The above video is from previous coverage of Swift River Pecans.
Caldwell County, TX (KXAN) — Troy Swift walks through his orchard, Swift River Pecans, on a warm August morning. On nearly every tree, big clumps of green pecans weigh the branches down. He reaches up and grabs one, the first pecan of the season, a Pawnee, and opens it.
“We are seeing record after record in this orchard,” Troy said.
This wasn’t always the case. Troy is a first generation farmer who got his start following a career of designing boats and white water rafting. He longed for a pecan orchard along the river he loved, the San Marcos River.
“I had a group of trees that started to die, and I was farming the way I was taught, and I asked the scientists to come look at it, and I said, What’s wrong with these trees?” Troy said.
They pointed to two possible problems: the roots or the soil. So Troy decided to focus on the soil. “Soil is living. It has all sorts of microorganisms, mycorrhizal fungi, and things that the trees need. And we weren’t taught that,” Troy said.
That’s when he discovered regenerative farming.
Turning to nature to grow nature
The idea of regenerative farming is to use grazing, no-till planting and limited pesticides to restore the health of the soil. For instance at Swift River Pecans, the orchard is overgrown. Grass blades reach up to the lower branches and animals roam the land.
“We’ve drastically reduced fungicides, we’ve eliminated herbicides, and we’re increasing the soil health in order to do this,” Troy said.
Since Troy switched over to regenerative farming, his orchard has blossomed. The science backs it up.
“I think a lot of the management practices over time will show that the less inputs, or strategic inputs that you have, will increase your biodiversity, not only on your orchard floor, but within the ecosystem itself,” said Laura Pitman, a research associate with the Noble Research Institute.
The Noble Research Institute, based in Oklahoma is the nation’s largest non-profit dedicated to farm and ranch management. They’re in the middle of a six-year study on the impacts regenerative farming has on soil health. Swift River Pecans is one of their test subjects.
Soil samples are collected twice a year from Troy’s farm and several others. Some of these farms use traditional farming and others use regenerative farming. The study wants to answer some key questions about the practice.
“Are you improving your soil health over time, and does that lead to healthier soil, healthier tree, to healthier nuts?” said Lauren Jones, a Senior Research Associate with the Noble Research Institute.
Is the soil healthier for plants?
One of the big questions is regarding nitrogen. Plants need nitrogen to thrive and farmers will add nitrogen to the soil to improve growth.
“We’re keeping data. We’re keeping track of it, and we’re we’re showing trends,” Troy said while showing a record book of soil samples. These samples reveal how much nitrogen is in the soil, which has led Troy to reducing what he’s having to add.
“Some of (the farmers) have actually decreased or removed nitrogen inputs, and even with that, we’re seeing a trend of three years of increasing available nitrogen in the soil,” Jones said.
The researchers will continue studying Troy’s orchard for three more years. He said that the results are already evident. He and a couple other local farmers who turned to regenerative farming are seeing results and their property blossom.
As the morning wrapped up, Troy leaned on the steering wheel of his four wheeler and looked out over the orchard and the San Marcos River that runs alongside his property.
“If we can make a nice, biodiverse ecosystem here, where everything that’s supposed to be here wants to live here, then they’re just like me, because I want to live here too.”
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