with our family and customer in mind. All certified Angus will be raised naturally with no hormones. We raise all the Angus on grass then finish them on 90 days of corn for the best quality and marbling experience.

At Fair View Ranch we select our cattle for high carcass quality so everyone can have a great eating experience. We have found that most of our Angus cattle will score choice or prime because of our selective breeding and feeding methods.

Fair View Ranch also cares about the welfare of the land and animals. We raise our animals humanely by having them in a clean environment with a continuous source of fresh water.

Thank you for your interest. We are looking forward to your next order.

This pilot project is a partnership between Happy Dancing Turtle, Pine River Watershed Alliance, Minnesota Lakes and Rivers Advocates and the Association of Cass County Lakes, ACCL. Please contact Jeff Forester at: jeff@mnlakesandrivers.org for more information.