John Wicks
Tiber Ridge Organics
John Wicks farms 4,000 acres in the Golden Triangle of central Montana, a region famous for producing high-quality wheat. His land consists of dryland and small grass rangeland. John is an outspoken proponent for ecologically-appropriate agriculture and prides himself on running his grain operation without irrigation. In response to the changing agricultural landscape John has begun incorporating pulse crops and lentils into his rotations.
EQIP
Montana
Inspired by his father’s innovative farming approach, John experiments with diverse cropping methods. Over the years, he has grown wheat, barley, flax, mustard, and multi-species cover crops to boost soil health. His experiments have included adding pumpkins to his cover crop mix, although they struggled in drought conditions. John finds the process of trial and error exciting and plans to continue experimenting with new crops and techniques to enhance his farm’s productivity. Through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), John was able to bring his curiosity for innovation to life by experimenting with a new no-till method using a roller crimper to build mulch biomass.
A lot of farmers think that dryland farming is riskier than growing with irrigation. But the percent of bankruptcies off dryland operations are lower than on irrigated places, because the cost of all the electricity and infrastructure that goes into it irrigation is so high. If I had the option to get irrigation here, I wouldn’t do it, based on principles and knowing what I know now.
John Wicks
John took over the family farm after his father passed away, transitioning from college life back to managing the operation with his mother. His mother, who has experience in agricultural advocacy, continues to be involved through land ownership, while John focuses on implementing organic and regenerative agricultural practices to ensure long-term sustainability.
My goal is to reduce tillage as much as possible while keeping in mind there are many kinds of tillage. If you’re just doing deep tillage constantly, you’re destroying everything. Looking at all the different factors, it’s an important regenerative practice to take the context into consideration, and changing that up so you’re not just doing the same thing all the time.
John is an advocate for minimizing tillage and promoting practices that improve soil health and his farm is now Regenerative Organic Certified. He also finds stability through multi-year contracts with companies like Patagonia Provisions and Timeless Seeds, which share market risks with their farmers. Outside of farming, John is active in agricultural policy through organizations like the Farmers Union and Montana Organic Association, focusing on revitalizing local economies and supporting smaller farming operations. His involvement in the community extends to conservation efforts, partnerships with local farmers, and an on-farm clubhouse of sorts that help foster a strong sense of community around his farm.
