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Mackane Vogel:

Welcome to the No-Till Farmer Podcast. I'm Mackane Vogel, Associate Editor of No-Till Farmer. In today's episode, come along on the road with me as I travel across parts of Maryland and Pennsylvania to visit three different farmers who are working with cover crops and no-till in unique ways. Our first stop in part one of this journey took us to Jim Hershey's farm in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania. This week, let's hop back in the car and head to Cecil County, Maryland, to visit Bryan Racine, who is relatively new to the no-till and cover crop movement, but is learning and innovating at a rapid pace.

Good morning from Baltimore, Maryland, once again. I am about to head out for my second farm visit of this East Coast farm trip, and this one should be a little bit different. We had a lot of fun with Jim Hershey last week, but today, we're actually going to go out to Cecil County, Maryland, and visit a farmer by the name of Bryan Racine. Now Bryan is unique for a few different reasons. He actually reached out to me when he saw the blog that I wrote for Cover Crop Strategies, detailing my plans for this trip, and I posted an open invite to farmers in the area if anyone wanted me to come by and check out what they were doing. And Bryan answered the call, so he reached out to me, told me he farms in Cecil County. He's a no-till farmer, uses cover crop mixes on all his fields every year. He's also participating in a number of different Maryland cover crop programs, so I'm excited to ask about those and hear some more details there.

And he also mentioned that he used a roller crimper for the first time this spring, as well as he typically says he uses a 14-way summer mix of covers with cows grazing it in the fall and the spring. So when I heard all that, that just sounds like a soil health picture-perfect situation right there. So, told him right away, "Yes, I will make some time to get out there." And it's convenient to me because that's about under an hour away from where I'm staying in Baltimore here. It's a little cooler out today than it was when I visited Jim Hershey last week. It was a scorcher that day. Today, we're looking about mid-70s, a little overcast right now. Didn't see any rain in the forecast, so hopefully that all holds up and we have a good weather day for a good farm visit. With that being said, I'm running a couple of minutes late from when I told Bryan I'd be there, so I'm going to shut my mouth and get on the road here, and we'll hear from Bryan in just a minute.

Bryan Racine:

He's the reason I started no-tilling and all that. I watched him on YouTube.

Mackane Vogel:

Steve Groff videos?

Bryan Racine:

Yeah.

Mackane Vogel:

Nice.

Bryan Racine:

I got a little bored at work sometimes, you know?

Mackane Vogel:

Yeah.

Bryan Racine:

I went on YouTube, and next thing you know, it's an older video of him talking about the reason he no-tills and stuff is to save the bay. I'm like, "I'm tired of doing the same things he's talking about."

Mackane Vogel:

So, how long have you been farming, in general, and then when did you switch to no-till regenerative stuff?

Bryan Racine:

We've been here since the 60s. Well, the family has, I guess. We were by where the college is.

Mackane Vogel:

Yep, Cecil College.

Bryan Racine:

Yep, and then they eminent domained that and moved to 272 and whatever they did because they wanted to build a college in the Bayview and stuff. So then I guess we were renting this, so then we moved over here, or the operation moved here, not necessarily us. There was a house down front, but it burned down. Then in 19, I guess you could say I took over doing stuff, and 19 is when we started full no-till. Before that, we did a year or two of cover crops, but we would just work them in. And then, since 19, I haven't touched anything since then.

Mackane Vogel:

What are your crops that you grow?

Bryan Racine:

Corn, beans, and wheat.

Mackane Vogel:

Yep.

Bryan Racine:

Yeah. Yep, just those for now. Two years of corn, soybeans, and then wheat, and then just started back up.

Mackane Vogel:

Yep. Okay. And so, where are you at in that rotation now?

Bryan Racine:

We split it up, so it's 60-

Mackane Vogel:

Oh, sure.

Bryan Racine:

Half corn, 38, well, 25% soybeans, and 25% wheat, give or take.

Mackane Vogel:

And now, you said you were part of a Maryland cover crop program. What's that all about?

Bryan Racine:

Yeah. That's with ... I think she's a doctor, Marie Hirsch down there.

Mackane Vogel:

Oh, yeah.

Bryan Racine:

Somerset, [Wakima, Wakimet 00:04:42] Canal.

Mackane Vogel:

Yeah, think I know what you're talking about.

