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John Dobberstein

John Dobberstein

John Dobberstein is the Senior Editor of No-Till Farmer, Strip-Till Farmer, and Cover Crop Strategies. He previously covered agriculture for the Tulsa World and worked for daily newspapers in Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Joseph, Mich. This is John's second stint with Lessiter Media, the previous lasting almost 13 years.

Contact: jdobberstein@lessitermedia.com
Articles

ARTICLES

5 Tips from the Field for No-Tilling ‘Green’ Successfully

Weather patterns, planter setups and termination timing can create challenges planting into living cover crops, but Matthew Griggs says it’s still possible with some attention to detail.
By John Dobberstein posted on June 9, 2018 | Posted in Seeding Practices
Humboldt, Tenn., no-tiller Matthew Griggs shared some other real-world insights about no-tilling cash crops green on his operation. Griggs no-tills cotton, cereal grains, corn and soybeans on 1,600 rolling acres in western Tennessee.
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[Podcast] Strategies for Getting Off the Starting Block with Cover Crops: Part 2

In the second part of this two-part podcast, brought to you by Montag Mfg., cover crop educator and Pennsylvania no-tiller Steve Groff concludes by sharing important insights for no-tillers who are grazing cover crops on their operation, as well tips for successfully planning and purchasing cover crop seed, and questions no-tillers should ask when identifying suitable seed suppliers.
By John Dobberstein posted on April 26, 2018 | Posted in Seeding Practices, Grazing
In the second part of this two-part podcast, brought to you by Montag Mfg., cover crop educator and Pennsylvania no-tiller Steve Groff concludes by sharing important insights for no-tillers who are grazing cover crops on their operation, as well tips for successfully planning and purchasing cover crop seed, and questions no-tillers should ask when identifying suitable seed suppliers.
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[Podcast] Strategies for Getting Off the Starting Block with Cover Crops: Part 1

In the first part of this two-part podcast, brought to you by Montag Mfg. Co., cover crop educator and Pennsylvania no-tiller Steve Groff will talk about the mindset necessary to be successful in adopting cover crops in a no-till system.
By John Dobberstein posted on April 12, 2018 | Posted in Seeding Practices, Termination
In the first part of this two-part podcast, brought to you by Montag Mfg. Co., cover crop educator and Pennsylvania no-tiller Steve Groff will talk about the mindset necessary to be successful in adopting cover crops in a no-till system.
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No-Till Transition Succeeds Step by Step

The Forkner family is bringing productivity back to gently rolling hills by adding livestock and seeding cover crops to build soil health.
By John Dobberstein posted on January 13, 2018 | Posted in Seeding Practices
No-till adoption didn’t happen overnight for the Forkner family, but after several years of seeing positive results it’s not likely they’d ever go back to conventional tillage.
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‘Soil Livestock’ Open the Tap to Increasing No-Till Production

Healthier microbial communities are key for no-tillers to utilize large pools of untapped nutrients underground and increase production without hiking input costs.
By John Dobberstein posted on November 18, 2017 | Posted in Soil Health
Nutrient-based yield theories have served agriculture for more than 150 years, but the problem, some soil scientists say, is those models were created without any concept of soil biology.
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[Podcast] Managing Annual Ryegrass in No-Till — It’s All About the Details

In this episode of the No-Till Farmer podcast, brought to you by Topcon Agriculture, we are joined by no-till consultant with Ag Conservation Solutions, Dan Towery, who discusses some of the benefits of annual ryegrass as a carbon provider and nitrogen scavenger in no-tilled soils, and the optimum seeding window for its use in the U.S.
By John Dobberstein posted on November 9, 2017 | Posted in Soil Health
In this episode of the No-Till Farmer podcast, brought to you by Topcon Agriculture, we are joined by no-till consultant with Ag Conservation Solutions, Dan Towery, who discusses some of the benefits of annual ryegrass as a carbon provider and nitrogen scavenger in no-tilled soils, and the optimum seeding window for its use in the U.S.
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The National No-Tillage Conference returns January 7-10, 2025! Build and refine your no-till system with dozens of new ideas and connections at the 33rd Annual National No-Tillage Conference in Louisville, Ky. Jan. 7-10, 2025. Experience an energizing 4-day agenda featuring inspiring general session speakers, expert-led No-Till Classrooms and collaborative No-Till Roundtables. Plus, Certified Crop Adviser credits will be offered.

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Videos

Ray McCormick’s Conservation Buffer

Ray McCormick’s Conservation Buffer

Earlier this week we paid another visit to this year’s Conservation Ag Operator Fellow, Ray McCormick in Vincennes, Ind., and one thing about Ray is that even when it’s the “off season,” he’s still thinking ahead for next season.
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