Nature's Best Newsletter Summer 2021

SAVE THE DATE! Last Thursday in August – we will have our Annual Field Day at the Sneller Farm near Doon Iowa. 2021 will be a bit different as we are planning to combine our SPAM spring conference (which we had to cancel this year) with our Field Day. Stay tuned and and watch your mail for updates. We are looking forward to seeing you there!

FOOD WASTE Each year, 52.4 million tons of food is sent to landfill, and an additional 10.1 million tons remains unharvested at farms, totaling roughly 63 million tons of annual waste. See more information https://refed.com/downloads/ReFED Report 2016pdf

Volume 1 / Issue 2 Summer 2021

Please welcome Brett Puetz to Natures Best as a member of our Sales Team. Brent recently moved to Larchwood, Iowa.

He comes to Natures Best with several years of sales experience. Glad to have you working with us at Natures Best, and welcome, Brett!

Sales Staff Judy Majeres 712-441-6424 Cell NW Iowa Sales Dan Uphof 605-321-1862 CellSD and MN Sales Baade 402-266-1231 Cell SD, MN, and NE Sales Puetz 605-393-5610 Cell SD, MN, and NE Sales Winter 612-756-1232 Cell Minnesota Sales TeSlaa 605-370-2249 Cell Owner/Manager

Doug Brett Will Roger

Notes Soil Tests – call to schedule for one of us to come to your farm and get your soil samples for soil testing. And it is a quick turnaround time for results.

See our June 2021 Specials in this Edition!

FROM THE FARM PROGRESS AMERICAN WEBSITE

Tap here to add a caption “Max Armstrong shares that the American Farmland Trust has been sounding the alarm on lost farmland for more than 40 years. Recently the group reported that between 2001 and 2016 11 million acres of farm and ranchland were converted to urban and highly developed land use. That is about 4.1 million acres for high density use, and 4 million acres for lower density residential use. Max offers insight from the report noting that loss amounted to paving over about 2,000 acres per day.”

NATIONAL DAIRY MONTH 1937 saw the establishment of Dairy Month, a campaign to encourage people to strengthen bones and good health by drinking rich, creamy, healthful milk. A few reasons to celebrate dairy, not only in June, but all year long – dairy products like milk contain 9 essential ingredients which may help to better manage your weight, reduce blood pressure, osteoporosis, and certain cancers. Helps build and repair muscle tissue, maintain healthy skin, and a natural nutrient powerhouse. International Dairy Foods Association website.

A RECIPE FOR DAIRY MONTH !

Chocolate Pudding! A family favorite! ½ cup sugar ¼ tsp salt 1/3 cup cocoa

2 ½ cups milk 3 TBS cornstarch 1 tsp vanilla

Mix sugar, cocoa, cornstarch, and salt in saucepan. Gradually add the milk; stir until smooth. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens. Cook continuing to stir for 3 minutes longer. Add vanilla, stir until well mixed. Chill. Enjoy!

Send us a recipe that you would like to share in our newsletters!

A NOTE FROM DOUG BAADE, NATURES BEST SALES PERSON! 2021 Grain Markets Commodity grain prices continue to rally from last harvest into spring planting. Lower harvest yields combined with high export demand has lowered carryout levels for both corn and soybeans to unprecedented levels. We are rapidly approaching price levels not seen since the 2008 to 2012 crop years. History tells us these prices don’t last, however, producers have an opportunity to lock in profits for the 2021 and 2022 crop years as a result of the market upturn. All these factors provide incentive to maximize yields this growing season. Natures Best has a complete product line for insuring plant and soil health this growing season to maximize yields.

NATURES BEST LLC 311 S Main St, PO Box 325 Inwood, IA 51240 www.naturesbestllcsupply.com naturesbest@alliancecom.net

Recipient Name Street Address City, ST ZIP Code

DAIRY MONTH SPECIAL Special through June 1 until June 30 2021 only on Beef 2, Beef 6, Craftsmin, GrassMaster, 24-12, 24-8, Dry Cow, 8-16, 0-16, Udder Preme. Flo Max, Co Enhancer, Bes-Carb, NB4-DC, and NB 56 Purchase a full ton and receive $2.00 off per bag. Purchase a half ton and receive $1.00 off per bag. The product must be paid in full by June 30, 2021. Call Roger, Doug, Brett, Dan, Judy, or Virginia if you have any questions, and or would like to place an order. June 1st through June 30 only.

FARM LEGACY Farm and ranch succession planning is important. But it is also complicated! Land, equipment, equity, your own retirement! Wow, how do you even know where to begin? First you will need a team of trusted professionals, including your banker, financial planner, insurance agent, lawyer, and your CPA. Start by planning the farm transition, determining who to include in your succession plan; any asset based considerations; how to involve heirs in the transition process; using life insurance for farm succession planning; various farm succession planning resources. So much to think about!

Make sure you have a great team to work with. It is never too early to start planning.

PASTURE WEALTH – FOLLIAR FEEDING FOR EVERYONE

by Will Winter, DVM There’s a saying about rare and precious things that states “if it were easy, everyone would be doing it….” In this case we are talking about finishing livestock 100% of the way on just grass, with absolutely no need for concentrated feeds. In itself this isn’t extremely hard, actually it’s what ruminant animals try to do on their own. But what is hard is to be able to make money doing it. That requires some “special sauce”. And we have that sauce, so can you.

If everyone had the absolute top-notch “grass genetics” in their livestock, if everyone had high Brix (nutrient dense) grass in abundance, and if everyone knew how to manage the pastures with the ideal rotational grazing techniques we can say that we have achieved the Golden Combination, good livestock, good forages and good grazing techniques. Today, we are going to talk about the part of this regarding how to make the kind of grasses and forbs that you need for success.

