Stopping soil erosion was the driving force behind the Sylling family’s decision to switch to no-till more than two decades ago. At the time, brothers Myron and Mikal farmed in partnership with their father, Karl, on a corn-and-soybean farm in the hilly country of southeastern Minnesota, near Spring Grove.
Farmers usually plant cover crops after harvesting their main crop. This prevents erosion of the soil and nutrient leaching. The roots of these crops also stabilize the structure of the soil. It had been assumed that a mixture of different cover crops would result in particularly intensive rooting.
Some of the soils I helped farm as a child in southwestern North Dakota are probably somewhere in South Dakota now. I grew up in the era of wheat and summer fallow. A lot of the ground around here is very sandy and marginal. Did it ever blow when we were tilling. I remember as a kid getting sent with a disc or a drag to try and make it stop blowing. It seemed so futile, and it was.
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.
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.