Cover crops, soil building, no-till organic farming, soil biology! These things and more were covered in several interviews I had with two of the big time presenters at the 2011 MOSES Organic Farming Conference. Both Gary Zimmer of Midwestern Bio-Ag, and Jeff Moyer of the Rodale Institute, were there presenting several sessions, and exhibiting for their respective organizations. It was my pleasure to spend a few minutes with each of these gentlemen. Over the years I have visited them at other conferences, and I hope to have more conversations with them like this.
Gary Zimmer has been in the organic farming industry for 40 years, 25 of them in his own consulting company, Midwestern Bio-Ag. Gary is the author of two books, and a much sought after speaker, with a whole lot of energy and enthusiasm. I’ve heard him speak several times this winter, and he’s a lot of fun to watch. I also have his books, which you can hear about in the video clip.
I had a chance to ask him a few questions when I saw him on the first day of the main conference. I wanted to get his advice on what a new farmer, or one transitioning to organic practices, should be thinking about.
On the last day of the conference I stopped by the Rodale Institute’s booth and spoke to Jeff Moyer, who is Rodale’s Director of Farm Operations. He’s been researching organic farming and gardening for a long time, having done many trials, including those that compare conventional chemical based to traditional organics based agriculture. For more than 30 years Jeff has been helping many farmers make the transition from conventional to organic.
He’s quite the expert on cover crops. He also has a wealth of experience in many other aspects of organic farming. Cover crops have been a major focus of the Rodale Institute, and Jeff Moyer is the man that is an integral part of that effort. He is also the author of the book “Organic No-Till Farming”, which we talk about in the interview. We start out with a little introduction of who Jeff is, and then I get to the interview I had with him about cover crops, which is great information for anyone wanting to get familiar with this very important practice.
