As soon as the first shovel delved into the ground, producers and conservationists leaned over to pick up a smidge of dirt on the Alig Farm in Okarche.
Some people worked it between their fingertips, while others held up a large chunk, looking for wormholes and other signs of soil infiltration. The ground in the field they are standing on has seen a long-term recovery.
In the barn, Jerry Alig fed wool into a machine that compressed the fiber into pellets used to fertilize the soil. Alig is a fifth-generation producer and said the farm has changed over the years.
"We used to do wheat, a little bit of barley and some milo, but primarily grazing," Alig said. "We primarily are forage producers."
This is one stop on Crossroads on the Road, Soil Health Bus Tour, which was hosted by the Oklahoma Conservation Commission and No-till on the Plains.
Producers and conservationists piled on the bus to visit sites across Oklahoma this past week to learn about conservation practices on farming operations. Aaron Sawyers, executive director of No-till on the Plains, said his organization has a history of conducting the tours in different states.
He said having fellow farmers show off conservation practices on the land in different areas helps build relationships and it encourages the adoption of the practices.
"The more networking we build. Then we send those producers home excited and they know somebody that if they're trying to change something and they're struggling, they have someone to call now," Sawyers said.
Greg Kloxin, the commission's assistant director of water quality division and soil health program director, said a benefit of the visits is hearing the unvarnished story of instilling the methods on their land.
Some farmers face barriers, such as financial constraints, when starting conversation methods on their land. He said remembering farms and businesses are important when it comes to conversation implementation.
Kloxin said the event is an opportunity to showcase innovators and how people work with the land, rather than against it.
"But at the end of the day, we have to preserve that concern for them from a conservation perspective of what's going to help them stay in business," Kloxin said.
Alig said conservation practices like cover crops not only improve the land because they create nitrogen, but also reduce the reliance on manmade products.
"We're letting Mother Nature do what it does best, is the biggest thing," Alig said.
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