Bryan Racine:

Yeah, so I signed up. The ag newsletter for the county was like, "Hey, there's this cover crop program." But you could do a little bit more or something, so I asked them about that. And the guy's like, "Well, you're already ... you're past the two species mix." Because I do it. At the time, I think it was just a 10-way mix after wheat. So then they got me in touch with her and her stuff, and then that's when I became part of that group, I guess you could say. And then it's also through Million Acre Challenge. I was part of that. Maybe that was first. The groups blur together. So I might have started with Million Acre Challenge and then got hooked up with that, with Sarah and her team after that. Sometimes, it seems like it's all one because they do a lot of the same, but that's been a couple of years now, probably three or four years for that.

But the Million Acre Challenge was the first thing I really, I guess, did, and it's probably been May 2021 or so. I'd have to look, because again, it all ... between the cover crop, the business cover crop, the Million Acre Challenge, you get lost in the sauce. At least I do because I do too much.

Mackane Vogel:

Yeah.

Bryan Racine:

You know what I mean? There's too many things sometimes. So yeah, it's been a couple of years now. But the Million Acre Challenge will come and take samples. They take core samples instead of just soil samples for them, and they give me stuff back and tell me what it's doing for the summer cover crop program or the bonus cover crop program. So I'll do red clover in the wheat while the wheat's growing in February and March. So when they harvest the wheat, the red clover is already there growing, so I do that. Just the regular rye for soybeans, nothing crazy there, but then after the wheat, I do the ... well, now I do a 14-way mix and had the neighbor's cows over, and they grazed it off some. So we got, I think it was three months' worth that they were out there grazing on it and stuff, so I'm planning that this year to see what they ... fully graze, half graze. And then the field back here, they didn't really get into at all, just to see what all the difference is. Is it better or worse? Could I drop down on other stuff? Focus on that.

Mackane Vogel:

Yeah, the grazing is something that I feel like even some of the most experienced no-tillers and cover croppers, it seems to be that last piece of soil health that's a little evasive for some people. Just a lot of it, I think, is logistics.

Bryan Racine:

Yep. Yeah.

Mackane Vogel:

If you don't have somebody or you don't have them yourself, then-

Bryan Racine:

Or fencing, water.

Mackane Vogel:

Yes. Do you use rail fencing? I know it's like the digital stuff now that people use, and-

Bryan Racine:

Right. He just has just little step-in stakes with holes in it for his. He used just a two-wire, so even his fence is pretty temporary. But we just did step-ins and the one hot wire, because as long as they've got something to eat, they'll pretty much stay there. They might not like it, but they stay there. And every now and then, one will get out. But [inaudible 00:07:45] winter and spring, and not really, they ain't nothing really there. They're not going to go eat the corn.

Mackane Vogel:

Right.

Bryan Racine:

Yeah.

Mackane Vogel:

It's all cattle?

Bryan Racine:

Yep. He had one pig, and she was a big pig, but she's not super motivated to walk front right, I guess. One day, I was off looking out the back window. The neighbor sent me a picture. He thought it was a bear, and it was in the hay field over here. I look out the window, and I'm like, "Holy crap!" She's way over here. We have about 1500 foot that way, where the cows are, and she's all the way over here, heading right towards the hay and the woods. Shoot, I don't need her going in there. We'll never get her out. So we had to go mush her. I mean, she's bigger than that. She stands to your waist.

Mackane Vogel:

Wow.

Bryan Racine:

She bites the cows and stuff, so we had to just mush her along all the way back. But yeah, every now and then, they'll get out, but it's part of life, I guess

Mackane Vogel:

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What kind of pests do you guys deal with the most out here? Is it a lot of slug pressure or anything like that?

Bryan Racine:

I mean, there's slug pressure. I mean, you can see it in some of the corn this year, because this year, I planted green everything because I was trying that out and stuff.

Mackane Vogel:

Yeah. How'd that go?

Bryan Racine:

I don't know because I don't do the greatest data keeping, and I just send it. I got a crimper last spring, but it was after everything was sprayed, so I didn't get to really fool with it then. And then, this year-

Mackane Vogel:

You'll try that this year, right?

Bryan Racine:

Oh, I did it. Yeah. Yeah, you'll see it when we go out. I did half of this field, half of this field. I let a whole field go that I should have rolled because it says you can roll it one time. But just slugs, yeah, I mean there's some, and definitely, I've seen them. But I don't have areas get lost per se, so it's ... One of the worst was ever in the corn where the cows were just at. It looked like there wasn't soybeans, and they grew up, and they did just fine. The deer, I would say, mostly just eat every year, corn around every field. They eat the beans and wheat, so I have to do bearded wheat to try to keep them off that. But yeah, you can only do so much.

