Cover Crop Grazing 101: Get Your Plan Together

Understanding livestock and soil health goals, crop rotation and soil types can help no-tillers make cover grazing a more profitable venture.

By Jim Steiert posted on July 26, 2017 | Posted in Grazing

Understanding livestock and soil health goals, crop rotation and soil types can help no-tillers make cover grazing a more profitable venture.

Reaching Beyond Equipment, Irrigation for No-Till Success

Cover crops, pollinator strips and compost are among the tools Kelly Kettner uses to improve organic matter and stretch irrigation resources on his 5,000-acre operation in the Texas Panhandle.

By Jim Steiert posted on June 11, 2016 | Posted in Soil Health

When Muleshoe, Texas, farmer Kelly Kettner decided to try no-tilling back in 2005, he expected success would depend on the equipment he used.

Reaching Beyond Equipment for No-Till Success

By Jim Steiert posted on March 9, 2016 | Posted in Soil Health

Cover crops, pollinator strips and compost are among the tools Kelly Kettner uses to improve organic matter and stretch irrigation resources on his 5,000-acre operation in the Texas Panhandle.

Translating a Garden Lesson to Profitable No-Tilling

The benefits of no-till residue are helping Lamesa, Texas, farmer Jeremy Brown realize more consistent yields as he converts more of his farm from irrigation to dryland management.

By Jim Steiert posted on July 22, 2015 | Posted in Soil Health

Jeremy Brown’s decision to adopt no-till practices stems from an important lesson from his backyard garden. Brown transplanted this idea it onto the landscape near Lamesa on the Southern High Plains of Texas, where he’s no-tilling 2,600 acres, most of it dryland farming.

Farmer Panel: Cover Crops Help Store, Rather Than Steal Plains Soil Moisture

While covers may use some water, experienced no-tillers say they build water-holding capacity in no-tilled soils, soften the impact of rain and reduce soil moisture evaporation.

By Jim Steiert posted on February 6, 2015 | Posted in Soil Health

Some growers in the Plains feel incorporating cover crops into no-till systems can’t work because covers will use up all of the available moisture needed for the following cash crop. But experienced no-tillers share what benefits they’ve seen from cover crops on their own farms.

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Cover Cropping in Integrated Farming Systems

Last week we had boots on the ground at the Big Soil Health Event in Cedar Falls, Iowa where agronomist David Kleinschmidt emphasized the importance of considering Carbon to Nitrogen ratios of cover crops and residues.

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