Following in Grandpa’s shoes

“Research shows that there are more microbes in a teaspoon of soil than there are people on the planet,” says Gregg Rosenthal, a Waseca County farmer with a degree in agronomy. “That’s how we can measure whether a patch of soil is ‘healthy’ or not.”

Area farmers Gregg and Annette Rosenthal live on property acquired by Gregg’s grandfather, Walter, more than 100 years ago. The original 160-acre farm is still part of the land they farm today.

In addition to that connection, Gregg is also one of the county’s five “supervisors” for the Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD). He was invited to put his name on the ballot last fall and elected to a four-year term in November.

His grandfather, Walter, was a member of the SWCD’s very first board of supervisors, having been originally elected in August of 1948 and continuing to serve until 1962.

Gregg, 54,  had his grandfather as a presence in his life until his freshman year of high school, when Walter died.

Gregg grew up on the farm operated by his father, Darryl, west of Waseca. He remembers that Darryl, now 84, made the decision to use the conservation practice of  “ridge tillage” in the 1970s. “He got a lot of grief,” Gregg remembers. “People said it would never work.”

But it did work, and Gregg’s college degree gave him a stronger understanding of why.

When he began farming, Gregg says, conservation practices were important to him. “You could say it’s a passion of mine,” he comments.

In addition to recently becoming an SWCD supervisor, he has worked with the SWCD on various conservation projects, including erosion control through “terracing” and underwater drainage, enrolling marginally producing land in set-aside programs, and purchasing plants and trees through the agency’s offerings. He also has followed Darryl’s footsteps in using conservation practices, in his case strip tillage and the use of winter cover crops including winter rye and tillage radishes.

“They’re there to protect the soil,” Gregg observes. “They guard against erosion and interact with the soil, giving the microbes something to munch on.”

With the stronger understanding farmers have of the value of conservation methods, Gregg is not “given a hard time” about his use of strip tillage. But the fact that his fields look nearly identical both before and after planting make his father, Darryl, want to put up a sign that says “Yes, this field has been planted.”

The combination of winter cover and erosion control, Gregg says, has allowed him to reduce his inputs of phosphorus by as much as 40 percent, and nitrogen by about 30 percent.

From his days as an agronomy major and his studies since, he describes how a corn plant actually releases enzymes into the soil which cause the microbes to provide more of the needed nutrients.  The healthy effects of the winter cover crops enable the microbes to follow through on the symbiotic exchange.

“Since the nutrients are already there, I don’t need to add them,” he says matter-of-factly.

Of his service on the SWCD board of supervisors, Gregg admits he enjoys the tradition and sense of connection to his grandfather. He also regards himself as a “newbie” to the role. 

“The SWCD is an important agency that has accomplished many, many valuable things.

“I can’t really take any credit for that since I’m still learning,” he says. “But I’m glad to be contributing and hope to be more valuable as time goes on.”

Gregg says he looks forward to the implementation of the “One Watershed One Plan” program, which will encourage SWCD agencies to work together on watersheds, for example the Cannon River, which extend across their service areas. He credits Mark Schaetze, SWCD Manager, and the agency’s staff with most of the progress.

“Our role is, more or less, to let them know what we think of their plans,” says Gregg. “And I’m glad to be of help where I can.”