No Till notes: 'Blue Dasher Farm'

Many of you may remember Dr. Jonathon Lundgren, a former entomologist with USDA-ARS in Brookings, S.D. Dr. Lundgren spoke at our Panhandle No Till Partnership winter conference a few years ago. Dr. Lundgren is a very enthusiastic and dedicated entomologist and his passion for his work shows in his presentations. Dr. Lundgren was very well-received at our conference.

Dr. Lundgren has recently left the USDA-ARS research center in Brookings, S.D., to embark on a new career which I think is going to be fascinating to watch as this new career develops. Dr. Lundgren, his wife Jenna, and several of his colleagues from ARS have struck out on their own to form Blue Dasher Farm.

Dr. Lundgren is a well-respected agro-ecologist. His research is best summed up from a quote on his website: “Lundgren’s research program focuses on assessing the ecological risk of pest management strategies and developing long-term solutions for sustainable food systems. His ecological research focuses heavily on conserving healthy biological communities within agro-ecosystems by reducing disturbance and increasing biodiversity within cropland.”

“Lundgren received the Presidential Early Career Award for Science and Engineering (the highest honor given to young scientists by the Office of the President), the Rothbart Early Career Scientist for USDA-ARS, and received the Early Career Innovation Award from the Entomological Society of America.”

Dr. Lundgren and his team have decided to start Blue Dasher Farm as a research farm “where research, education, and demonstration converge to support the regeneration of agriculture.” Dr. Lundgren and his staff intend to support their families off the profitability of their farm so they are definitely committed to making this farm work. The Blue Dasher Farm is beginning as a 50-acre working research farm in Deuel County, S.D.

Needless to say, this research farm is setting some pretty impressive goals. Dr. Lundgren’s ideas on regenerating agriculture through adding diversity and minimizing disturbance in livestock and crop production are interesting. The goal of achieving a balanced and healthy biological community to enhance the efficiencies of the farm both above and below the soil will be very interesting to follow.

I really like the systems approach Dr. Lundgren and his team are taking with this research farm. Using a systems approach, the entire ecosystem that envelopes everyone’s farm will be taken into account with their research and management decisions. The research may show directly how one management decision affects many parts of the farming operation, both positively and negatively.

Dr. Lundgren and his team are currently looking for donations to help get their farm up and running. They are well on their way to raising the funds for the initial startup of their research farm. As we all know it is difficult to generate the capital required to start and run a farm from the ground up. I would encourage everyone to visit the Blue Dasher Farm website at http://www.bluedasher.farm. Dr. Lundgren and his staff guide you through their vision of what Blue Dasher Farm hopes to achieve. I think this is going to be a very worthwhile research farm and I hope you will join me in supporting their efforts.