MONITORING CROP AND SOIL HEALTH ON AN INTEGRATED ORCHARD AND BEEF OPERATION
Join David and Mary Lucero for a tour of JAL Farms, a young fruit orchard in Fort Sumner, NM. The Lucero’s will share the general history of the farm and discuss niche marketing of beef before diving into how they combine laboratory and on-site testing to guide management practices that promote crop and soil health. Try your hands at soil sampling, Brix testing, and compaction assessment. Then help us validate a new approach to Brix Testing.
Mary Lucero, PhD devoted more than 30 years to scientific research and education in agriculture and environmental sciences examining the microbial ecosystems that drive plant and soil health. With each project she completed, she became more convinced that the regenerative approach offers enormous promise for growers, for consumers, and for the future. In 2020, Mary and her husband, David (who brings a background in agricultural finance, marketing, and production) began building a diversified farm where they are raising fruit trees, cover crops, and enough beef and poultry to keep the land at its best. Their goal is to apply cutting edge science to developing an ecologically and economically regenerative system.
→ Watch SOIL STORIES with System Biologist Dr. Mary Lucero
This field day is a collaboration between the Seeding Regenerative Agriculture Project and NM Healthy Soil.