By Carly Hamilton, Indiana NRCS Public Affairs Specialist

Since 2017, Nick Atchley, his wife Brittani, and their three children Desmond, Ivan and Urrick have been working to provide Central Indiana with healthy, local produce while working to educate community members at the same time. Atchley Family Farm, based in Lafayette, Indiana, is a regenerative, Certified Naturally Grown (CNG) farm offering fruits, vegetables, herbs and flowers at farmers markets and through a community supported agriculture (CSA) program. 

Nick and his family were first introduced to regenerative agriculture with the influence of the internet – reading and learning from Polyface Farm, a leader in the regenerative agriculture atmosphere located in Swoope, Virginia. From unique farming approaches to manure management to teaching the public more about where their food comes from, founder Joel Salatin works to educate consumers and farmers alike about conservation. “I loved everything he was doing,” Nick said. “I can’t afford to do meat raising, but I can definitely do regenerative agriculture...I started growing vegetables and focusing on soil health, starting with no-dig pathways and adding compost, just building the microbiome and experimenting.” 

The Atchleys started with an aquaponic system, raising fish and plants in a deep-water system in their backyard, which complemented their already existing backyard garden and small greenhouse. After a tragic fire destroyed their aquaponic infrastructure, the family had a decision to make – restore their aquaponic system, or dive head-first into a regenerative hobby farm. Nick and Brittani chose the latter, and Atchley Family Farm was born. 

“From there, we started building up,” Nick explained. “We took our old greenhouse and turned it into a nursery tunnel and began doing plant starts. We put up another greenhouse we found [online], as well as our quarter-acre bedspace in our yard.” 

After gaining some traction through farmers markets, the family decided to expand to a property they rent from a family member, increasing their capacity to grow greatly. But this new land presented its own challenges. The previous tenant on the Atchley's rental property grew primarily row crops, creating a more challenging soil for the family farm. Leftover fertilizer and past tillage increased weed pressure. 

Nick left his day job and immersed himself completely in the farm to help tackle these issues.  As he grew in his knowledge and desire to build a regenerative agricultural system, Nick, upon the advice of his friends and fellow farmers, decided to reach out to the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to explore the options available for technical and financial assistance. 

With his first two contracts through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), Nick dived right in with cover crops, a wildlife habitat planting, high tunnels, composting and more. Just shortly after installing their practices, Atchley Family Farm is already seeing benefits. “After taking over from the previous farmer, there were still a lot of problems because there is so much leftover fertilizer,” explained Nick. “Getting actual compost on the ground has made a huge difference in weed pressure just from adding that.” 

In addition to seeing benefits from adding compost, the Atchleys are seeing success with their high tunnels. By extending their growing season and protecting their vegetables from the elements, the farm is able to increase their production and quality of their crops. To address the roof runoff from their high tunnels, the Atchleys were able to install landscape fabric to prevent erosion while working toward installing French drains. 

“As this farm grows, we’re seeing additional resource concerns, sort of like a domino effect,” explained Sarah Vaughn, NRCS District Conservationist in Lafayette, Indiana, who has worked with Nick and his family throughout their conservation journey. “As we work our way down the hill [of the farm], we’re able to address additional resource concerns.” 

Sarah and Nick have made a good conservation team, with Sarah being available to answer questions and offer suggestions along the farm’s journey. “Sarah’s been absolutely the best with helping me through so many problems and some stressful days,” said Nick. “It’s been wonderful to start working with NRCS and it’s been really life changing for the farm. We wouldn’t have the growth that we do without NRCS.”

Building on being a conservation-minded and regenerative-focused farm, the Atchley Family Farm’s produce is also Certified Naturally Grown. A CNG certification means that producers commit to using no synthetic chemical pesticides, fungicides or fertilizers, and to working with the Earth instead of against it through farming practices that conserve water, soil, air and other important natural resources. The CNG program is aimed at direct-to-consumer farms like Atchley Family Farm, whereas certified organic is aimed at farms of all sizes. 

Educating the public on the difference between CNG and organic produce is one of the Atchley’s goals. “I have very in-depth conversations with people at the farmer’s market,” explained Brittani. “People are curious about the difference [between CNG and organic], and it’s great to be able to educate and allow people to decide what their preferences are.” 

Next up for the Atchleys is to continue to grow in their conservation journey with NRCS, including continuing to implement practices from their contracts and exploring other assistance options within NRCS. The farm will continue to serve several local farmers markets, as well as branching out into the restaurant and local wholesale industry and growing the Market on Main – a local year-round farmer’s and artisan market in downtown Lafayette. With more than 20 CSA members and interest growing each season, the Atchleys are committed to continuing to offer natural, whole foods to the members of their community.