Jud Harward -

The Harward family began enhancing their soils biologically more than a decade ago — in the early 1990s.

Jud says, “Once you get biological life going and encouraging Mother Nature to work for you, it doesn’t take a lot of NPK fertilizer.”

Each fall, the family recharges biolife with locally available chicken manure compost, plus biologically stimulating products such as humates and SP-1.

“We like to fall fertilize when it’s cool and moist, and when we have more time,” says Jud. “When we do that, we can maintain a soft, flocculated, spongy soil structure under alfalfa all season.

The soil is full of earthworms. “That aerobic quality in the soil stays intact even though an alfalfa field has lots of traffic over it, which could lead to compaction.”
Jud observes that biological life is easier to establish in row crops, where tillage and crop residue help accelerate conversion of carbon into microbes, fungi and other soil life. “In alfalfa, you need to rejuvenate that life every season, or the soil profile will
gradually tighten up over several years,” he says.