A conservation success story: the Grotberg Farm

Dick and Linda Grotberg began their transition to sustainable farming largely by accident.

In 2004, the North Dakota farming couple got out of the confined-hog raising business when the often unstable hog market was strong and decided instead to buy cattle to graze their Barnes County land.

They discovered that the soil on Bethany Prairie Farm began getting all the nutrients it needed without applying chemical fertilizers, which often washed off the land into nearby rivers and streams.