Yadi Wang, a first-generation farmer and farm manager of Oatman Flats Ranch, recognizes the challenges that the hot and dry climate of the Southwest pose on producers and their soil. Under Yadi’s management, the Oatman ranch is on its way to become the first and only Regenerative Organic Certified farm in the SW region. Earning this certification requires implementing extensive practices such as planting different legumes as cover crops; minimal tillage to no-till practice; and leaving plant litters on the soil surface. Yadi is also working to improve soil fertility in the future by developing animal grazing programs and monitoring the fields using drone technology. He says he believes that long-term sustainable agriculture must be built upon the utility of digital tools and regenerative methods, so farmers can retain the fertile grounds for generations to come.

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