Peterson Brothers Committed to Conservation

When Carol Peterson passed, he left his boys Mike, Darwin, Carl and Phillip quite a challenge. Carol had 373 acres; a high-quality hill farm that has always been treated with a crop rotation of hay and graded broad-based terraces to waterways. The practices were effective but weren’t suitable to larger modern farming equipment. In the years surrounding Carol’s passing, renters attempted to modify the practices.

The boys decided to make a pact to invest every dollar back into the farm for conservation. Carl met with the Montgomery Soil and Water Conservation District and a plan was formed to treat the entire 373 acres. Since 2015, the Peterson Brothers, with the help of contractors Brian and Clayton Gay, have chipped away, planting hay to set aside land for the summer to build terraces.

To date, the brothers have installed 33,550 feet of terraces, without using cost share. On top of all their terrace building and hay rotations, they have adopted cover crops.

Carl has said many times that the land needs rest, and grass and hay is a good way to do it, especially if it gives you more time to build terraces.

When the project started, they told us they just hoped to be alive to see the project completed. The brothers are happy to say they will have the final 12,750 feet completed in the matter of a few summers, which is an amazing accomplishment.