About this episode

Tom Cotter discusses his journey in regenerative agriculture and the benefits of integrating cover crops and livestock.

Tom Cotter is a third-generation farmer from Austin in southeast Minnesota who operates a diverse operation alongside his family and brother-in-law, Tony . He began farming with his dad in 1994 under a purely conventional system characterized by full tillage and routine chemical applications . Tom's journey into soil health began unexpectedly when his father purchased a tile plow and they noticed how much easier the equipment pulled—and how much better subsequent yields were—following a 20-acre test planting of rapeseed cover crops . Today, Tom manages an operation encompassing 340 acres of certified organic ground, 430 acres of conventional no-till ground, and an 80-acre pasture . Driven by a desire to cut input costs and work with nature, Tom has successfully integrated a five-way crop rotation with multi-species cover crop mixes and intensive grass-finished livestock grazing . He is passionate about helping his local community and fellow producers, actively collaborating with the Minnesota Soil Health Coalition to host annual field days and food health days . In this episode, John and Tom discuss: A small trial of rapeseed in the 1990s that dramatically improved soil…

People in this episode

Host: John Kempf

Guest: Tom Cotter

Topics covered

• soil health
• crop rotation
• cover crops
• sustainable farming
• community engagement

Keywords

• regenerative agriculture
• soil structure
• earthworms
• no-till farming
• organic farming

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Minnesota Soil Health Coalition

Places: Austin, southeast Minnesota

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