This video describes ongoing interdisciplinary research that explores how the use of domestic sheep—rather than traditional farming equipment—to manage fallow land and terminate cover crops may enable farmers who grow organic crops to save money, reduce tillage, manage weeds and pests, and reduce the risk of soil erosion. Researchers from Montana State University and North Dakota State University are working on a USDA-National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) Organic Transitions project: Reducing Tillage in Organic Crop Systems: Ecological and Economic Impacts of Targeted Sheep Grazing on Cover Crops and Weed management, Soil Health and Stability, Carbon Sequestration and Greenhouse Gas Emissions. Additional information about the project is available on the Montana State University website here.
Researchers: Fabian Menalled, Patrick Hatfield, Perry Miller, Anton Bekkerman, Devon Ragen
Camera: Steve Spence, Casey Kanode, Jared Berent
Editing: Case Kanode, Steve Spence
Recording available on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5w25UgWMTs
