Soil Health in South Carolina: Lessons Learned from 8 years of Regenerative Agriculture

This showcase features a presentation and discussion by three cotton farmers from South Carolina who have been involved with soil health and regenerative agriculture for the past eight years.

Mr. Jason Carter, Eastover, SC, will cover lessons learned while implementing cover crops, no-till and nutrient management on his 800-acre farm operation on the coastal plain soils of South Carolina. Benefits he has found include increased soil organic matter, reduced weed pressure and a robust nutrient cycle that has allowed him to reduce fertilizer use. Mr. Doug Newton, Clio, SC, has seen an increase in beneficial insects along with increased moisture retention by using these soil health practices. Sonny Price, Dillion, SC, has seen an increase in nutrient cycling along with higher soil organic matter levels from his use of no-till and summer cover crops. In addition, Dr. Robin (Buz) Kloot will share the results of his adaptive nutrient management testing conducted on these three producer’s farms. Finally, Dr. Archie Flanders will review the economics of soil health through a partial budget analysis he developed on the Price farm.