Mackane Vogel:

I'm curious too, because obviously, on my way over here, you go right over the Susquehanna. Does that play into the decision-making out here with farmers? Do you have to think about the water? Is the water nearby? Is that something that the governments worry about?

Bryan Racine:

I would say nothing more than just your regular mutual management plan and all the rules and regulations, and that, but I care about it. That's why I do what I do and whatnot. But other people, I think they just care about the dollar.

Mackane Vogel:

Are you unique in that you're doing no-till and cover crop? Are neighbors around here who farm, are they doing it too, or you don't see much of it?

Bryan Racine:

I mean, there's no-tillers, but they don't do it as far, I guess to say, as I do. They'll start no-till, or they'll do a little bit of this and that. Everybody's different, but nobody plants a cover crop after wheat. They plant beans, and then they go to just enough of a cover crop to get the cover crop payment. And then, as soon as that day's up, it's gone. They're doing stuff, but I let it go until I planted, and after I planted. So I'd say I'm definitely not on that group per se, but I'm not in with the farming community because I don't have cows, and I don't sell seed. I'm a younger kid, so everybody's like, "Oh, you don't know what you're doing anyway," kind of thing. But there's some no-tillers and stuff, but I think that's just because of the financial kickback on that, not because they care about ... I mean, most of it's rented land and stuff, so they're trying to get in and get out.

Mackane Vogel:

When you switched to it, what did you rely on for info on how to do it?

Bryan Racine:

YouTube, Twitter, at the time, and then reading the no-till mag, just articles, save it here and there, watching things on YouTube, and then just doing it and failing terribly. And then just a little bit for this year, and then failing terribly again on certain things and aspects because I'm just trying to get it all figured out hot and heavy right off the bat instead of just tweaking a little bit. I was like, "I want to go to where I want to go to. I'm just going to do that and then learn all the hardships the hard way because I don't know for sure." Instead of just a little bit here and a little bit there, I'm more like, "Just send it." My kids are four and six. I've only got 10 years, and they're going to kick me out, so I've got to figure it out. You know what I mean?

Mackane Vogel:

So when you pass it to them, you can tell them how to do it.

Bryan Racine:

Hopefully. Well, see, the problem is the neighbor, he's organic, so he tills everything, plows it down to the ground. They love it because it's more tractor time. He's got more stuff, and all this kind of stuff. But that's how I farm. We were full tillage and stuff too before I took over and changed it, so I'm not saying it's right or wrong. It's just that's your choice. And they can do it, but I feel like that's what I like to do and see. So hopefully, they go down that path.

Mackane Vogel:

As far as equipment that you run on the farm here, what do you use, and what would you say is your MVP piece of equipment? What's something you couldn't live without that you guys use here a lot?

Bryan Racine:

I mean, it would probably have to be the planter just because I put the most money into it to get it to do what it does. It's just the John Deere 7,000 Conservation from back in the day, a couple of decades ago. But I redid the row units maybe five years ago. And then last two years ago, I put liquid on it and road cleaners, so I'm just trying to work on getting those set. And it's still got spraying down pressure and all mechanical, no ... that was almost ... not even a seed monitor, nothing, just the chain and dar.

Mackane Vogel:

Nice.

Bryan Racine:

So I would say that that's our most important. I used to do the drill for soybeans. I'm planting through all this green stuff. I didn't want all those very units, so I put it in. I got brush meters this year and put the beans in with the row cleaners and moved things out of the way and helped close it up a little better. So we tried that new for this year. But yeah, I mean, I would guess you'd have to say the corn planter just because it does corn and beans for me, which is three-quarters of what I grow in a year. As long as it works. But I mean, yeah, I would love to say I could get a newer one that could do more for me, but I don't have the tractor technology and all that stuff to do it. I have an earthen station tractor that just does what I need it to do, so it's good enough to go.

Mackane Vogel:

Right.

Bryan Racine:

Yeah. Keep the bottom line low.

Mackane Vogel:

Yeah.

Bryan Racine:

Yeah, hopefully. Yep.

Mackane Vogel:

So what other experiments are you working on right now for this year? Anything you're trying out new for the first time?

Bryan Racine:

Other than using the roller crimper, planting green on all of it, we ... So, where the cows were for the most of the time, they were there seven or eight weeks was where the summer cover crop was last year. They grazed some of the fall and then again the spring, so I planted corn into it. Then I did no nitrogen starter, which isn't ... I mean, I still put three tons of chicken litter on it, so there's still nitrogen there, but not made without the starter, just to see if there's a difference. And does it just look ... Does it relate to the yield monitor? The field next to it, they had cows in it. They just weren't as heavy because they had to walk through this one field to get to that one, so they hit this one harder, for sure. And this one had a lot of fox tail on it, so there's less cow, but there's still a cow.

