For readers who may not know you yet, can you introduce yourself and share a bit about your family, where you farm and ranch in Montana, and what a typical season looks like for you?
Stacy: We farm & ranch in the Golden Triangle, about an hour northeast of Great Falls. Our operation includes Rich and me, his parents, Rich’s sister and her husband, and several employees.
Rich and I have three kids, ages 11, 9, and 5. We raise small grains and pulse crops, and are a cow-calf operation. Rich manages the farm side of the operation, and his sister and brother-in-law manage the ranch side.
Rich grew up on his family’s farm, and after high school, he attended MSU and has a B.S. in Business and a Master’s of Accountancy. I grew up in Wyoming, not in agriculture, and I have a B.A. in Communication from the University of Wyoming and an M.Ed. in School Counseling from MSU-Billings.
Rich: A typical season involves planting pulse and other spring cereal crops in March through May. Monitoring and applying crop protection products where warranted to keep weed, insect, and disease pressure from injuring a healthy crop throughout the spring and early summer. Harvest begins as early as July for pea crops and stretches into early fall for later-planted chickpeas, depending on the amount of summer heat and moisture. Fall involves planting winter wheat and applying residual soil chemistry to prepare for spring pulse crops. Winter is the maintenance season for equipment and deliveries of grain to processors and end users.
Pulse crops are an important part of Montana agriculture. How do crops like peas, lentils, or chickpeas fit into your family’s operation, and what role do they play in your overall rotation?
Rich: I often call pulse crops my “tillage” in a no-till system. We still use fallow winter wheat in our rotation, and significant residue can build up, causing nutrient cycling and seed-to-soil contact issues. A pulse crop following winter wheat has proven to be a nice fit to utilize moisture stored under the residue, scavenge phosphorus in the soil, lower overall farm nitrogen use, and utilize different chemical chemistries on weeds.
This system has created improvements to our soil, the foundation of our cropping system, and we are seeing the benefits financially as a result. It has been a great journey exploring where these crops fit in our rotation and what provides the best results. It has also been a privilege growing a high-protein, healthy crop for human consumption.
From your perspective as both a producer and a storyteller, what do you think people outside of agriculture most misunderstand about pulse crops and how they are grown?
Stacy: Several months ago, I shared a post on social media about pulse crops, and a farmer in the Midwest commented that she didn’t know what a pulse crop was. I was sort of surprised by that comment. I understand that every farm raises different crops, but I assumed that most farmers were at least aware of pulse crops, even if they don’t raise them. Once I mentioned chickpeas, she knew what I was talking about. So maybe we need to continue raising awareness of what pulse crops even are.
Rich: To be fair to the average consumer, I did not know what a chickpea crop was ten years ago, so just an overall lack of awareness of what pulse crops are, what they are used for, and where they are produced would be common questions I encounter.
Pulses often show up in conversations about soil health, crop diversity, and long-term farm viability. What benefits have you personally seen from including pulse crops in your rotation?
Rich: Pulses provide an opportunity to increase equipment and labor utilization by offering two planting seasons (spring for pulses in an area that often sees only fall winter wheat planting). Pulse crops also provide a larger window for harvesting, depending on the pulse crop (peas early and chickpeas later).
In addition to the benefits mentioned above, we are specifically seeing increases in yield and protein in our winter wheat following a pulse crop. We typically plant a spring cereal following our pulse crops to rebuild standing residue, buffer erosion, and retain moisture.
Pulse crops have lowered our overall chemical costs by lowering dependence on expensive chemistries to solve problems that often arise from growing the same crop over and over. Pulse crops, chickpeas, in particular, have been a great fit and competitive advantage for our area, which is often dry in late summer. This crop is tolerant to our typical hot and dry late June and July weather, which helps keep diseases like ascochyta (crippling to chickpeas) in check.
Stepping away from the farm for a moment, what is something you love to do or think about that might surprise people who know you primarily as a farm writer or producer?
Stacy: It’s probably not too surprising to anyone who knows us, but we both love Bobcat football. Rich and I met tailgating at Cat/Griz in Missoula in 2012, and we got married the following fall. (We chose our wedding date around the Cats football schedule and fall seeding.) Other than football, I’m kind of boring. Our three kids keep me busy, but in my spare time, I love reading, growing zinnias, and working out.
Rich: While I love being in the field scouting crops, I also have a passion for the business side of agriculture, and I have found a great blend from my early days in an office as an accountant. I also enjoy fly fishing Montana’s great rivers and ponds, winter skiing, and time on the lake.
