Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1084252
critical to soil health. They form a mutualistic relationship with the roots of most plant species and help store carbon from plant roots. "It's not all do-goodism. I have lots of different motives. One of them is to stay in business. If we lose our soil, we won't be able to buy enough inputs to fix it. It's about finding ways to build soil and make a living doing it," said Steve. That's where Annika, who lives and works on the ranch with her husband and two small children, comes in. "Restoring our soil and being able to provide nutritious, high quality food to consumers is a win-win. We need a new system, one that rewards producers that are taking care of the soil and allows them to keep going. If you have healthy soil, you have healthy plants and then healthy cattle. The quality of the food is noticeable to people. Healthy soil can rise up through the system." Annika was one of the driving forces behind the formation of the Yellowstone Valley Food Hub (YVFH), a co-op of eleven local Yellowstone Valley farms and ranches that aim to get the food they raise on plates of Montanans. Fifty years ago, Montana farms and ranches once provided 70 percent of Montanan's food through local agriculture; however, that number has dwindled to less than 5 percent. The Food Hub plays middle-man between local producers and customers. The plan moving forward is to create a place for people, restaurants, schools ,and hospitals to place an order and receive fresh, local products on a regular basis. The first two food drops took place in December of 2018. "Civilization itself rests upon the soil." Thomas Jefferson farm406 22 The Charters are experimenting with a variety of regenerative agricultural practices, one of which is the use of vermiculture, the process of using compost worm castings as a soil builder. Nicole Masters, an agro-ecologist from New Zealand, stands in a trench dug in the ground on Steve Charter's ranch during a soil health seminar. Master's works with ranchers and farmers around the world teaching practices that increase soil health. Photo: Natalie Hardwicke Photo: Northern Plains Resource Council