And like I said, that piece of back here, it doesn't have hardly anything in it for cow, so it doesn't make a difference. I had them graze ... the field over here, we had them graze maybe the back third. There at the end, before we started getting close to plant, we decided to see if they would knock it down some. I just let them eat some. Does it make a difference planting? Does it make a difference in yield? Do I get less residual matter on top? Just trying to see what that would do. It's a nice, clear curve because we made the fence bend so you could see not just ... It should be a little bit more easier to see that in the field than just a straight line kind of thing. So we tried that.

And sometimes, too many things I've tried, but that's what we went for to see if that makes a difference. I would like to, like I said, get cows or have cows and have them graze in the cover crops because I think it's the key to all of it. But like I said, it's logistics, and a place to have them all year, the price of them now. And working two other jobs, it's a little hard to be here for the cows more. But if you could figure it out, if you at least keep them where they're supposed to be. But yeah, that virtual fencing isn't cheap at all, especially when you're a smaller budget, but it saves me a headache and time.

Mackane Vogel:

Yeah, if the ROI is there, then it could be worth it, right?

Bryan Racine:

Yeah, at least fooling with it and getting one, and you're going to find the cow that's the pain in the butt the most, and then hook it up to that one.

Mackane Vogel:

Yeah.

Bryan Racine:

You know what I mean? Or hopefully not that one, and maybe the other ones will stay where they're supposed to.

Mackane Vogel:

What's the climate out here typically? Are you guys used to a lot of rain, or have you dealt with a lot of dry conditions in the past? What's typical for you guys?

Bryan Racine:

Usually, we get 46 or so inches of rain, according to the Baltimore Almanac, or whatever. So it's pretty much almost an inch a week average.

Mackane Vogel:

Got it.

Bryan Racine:

The last two years have been pretty dry. Last year was, I think, the driest for the year, but two years ago was driest for the growing season. There's a lady at Maryland, Kimba. I think through one of the groups she reached out about the climate changing and all this, so I started looking it up because I have climate data field view.

Mackane Vogel:

Correct.

Bryan Racine:

So I looked at when it rained. I think it was back in '16 or something, '15 or '16, I think, I started using it. When it rained for the year, big rains over two inches, rained during the growing season, and tracked all that. Twelve, I think, was just the worst. I think 2012 was the worst year. I think all of our crop died. But I think last year was the second-worst overall, but we had more during the growing season. But two years ago, we had less rain during growing season. It was dry, but it's been trending dry because I planted corn two years ago in June, third week, second week of June, because it just didn't rain. Everybody was getting in early, and I was like, "I'm patient. I'm trying to be patient here." And then, it was five weeks late, so we didn't plant things until super late, so I didn't get cover crops in. But yeah, I mean, it's trending dry, but this year, it's almost, I would say, trending wetter now, but you never know.

Mackane Vogel:

Did you guys get rain yesterday?

Bryan Racine:

Just a sprinkle, nothing of value. But last week, we had three and a half. My driveway didn't wash out. I don't have ponding like I used to. The road's not flooded out like it used to and stuff like that, so I know what I'm doing is working. Yeah, and it's clear. When it does run down the driveway, it's clearer run off and stuff. The pond's a lot cleaner. But yeah, I would say it's getting hotter. I mean, it wasn't super hot last year, but it just stayed the 85-90, and it was just weeks. I think we went seven weeks without rain in August/September, when everything needs it.

Mackane Vogel:

Yeah, that's a tough time.

Bryan Racine:

It was. But the combine, we got 186 bushel out of this field, and it was averaging 180, and that's above our farm average, for sure. Is it just a fluke because of draft grower corn? Yeah. What was it? It's hard to tell what you're doing that helps it, but it's better than what it used to be.

Mackane Vogel:

What's been the most difficult part of the whole no-till thing for you? And then what would you say is the most rewarding part of it?

Bryan Racine:

The hardest part of no-till is just not a lot of people, I feel like, do it the way we do it, per se, so I don't have anybody to ask to get help from, per se. And if I do the groups, I mean, they're all southern that [inaudible 00:21:06], so they're sand, and this, and that, and they're just growing-

Mackane Vogel:

Right, so it's not even applicable.

