Lori Cox

Roots Return Heritage Farm

Carver, Minnesota

Carver County Soil and Water Conservation District

Lori Cox owns and operates Roots Return Heritage Farm in Carver, Minn. Cox, who was born and raised in Minnesota, returned in 2014 to pursue farming after 12 years of living in Washington state. She and her family work frequently with their local conservation district, Carver County Soil and Water Conservation District.

“I’ve always been interested in how things grow and always had a garden, but I’ve become more curious about what’s going on below the soil’s surface,” said Cox. “Now, I can’t imagine making a living outside of farming.”

The Roots Return Heritage Farm produces u-pick fruit, plants continual rotation cover crops using no-till methods, and terminates by mowing. The operation consists of a fruit tree orchard, a berry orchard and table grapes. Ten percent of the main field is dedicated to Conservation Reserve Program (CRP)-supported forage for pollinators, and the fruit is planted into pasture and sloping fields, keeping the aisles in grass or planted with perennial clover. Native pollinator strips, as well as lilac and dogwood buffers, are planted around the property for wildlife benefits. As part of her integrated pest management system, Cox keeps hedgerows with woody-stemmed bushes for digging and burrowing pollinators, beneficial insects and spiders.

Because the grapes are planted on sloped field, straw and grass hay are spread in between the vines and the aisles are planted with white clover – all of which helps hold the soil in its place. Through the assistance of the local Carver County Water Management Organization, of which Cox is an advisory board member, she has installed on-site tanks to capture rainwater for use in the drip irrigation of strawberries and grapes. With this system, she’s able to capture 500 gallons of rainwater at a time and hold over 900 gallons. This system puts the water where it’s needed most and prevents erosion of the landscape.

In late 2016, Cox and Roots Return Heritage Farm received the Minnesota Ag Water Quality Certification. Through this voluntary certification program, farmers and agricultural landowners who implement and maintain approved farm management practices are certified and obtain regulatory certainty for a period of ten years.

The soil on Cox’s operation is classified as Highly Erodible Land (HEL), so planting cover crops was a priority. In her first year at the farm, Cox measured a 0.5 percent increase in organic matter from using three species of cover. The land had also been experiencing rill erosion, and a large area washed out before she had moved in. With the help of the Carver County Soil and Water Conservation District, Cox had baseline measurements of her soil profile established and examined, which enabled her to then make more efficient decisions with her operation.

Cox immediately saw the benefits of using soil health practices – erosion decreased, water infiltration and moisture retention increased, and nutrient retention improved.

The straw mulch Cox uses between the grape vines, elderberries, strawberries and raspberries helps suppress weeds, improves the soil structure, and increases both organic matter and worm compost. Cox says the rolling slopes of her fields saw these benefits immediately, but downhill and downstream experienced benefits as well, with a decrease in sediment and nutrient runoff.

With predominantly sandy loam soils and rolling topography, Cox doesn’t typically see wildflowers in the area, so she plants cover crops that also benefit pollinators. She also lets some cover crops go perennial, as she’d rather have the covers return over the weeds.

“The power of observation lets us know which areas aren’t optimal for growth, and we take care of it by not using it, applying more cover, or taking it out of production altogether. We trust the land to tell us the story of how unwell, or prosperous it is, just like our ancestors saw, too.”

Updated June 2020