Spotlight Series
Eight Generations of Farming with a Regenerative Backbone
In the 1800s, the Reddick family began farming in western Kentucky. For eight generations, the family has been growing a variety of different crops, including corn, soybeans, wheat, canola, and sorghum, paying attention to how they’re farming in order to protect the land. Joel Reddick, his father Brad Reddick, and his grandfather represent three generations on the ground today.
“We want to take care of the land we have and do our best to enhance it from a soil health perspective so that it can be most productive,” explains Joel.
Their suite of sustainable and regenerative farming practices includes cover crops and an essentially no-till system. They also “plant green,” meaning that they plant their cash crops directly into a stand of thick, green cover crop biomass.
“Cover crops are the backbone of our regenerative system. They’re the first and best tool that we have to plant regeneratively,” says Joel.
In an area with a lot of slopes and a rainfall total of approximately 50 inches per year, water erosion poses a huge challenge to farmers in the area and is the reason the Reddicks set out to start experimenting with cover crops many years ago. However, the practice has provided them with even more benefits on top of reduced soil erosion.
“They’re a Swiss army knife because they protect the soil from erosion, they help hold and store water for later use in the summer months for our cash crops, they provide weed control, and a ton more,” Joel explains.
The Reddicks plant a diverse, large biomass, mix of cover crops, whose species total typically lands between 6 and 8 depending on their future crop goals, timing, and weather. This practice, Joel claims, has helped their cash crops be more flexible in the main season when handling the ‘weather wildcard’ that farmers are continually dealt.
Reddick Family Farms
Western Kentucky
“This land is not just for us – it’s for our future generations. We all have to take care of it today so that we have a profitable and safe tomorrow.”
Joel Reddick
Through involvement with the Illinois Corn Growers Association and Precision Conservation Management (PCM) the Reddick’s have been utilizing the Fieldprint Platform® as a tool to inform these regenerative management practices.
“It allows us to track changes in several key outcomes: energy use, greenhouse gas emissions, and soil conservation,” says Brad. “Being able to quantify changes has an essential value in recording our progress over time, as well as making farm management decisions in real-time.”
“We also use it to compare to scores within our state and local area so that we can make sure we’re being competitive,” Joel adds. “It’s really nice to have a third-party platform to quantify things that we could not do on our own.”
The Reddicks are also highly involved in their community, trying to spread the word about regenerative practices in an area that has been slow to adopt them. With a Facebook page to share their work with others, attendance at farm conferences throughout the year, involvement in local and national organizations, and more, the family encourages farmers to get involved with conservation and regenerative techniques.
“One of our goals at Reddick Farms is to connect with our community,” shares Brad. “We want to connect with others to learn more ways to improve our farming operation and share with others our farm’s successes and failures.”
“This land is not just for us – it’s for our future generations,” Joel adds. “We all have to take care of it today so that we have a profitable and safe tomorrow.”
"Cover crops are the backbone of our regenerative system. They’re the first and best tool that we have to plant regeneratively."
Joel Reddick
