Carson Roberts

@rockhillsranch I'm currently doing research on the collars. They work great, but I can't justify them on my own operation. Plus, boots on the ground every day is a massive benefit.

How I'm planning to disrupt the virtual fence industry: Drawing boundaries in OnX and sending my kids out to string up polywire along said boundaries. Not really joking

I think it goes both ways. I can teach you how to profitably operate little or no fertilizer, but many farmers want the quick and easy "what do I apply to..." As an extension guy, I feel constantly stuck between giving what the farmer wants and having the more difficult conservation about what he needs.

100%. Our ag system is built to treat symptoms not cure problems. Just like a healthy patient is no longer a customer, neither is the farmer with a soil or weed issue eradicated.

As I mentioned during my general conference address Sunday morning, followers of Christ should follow Him by forgoing contention and by using the language and methods of peacemakers. In our families and other personal relationships, let us avoid what is harsh and hateful. Let us seek to be holy, like our Savior.

The more I learn about insulin resistance, the more I'm convinced that pastures and ruminant animals are essential for a healthy society. No other crops come close to providing the level of nutrition as beef, lamb, goat, bison, deer, elk, etc. However, plant breeding seems to be focusing more on producing healthier foods like high-oleic soybean oil. @BenBikmanPhD, do high-oleic soybeans move the needle at all in improving insulin resistance? Is the calorie/carbohydrate load still too high for balancing a diet? soyleic.com

USDA Report: 79% farmland owned by non-farmers share.google/4fUPfFjSaKSNu4…

I tried explaining this to a farmer recently... I've found that the innoculant salespeople are better a selling their product than I am at convincing folks that it isn't worth the $$$. It's also interesting that some of the bug in a jug products don't even have living organisms in them! 🤔

@agronomistag We are too quick to forget that SOM is not the greatest influencer of things like soil erosion, water holding capacity, infiltration, compaction, etc.

Research finds roots 2-13x more efficient, influencer says 30-50x. Why the need to exaggerate in regenerative agriculture? Open access paper on the topic: nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/np…

During one of Gabe Brown's seminars, he mentioned that if your agronomist does not know what Micorrhizal Fungi are, then you need a new agronomist. Click to listen to this month's Productive Pastures episode. Episode 13 – How to make your pastures more drought resilient - Arbuscular Micorrhizal Fungi with Heike Beucking podbean.com/eas/pb-398c5-1…

I milked cows during college in Idaho for a man who refused to hire illegal help. That's how I made it through college with zero debts. I'm eternally grateful to him for his commitment to what is right.

Listen to my latest interview with Luke Skinner on the Productive Pastures Podcast: Episode 12 – Grazing and Soil Health with Luke Skinner podbean.com/eas/pb-iq5tg-1…

Our latest article in @AgriWaterMgmt Reduced tillage + cover crops boost soil moisture & infiltration, reduce irrigation & capture more rainfall. Congrats to @roberts_crops on this great PhD dissertation output! Thanks to @CottonInc & USDA-ARS for support!doi.org/10.1016/j.agwa…

My research on cover crops and soil moisture has just been published. This research shows that biomass from cover crops or otherwise improves soil moisture during the growing season. sciencedirect.com/science/articl… A huge thank you to @DMGholson and @onlyatDREC

Good soil moisture is essential for profitable cotton production. @roberts_crops presents results from a study conducted in the Mississippi Delta to develop ways to improve soil moisture through cultural practices. Watch the webcast to learn more: planthealthexchange.org/cotton/Pages/G…

I will be joining the I-29 MOO University webinar tonight at 7pm CST. I'll be talking about the costs of making hay. You can register using the link below. Registration is free. nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%…

@YPClayConry Great conversation with @YPClayConry !

There are myriad reasons to stop making hay. @roberts_crops shared 10 of them in a recent article. He joins me to discuss those reasons, but we also discuss the practicalities of quitting hay making as well as a case study of the difference in makes in profitability.

@JRBurdick This cuts three ways: 1. Our forefathers valued land by ag output. Today? It's investment, housing, & hunting. #Mizzou research shows hunting/recreation land (think trophy deer) up 7.7% in 2025—outpacing stable cropland values. 2. Commodity prices frozen in time. Soybeans closed Nov 1985 at ~$11.20—same range last week. Inflation-adjusted, corn & beans match early-1930s levels, and real cattle prices still below the 1973 peak. 3. Inputs? Brutal. Tractor prices rose ~2× faster than CPI over 50 years. Fertilizer & crop protection up 250–300% in real dollars since the 80s. So we have two choices: Shake our fist at the sky like Tevye in Fiddler (remember, he was a dairyman too), or Take back everything we actually control—set our own prices where we can (direct sales, contracts, value-added), lock down agronomics, cut the middleman fat, and steward what God gave us. Family first—then, if the cup runs over, feed the world. Your model exemplifies this. Just think - direct marketing is becoming increasingly easy. The things you can accomplish now may not have been possible even 10 years ago. Many consumers are becoming more educated about their food - that means that you do not have to spend as much time educating your customers. Now it's a matter of figuring out how to scale. Start by asking the question: What would this business need to look like to be competitive if my model were mainstream? #FarmLife #AgTwitter #MUExtension

My great Grandpa bought his first farm in the mid 1920's He had it paid for by the end of the depression. He bought a farm in 1947 and had it paid for in 1948. He worked hard and his kids worked hard. He did it through the opportunity to MAKE money not cut costs. My wifes grandpa bought his farm in 1961. he had it paid for by 1980. 181 acres of Franklin County Iowa land. He rarely farmed more than 300 acres had a few beef cows and some hogs. He worked hard and rasied 3 kids on that land. These men had a goal of paying off there farms and living off the PRODUCTION of the land and farm livestock. They Didn't make a plan to live off asset appreciation or ever more empires built on consolidation and government handouts. Why don't young people get into agriculture today? Because they don't have the opportunities that these men did. Niether one of these men were college graduates or worldly men. They knew the Land and the livestock. They knew their community and their churches. Both of them were frugal but they were not cheap. Neither of them saw cost cutting as a means of increasing income. This is what we are losing in rural America. Opportunity. Maybe we lost it long ago. When will we ask the question of where did the opportunity go and why did we lose it? Or maybe more importantly, Who did we lose it to? The final most important question is how do we get these opportunities back for our kids? I don't have the answers and I'm begining to believe my model won't be the answer. @AdamLasch1 @untappedgrowth @MattHintz3 @DamianPMason @YPClayConry @trentloos @JoelSalatin

Newest shipment of books! Hopefully I learn something.

@ZP871 @JRcowfarmer I'd say the problem is the government paying farmers/investors/landowners to do nothing. I understand that some is grazed, but most isn't.

@roberts_crops @JRcowfarmer Is the problem CRP or is the problem quarter after quarter thru the plains getting converted to row crops the problem?Question I know I will get chastised for but CRP acres have been higher in the past and not an issue,but now with low cattle inventory and record corn acres it is

USDA accepts 1.78 Million acres into CRP in 2025. There are currently 25.8 million acres under government control. Meanwhile, US cattle inventory hits record lows. Coincidence? @JRcowfarmer fsa.usda.gov/news-events/ne…