microBIOMETER® is excited to announce a new partnership with the Save Soil Foundation, a global, non-profit organization. The Save Soil Foundation (SSF) was initiated as a part of the #SaveSoil campaign which has committed to solving our planet’s desertification crisis through sustainable soil management practices.
The purpose of this collaboration is to help further the SSF’s goal through the use of our patented technology, as well as advocate for soil health. We believe this partnership will not only help SSF achieve their goal of restoring soil health worldwide, but will also help us further connect with farmers and growers from around the world. Our company’s mission has always been to provide rapid and affordable technology to help growers of all kinds easily track their soil microbial biomass and improve their soil health; and we believe that we can better achieve this mission through the help of SSF. This new relationship will allow the SSF community to better understand their soil’s microbiological health and tailor their soil management practices accordingly.
“We are thrilled to welcome microBIOMETER® as a partner in our mission to promote sustainable soil management practices,” said SSF’s Founding Member Committee. “Their expertise in soil testing and commitment to soil health aligns perfectly with our organization’s values, and we look forward to collaborating with them to advance this cause.”
microBIOMETER® celebrates this new partnership and is excited to see the impact it creates. Our hope is that together, we can better promote sustainable management practices while educating growers on the role technology can play in soil health management.
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Mike Ellis of Mt. Hope Farms
We had the pleasure of speaking to Mike Ellis of Mt. Hope Farms as he shared his experience with microBIOMETER®. We also learned a lot about his family farm in Molalla, Oregon.
“Had a great opportunity to take my new microbe test kit out for a spin. It was quick and easy to get results and gave us a great insight into where we are at today. I’ve only run a few tests but it was easy and an invaluable tool to immediately see exactly where we are at, soil microbe wise.
I plan to be using this quite frequently to evaluate how we are doing with our farm/soil stewardship goals. We plan to do testing before and after applications of a number of commonly used products on our farm so we can evaluate if each one is helping or hurting our microbes. This way if we do have to do anything that will hurt them, we can hopefully follow it with products and practices that will help them heal.” –Mike Ellis
About Mt. Hope Farms
Mt. Hope Farms is a multigenerational family farm specializing in growing unique berries such as aronia and haskap as well as table grapes and in making fruit spreads in very small batches. Mike and his wife, Laura, represent the 3rd generation farming this land. Mike grew up farming with his dad, who he still farms with, and his grandpa, until he passed away at 92 (still farming and never fully retiring). Farming is part of the Ellis DNA and even though their boys are still very young, they want nothing more than to be on a tractor or out working in the vineyard or fields. They are truly a family farm and make all decisions together.
For many years, the family farmed larger commodity crops (such as grass seed, wheat, clover seed, radish seed, etc.). While they still grow some of these, namely grass seed, clover seed, and radish seed, they have been working hard to transition over to crops that can be grown on a smaller amount of acreage (requiring less rental ground), take less large equipment and can more easily be grown according to their biological and organic farming standards, making them more sustainable. They also needed to begin switching to crops that would carry through to the next generation, crops that would prove to be long term investments. Crops like their grapes and berries are long-term crops that will still be producing once their two sons are older and ready to take over operations, if they choose to.
All of their food crops have great flavor, are highly nutritious and nutrient dense and are less common than many already found in the Willamette Valley. To achieve this requires a healthy and highly productive soil. The only way that they believe they can consistently hit their yield and quality goals is to pay close attention to the soil fertility and soil microbial health. Every generation of their family has done their best to leave the land better than they have found it, regardless of whether it was rental ground or owned ground. Prior generations did the best they could with the understanding, knowledge, and tools that they had, and Mike is beyond grateful for all that they did. Now it is their turn and they will do all that they can to continue that tradition, not just for themselves but also for generations to come.
