In the US, large chunks of land now bear a vigorously brown color of healthy wheat stalks. These dry lands were previously seen as non-productive. Agriculture and ranching enthusiasts like Stefan Soloviev have gone down the dry farming road to make those lands useful.
What Dry Farming Really Is
Dry farming explores special agricultural techniques for low-rainfall areas. It focuses on the cultivation of crops without irrigation, and it entirely depends on the natural rainfall that comes throughout the year. Most farmers use dry-land agro-techniques solutions to compensate for the lack of moisture throughout the crop cycle.
Why Dry Land Farming
With climate change threatening global food production, people are opting for dry-land farming to keep the food basket full. The aim is to make the world able to sustain itself. As a result, the growing human population will cease to appear as an impending threat.
In this article, you’ll know the A to Z of dry-land farming, and you’ll understand why Stefan Soloviev and other industry leaders are exploring this area actively.
How Chemicals Improve Dry Farming
Leading dry land farming enthusiasts like Stefan Soloviev often use chemicals in their dry land instead of hard-on techniques like plowing. Remember, moisture is a vital resource and should be protected at all costs in dry-land farming. So, where farmers plow to deal with weeds, Stefan Soloviev and his Crossroads Agriculture team use chemicals. That way, the land remains undisturbed and retains its moisture content.
Also, they use antitranspirants, which are special fungicides that form a thin film on the surface of plant leaves. These chemicals reduce the rate of water loss and promote moisture retention.
Other Dry-Land Agriculture Techniques
Regardless of the scale of work, anyone farming under dry conditions should always have these pointers in mind:
- Preparation and sowing should start in good time, together with measures of retaining soil moisture. Again, that’s an area where industry leaders like Stefan Soloviev have excelled.
- Use plant varieties that can last through a low-moisture period.
- Farmers should prioritize moisture conservation practices like surface tillage and stubble use.
- For small-scale dry-land agriculture, crop rotation, intercropping, and mixed cropping are best practices.
- Stefan Soloviev supplements dry-land farming with other practices like animal husbandry. That’s why you’ll see large wheat farms sitting side by side with ranches.
Conclusion
Now, you know dry-land farming and how bigwigs like Stefan Soloviev do it. It’s a very profitable niche under real estate but has a steep learning curve. But, whether you’re an executive or a farmer in the agricultural sector, knowing the concepts goes a long way toward making you an industry leader.
