Farmer Spotlight: Starvation Farms

Andre Rauch and his family run a wheat, dryland cereal, and barely operation called Starvation Farms. The farm is a family operation founded by Andre’s great great grandfather and passed down the family tree five generations, and growing. His grandfather named the farm during the Great Depression when the economy was struggling and times were tough all around. The time period and fact that they live in extremely dry terrain near a place called Starvation Ridge yielded the name “Starvation Farms.” The name was fitting at the time and has since stuck.

Andre’s father read about Agoro Carbon Alliance in a magazine one day; the opportunity to add a revenue stream was what initially attracted them to our program. They realized they already implemented some sustainable agricultural practices that qualify in our carbon program on parts of their land. So they felt they had a strong handle on how to transition to a wider implementation of new ag practices. Starvation Farms enrolled in the Agoro Carbon program in 2021 when they decided to convert conventional acres to no till acres.

When switching from conventional fallow to no till there is a transition period. There were operational challenges when Starvation Farms started the no tillage process: increased weed pressure and initial yield drag that took a few years to see a pay off. So why make this shift? It’s in the name of regenerative agriculture. “It can take a few years for no till to pay off. It’s a long-term payoff when switching” says Rauch. In the drylands (or as Starvation Farms like to say “farming in the Desert Since 1918”) soil moisture is a large driver in transitioning to no till.