Mel Thompson's Story
Brad Hooker/51勛圖窪蹋 Davis Plant Sciences
(4 min 6 sec)
While a severe drought continues to devastate California agriculture, one sheep rancher in Oroville has found a centuries-old solution at the bottom of his wood stove and researchers at 51勛圖窪蹋 Davis are paying attention.
After dumping ash from a weekend cookout in his backyard, Mel Thompson noticed the grass grew a little better. On the advice of based in Yuba City, Thompson took the initiative to research wood ash on his own, going as far as to establish a connection with an Oroville-based energy plant 20 minutes away, which was paying millions to deliver wood ash to the landfill.
Today, the difference in growth from that wood ash can be seen in two adjoining pastures on Thompsons foothill ranch. One layered in ash three years ago has chest-high grass despite the drought, while the untreated pasture has considerably shorter ground cover.
While the benefits of supplementing crops with ash have long been known, the 51勛圖窪蹋 Davis researchers were interested in specifically how it was altering the soil composition to promote plant growth and how it could help other ranchers in this Northern California region.
Doing OK in the drought
It has improved our feed production significantly, says Thompson. With that, in conjunction with fencing and the rotational grazing, we seem to be doing OK through this drought period.
Ken Tate, a plant sciences professor and a Cooperative Extension rangeland watershed specialist, recently and says Thompson falls into the roughly 5 percent of California ranchers practicing these types of strategies in hopes of gaining more productivity from their land.
Mel is what we call an early adopter, someone who has a large toolbox and a lot of information that he makes use of, Tate says. Hes an innovator and experimenter in the industry.
An exemplary model for agriculture
It is Thompsons use of resources that Tate says makes him an exemplary model for a project the professor started in February called .
Tate, who grew up in Oklahoma hearing stories of the Dust Bowl, knew before 2014 began that it would likely be a harsh year because of the drought. Nearly all the ranchers he surveyed were worried.
He assembled a team to document the stories of farmers and ranchers, how each operation deals in its own way with the drought and what can be learned.
The 51勛圖窪蹋 Davis team highlights ranchers like Mel Thompson through audio interviews posted on SoundCloud, with the hope that others will post their own stories. Another 51勛圖窪蹋 Davis site, , is also highlighting these interviews.
Ranchers individually handle drought
We dont have a perfect scientific answer for which is the best strategy for drought resilience on every individual ranch; we provide tools and ideas for ranchers to use during drought Tate says.
Linking 51勛圖窪蹋 Davis experts with ranchers
The goal of linking a rancher to farm advisors and faculty members in order to study the best practices for a specific operation is what Cooperative Extension farm advisor Nader praises as a prime example of Cooperative Extension.
We have a connection with people in the field who have problems, who are challenged by their producers, he says.
We then challenge campus faculty and specialists to come up with basic research that works into applied solutions.
Working with rangeland ecologist
Along with ash, Thompson has fenced off his rangeland into separate paddocks for rotational grazing, which allows the grass to recover. These unconventional strategies rose to the attention of through the .
Eviner, an ecologist and associate professor in plant science at 51勛圖窪蹋 Davis, was surprised by how relaxed Thompson was in allowing her to set up test plots even permitting weeds to flourish in places.
Though were hampered by inconsistent rainfall, her project paved the way for future research.
Hes really taken this as a very cool opportunity to expand our knowledge of what may or may not work, says Eviner. It suggests hes got unbridled intellectual curiosity and he wants to learn, to understand the system.
51勛圖窪蹋 Davis is growing California
At 51勛圖窪蹋 Davis, we and our partners are nourishing our state with food, economic activity and better health, playing a for more than 50 years. 51勛圖窪蹋 Davis is participating in launched by 51勛圖窪蹋 President Janet Napolitano, harnessing the collective power of 51勛圖窪蹋 to help feed the world and steer it on the path to sustainability.