Bryan Racine:

Right. I've got rye with clovers and turnips and stuff and a 14-way mix I'm planting in, and so it's just all of that, just having to figure it out on your own. And I had to take off work to do it, so I don't have a whole lot of time to make things perfect or wait for that perfect day, per se, to plant, so I've just got to send it when I can send it. And then I learn on the fly, or I've got to adjust in the field a little more. And then, sometimes, it just is what it is. You still got to get it planted or done.

Mackane Vogel:

Sure.

Bryan Racine:

So I would say that's probably the hardest part, just having to be the guy that does it. I don't have anybody, per se, to help. And what was the second part?

Mackane Vogel:

What's the most rewarding part? What keeps you going?

Bryan Racine:

Just seeing the bugs, the birds, the bees. Seeing the ground suck the water up, the worm castings. When I take a soil sample, those worms in almost all of them, just that kind of ... the mother nature aspect of it, and how I definitely feel like it's benefited than just spraying everything and working everything up the dirt. Last year, I got the Merlin app. I don't know if you've ever heard of that app.

Mackane Vogel:

I think so.

Bryan Racine:

I don't know. I'm not a bird guy, but I became like a bird guy. So I was at a bonus cover crop group meeting. It's from Cornell University, so it's just Merlin. So you'll put your location on, and you hit sound ID, and it will listen. So it'll tell you what bird you hear.

Mackane Vogel:

Oh, cool.

Bryan Racine:

Like, "Hey, there's a swallow," and it'll tell you. So if you go to ... here's some of the recordings I have. This is just a three-minute recording this morning at 8:00 A.M. I got all of those birds.

Mackane Vogel:

Oh, wow.

Bryan Racine:

Right?

Mackane Vogel:

That's cool.

Bryan Racine:

I think the most I have is like 20-some birds.

Mackane Vogel:

Wow.

Bryan Racine:

So this is over 15 minutes. I got a horned lark. I don't know what that dude is, but he ain't from around here. Right?

Mackane Vogel:

Right.

Bryan Racine:

And the goldfinch is cool. There was another one, the gray gnat catcher. So like I say, we'll just go to this bird and go down to learn more. It'll tell you where it lives, where it migrates, where it breeds, and not breeding.

Mackane Vogel:

That's cool.

Bryan Racine:

And you can see if it's supposed to be around here. But I have 67 birds, I think, is my life list, 68 kinds of birds here.

Mackane Vogel:

Wow, that's pretty cool.

Bryan Racine:

I feel like that's a little bit more than what we had.

Mackane Vogel:

Yeah, right.

Bryan Racine:

I got three or four ground birds, some sandpipers, the killdeer, of course. So, I feel like that is a way to track, and that's only me listening here at the house. I'm not going out in the woods or out in the field.

Mackane Vogel:

Yeah, that's really cool.

Bryan Racine:

Yeah, so I feel like if they're coming here, then there's something here. I've got a lot more pollinator stuff with the cover crop. I think that's the greatest thing. I would just do that all year if I didn't have to make money. You know what I mean?

Mackane Vogel:

Well, you're obviously a busy guy, but what do you do for fun when you get some time off?

Bryan Racine:

I don't. I just cut grass when I'm not at my regular job, and here, just keeping things moving, and keeping track of the two kids and everything, chickens, growing something from other people, just that. Just all the time, it's something, just keeping the grass mowed. We've got borders. Keeping enough hay for the horses, helping the neighbor bale her hay. It's just always enough to keep you going. I mean, I think that's fun because you're making the place a little better, or you're doing something for somebody else. I don't need to do anything to have fun, per se. That's just not in my blood now. I was eight years old, farming and cutting grass all summer, so that's what life is. That is my fun, I guess you could say.

Mackane Vogel:

Yeah. What's your earliest memory of agriculture?

Bryan Racine:

The earliest memory of agriculture? Whew. I think the first time I drove our Ford. We were at our old house, and we were just bush hogging. Dad was teaching me how to use the clutch. And I remember the field off of the main road here, driving our 1066 with our crust-buster disc behind it. He just let me drive the straight parts. Tillage was the first memory. And then we had an Alice Chalmers 200, and I would get out of school, out of middle school, sick, and he'd let me go roll beans or work around or whatever to finish it up. And the dust, when you go south or east, you could barely even see your feet in front of you, but you just kept going straight, that kind of stuff. And then now, we don't even have dirt on the corn planter when we're done planting.

Mackane Vogel:

That's it for this episode of the No-Till Farmer Podcast. Stay tuned for next week, where we'll hear more from Bryan Racine and head out into the field. Well, for our entire staff here at No-Till Farmer, I'm Mackane Vogel. Thanks for listening. Keep on No-Tilling, and have a great day.