A workshop and panel discussion, convened on August 29, 2018 as part of the ND Grasslands Policy Tour and Workshop, began with a summary of highlights of the tour by facilitator and rancher Josh Dukart of Seek First Ranch. Josh discussed lessons learned, such as:
- Let nature do the heavy lifting.
- Although agriculture may be part of the problem of soil degradation, it is also uniquely positioned to provide the solution.
- The importance of replacing inputs with management.
- Our real estate is three-dimensional (i.e., extends into the soil)
- Manage for what you WANT rather than against what you don’t want. In time, what is not desirable will wither away.
- It would be beneficial to change the conversation from “profitability versus conservation, to “profitability through conservation.”
Following Dukart, a panel convened to add