Living together with biodiversity

Excerpt

Mike Rupprecht has lived in the hilly Southeastern Minnesota region his entire life. His great-great grandfather settled in the valley along the bluffs of the northern reaches of the mighty Mississippi in 1854. Today, he takes the responsibility of caring for the land very seriously. “I'm entrusted with this land for a short time,” says Rupprecht humbly. “Soon, someone else will need to use this land to raise food and support a family.”

Mike and Jennifer Rupprecht produce beef, turkey, chickens, eggs, and cut flowers on a small, family farm. The first thing a visitor notices upon visiting Earth-Be-Glad Farm, is pasture broken up by countless fencerows for the rotational grazing. This keeps the animals from overgrazing any particular area. The net result is better vegetational cover on the soil, increased groundwater recharge, and reduced erosion.

The farm attracts a diversity of plants and animals. Bobolinks, meadowlarks, bluebirds, pheasant, and Hungarian partridges are among the resident bird species. To accommodate the wildlife, Rupprecht seeds different forage crops in the pastures, and avoids mowing several areas during bird nesting season.

You can find the Rupprechts' organic eggs, free-range chicken, and …