To back up a bit, there are different ways to measure the “nutrient density” of any forage, be it stored forages, stockpiled grass for the winter, or fresh, growing green grass. Obviously, the evaluation method that delivers the most information requires sending it to the lab for a full forage analysis. An easier method, one that can be done in just a few minutes for basically zero cost, is by using a Brix Refractometer and Sap Extractor. Two instruments that can be acquired easily for very little money. Except during very dry weather, one can even use a garlic press to extract some plant juice (sap). The average pasture across America will show very low Brix levels, say 3-5 which means there’s really not much in it, e.g. it will not make you any money. Most importantly, it is missing the key plant ingredient which is sugar. That sugar is made by the chlorophyll in the living plant, in a process called photosynthesis. This alchemical process turns sunlight, water and CO2 into long-chain hydrocarbon sugars. Sugar, in plants makes their world go around. The plant uses sugar molecules as the building block to build tens of thousands of plant nutrients, pigments, protectants, hormones, growth factors and other essential elements. The plant needs to have sunlight, rain and soil minerals, and micro-nutrients to do this. When any ingredient is low or missing, nothing happens.

When the Brix level reaches at least 12 Brix, we have “fattening grass”! It’s that simple. There are a few livestock producers in all parts of the country that can stunningly hit 20-25 in the Brix of their grass! As a result, they can clip months off of the time to finish, and the animals stay healthy because these plant phytonutrients are present, and all systems are go. This is grass heaven. It can take years to get to this level, even decades, even if one is doing everything right.

Fortunately, there are natural, biological and regenerative techniques that anyone can use to get to the goal line much more quickly. Even if one is required to begin utilizing the most worn-out, toxic soil (actually dirt). This is actually most of us! Our previous generations have virtually “mined” the topsoil and were able to farm or ranch successfully, that is, until

they used up all the reserves in the soil. Then the production goes down year by year, until the yield drops to below adequate levels, the animals begin to lose their vitality and immunity to parasites and pathogens, and, alas, the farmer goes broke. A common and sad but highly preventable predicament.

The most powerful and the least expensive technique we can use is called FOLIAR FEEDING. The word “foliar” means leaf, and the technique is to feed the plant everything it needs directly through the leaf. All too often the soil, for a variety of reasons, cannot supply every essential ingredient. Foliar feeding is sort of like an I.V. drip for a sick patient. That being said, there are an infinite variety of methods of foliar feeding. Perhaps the most common is to use a tea made from the compost using a machine that extracts, oxygenates and concentrates the micro-nutrients and microbes from really good compost. The problem with this technique is that it requires both really good compost as well as the ability to make the tea. It is all really good science and it’s very affordable but it’s time consuming and, if not done properly, doesn’t deliver the desired results. To make the same simple, foolproof, and inexpensive foliar products, we can rely on buying commercial versions of existing microbe concentrates and the associated essentials. Here’s how.

Our tested and proven recipe is simple, for each acre of pasture or hay field we apply the following ingredients created exclusively by Nature’s Best, LLC: 2 ounces of CW Foliar 6 ounces of liquid humates 4 ounces of Pam & Sam CW FOLIAR is a micro-nutrient pack that assures that every essential trace mineral that is required for plant growth and rebuilding is present in adequate quantities. This is a “jump charge” or stimulant for the systems in the plant that enables it to recognize that it’s time to grow and multiply.

LIQUID HUMATES- It is impossible to list all the attributes of this liquid that is found in all deep black and rich soil, this is, in fact, what makes healthy soil black. We certainly know what happens when it is missing, there will be very few plants growing, mostly nutrient-poor weeds. But when it is present, all plant life is happy and vibrant, creating a deep green jungle of heathy and nutritious plants.

PAM & SAM- is a living cocktail of at least 18 known species of soil and plant bacteria and fungi. These vibrating organisms come out of their dormant state when mixed with nutrients and water and are exploding with energy and life.

They begin to reproduce immediately thus bringing the soil, the plants, the whole farm or ranch to life.

This mixture is then added to the cleanest and purest water that can be found. If we are applying the mixture to the plants using a boom sprayer, the most-common technique, we will mix it with 6-10 gallons of water. Prior to using the spray rig make sure that it has been cleaned out thoroughly, especially if it has had prior use with pesticides. If we are mixing it for use with a mist blaster, which is perhaps the ideal tool for foliar feeding, we only need to use about a gallon of the waterfoliar combination per acre. The spray from a mist blaster comes out as a 100 mph whirling vortex that moves the leaves and allows about 40% of the mist to land on the bottom of the leaves, which is where plant respiration takes place through the pores (stomata).

The ideal time to apply this foliar spray is shortly after a grazing period, and then it should be repeated after each grazing.

All grasses and legumes are stimulated by grazing action and the grazing along with the imprints of the hooves as well as manure and urine, causing the plant to release exudates from the root tips which in turns sends more energy upstairs to regrow. The foliar spray accentuates this internal mechanism within the plant. All rotational grazing should leave enough solar panels (leaves) for immediate regrowth, in fact, the more plant that is left, the shorter will be the required rest period between grazing.

In summary we are mimicking Mother Nature to do what plants do naturally when they grow or regrow. By adding microbes, micro-nutrients and humates, we are able to accentuate both the rebuilding of the thickness of the sward, plus we are allowing the plants to pack more nutrients, sugars, energy and Brix levels into each bite of grass or each bale of hay, or balage. There is your “special sauce” for successful grazing starting right now!

EMAIL ADDRESS! The winner in our email drawing is Courtney Sandbulte! Congratulations, Courtney!

This could be the easiest contest you ever enter! Just send us your email address and you will be entered in our next drawing. The winner will be announced in our next newsletter! ($25.00 gift). Thank you.