Roy Pfaltzgraff - Revitilazing Dryland Farming with Diverse Cropping Strategies

Roy and his family operate a 2200-acre dryland farm, Pfaltzgraff Farms, LLC, south of Haxtun, CO. The farm’s main focus is on increasing soil health, knowing that if the soil is taken care of, profitability and abundance will abound. Using both conventional and nonconventional methods for regenerative agriculture, they have reduced commercial chemicals and fertilizers, created a diverse cropping rotation that minimizes these inputs, and at the same time maximizing the benefits from inter-cropping and biodiversity. Roy has integrated new techniques from seeding through harvest that minimizes specialty equipment while doing everything possible to increase soil health. The efforts have started to reap rewards, and the farm produced near average yields in drought years with no loss in quality proving its ability to absorb extreme weather events that are becoming more frequent. Roy has been able to see improvements in the soil, the most notable is raising organic matter in the top ten inches of his fields from the area’s average of less than 1% to a farm average of 2.5%. With this focus on soil health the farm has become a center for research with projects ranging from pollinator strips, carbon sequestration and management, residue management, and an agrivoltaics system designed to enhance crop production. They started direct marketing of some of the farm’s products originally sold under PFZ Farms but have been spun off to Haxtun Heritage Mills which is a gluten free flour and baking mix company. These products are found online and in specialty markets. Roy’s new methods have caught the attention of others in the agricultural industry. He has been interviewed for regional and national publications, including The Furrow, DTN Progressive Farmer, Denver Business Journal, Edible Denver and the Farm Journal being called the most unconventional farmer in the United States. He has also been invited to many speaking engagements including being a featured speaker at National No-Till and a guest lecturer for HarvardX courses in soil health and has developed a marketing workbook for farmers looking to step outside of the traditional marketing system. This workbook is the foundation for Seeding Circles, an online community for like minded farmers and their families where they can learn more on becoming local food producers versus commodity growers. Roy also serves on the board of Colorado Conservation Tillage Association which is an organization that promotes soil health practices.