Conservation Through the Years: Three Generations of Innovation
Connor McCormick carries on the family tradition of conservation and innovation started by his grandfather.
In Houston County, Minnesota, Connor McCormick continues a tradition of agricultural innovation started by his grandfather.
Working with the Natural Resources Conservation Service, McCormick utilizes financial and technical assistance from the Environmental Quality Incentives Program to experiment with a number of different practices, increasing the efficiency of his operation and contributing to a better understanding of conservation-based agriculture.
McCormick got interested in agricultural research as a student at St. Olaf College. “I grew up around [agriculture], but never with the mindset of trying to solve these problems we’ve got and go about it in a researched, scientific way.”
Studying environmental science, McCormick did research on cover crops and tillage. With assistance from the NRCS, McCormick has been able to bring this research onto his own land.
Multispecies cover crop drilled by Connor McCormick. Photo Credit: Ryan Hytry
“It’s the only way I can show my dad that it works,” McCormick said. “He’s been doing it the same way since he was my age and it’s worked for him, but it’s different now. In order to compete as a smaller farm, you have to find a way to be more efficient.”
However, the McCormick family is no stranger to innovation. Whatever passion for research McCormick found at St. Olaf, the rest he inherited from his grandfather. Working with the NRCS, his grandfather was one of the first landowners in Houston County to put up harvesters, implement contouring and install terraces for water erosion.
McCormick operates a small family farm on the land his grandfather purchased in the 1950s. The primary product is beef, which his grandfather started finishing with his brothers in the 1960s. He also produces corn, beans, oats, hay, rye and pumpkins.
Terrace reshaped with assistance from EQIP. Photo Credit: Ryan Hytry
Although his father and grandfather have long worked with the NRCS, McCormick’s first experience with the agency was in 2014 for a research project on cover crops. Working with his professor and the local NRCS field office, McCormick was able to broadcast cover crops via airplane.
“We were the first ones to do that around here, hire a plane,” he said. That research was the start of what turned out to be a long partnership with the NRCS. “I kind of got to know the people at the office and we’ve been working with them ever since.”
For the application process, he worked closely with Ryan Hytry, an NRCS district conservationist out of the Houston County Field Office. McCormick simply went over his ideas for cover crops and no-till, and Hytry came up with an agreement for funding. “It was really easy,” he said. “I just check in with him if I have any questions. It’s a pretty good relationship, we text and call.”
Right now, McCormick is implementing multi-species cover crop, no-till and brush management with an EQIP agreement contracted for more than $40,000. He also has a Conservation Stewardship Program forestry contract for $20,000. He currently has 100 percent no-till cover crop on his land, and there is a number of other things he wants to try with NRCS in the future.
“I’d like to work with them on rotational grazing, get some more fencing and waterlines in to work livestock into what now is just crop fields,” he said. “Then, really anything cover crop related. I really like this cover crop stuff; I think it has a lot of potential.”
While McCormick does all he can to innovate conservation-minded agriculture, he understands that he is just one person and urges others to visit their local NRCS field office. “The best thing you can do is honestly just stop in there,’ he said. “Tell them who you are, what you’re doing, and they can help really guide you because they kind of know what other people are doing in the area.”
With three generations of innovators, the McCormicks stay committed to researching new ways to improve their operation and protect the land. “If America’s going to stay healthy and stay on top, we all have to chip in.”
Multispecies cover crop broadcast by airplane. Photo Credit: Ryan Hytry