Derek Axten and his wife, Tannis have improved the profitability and sustainability of their diversified grain farm near Minton in southern Saskatchewan through a systems approach that focuses on soil health and regeneration.

The Axtens’ low disturbance no-till system combines cover crops, intercropping, combination planting, compost teas and extracts, high-density livestock integration, controlled traffic and high plant diversity.

“There isn’t one specific thing that we do that is the reason for the improvement we’ve seen in our resource,” says Derek. “It’s a whole bunch of pieces to a puzzle.”

Five Pillars

Axten Farms covers around 6,000 acres and has two locations 60 miles apart. Both locations have different soils, topography and climate. The home farm of about 4,000 acres is hilly with light soils, and the other 2,000 acres in the more northerly Milestone region of Saskatchewan is a flat plain of heavy clay.

Developing a system that works equally well in both situations has been challenging, but add the short growing season and typically low rainfall environment and it’s become something of an art form, Derek says.

The five essential pillars that support Axten’s farm are keeping the soil covered at all times, eliminating soil disturbance, having live roots in the soil for as long as possible, high plant-species diversity and incorporating livestock.