When Loran Steinlage hears someone say, “I want to be where you are” when it comes to interseeding, he says it’s a sure sign that person is setting themselves up for failure. It takes patience and practice to set the groundwork. 

Steinlage has been tinkering with interseeding, relay cropping and other advanced farming systems on his West Union, Iowa, farm since 2006, though he would call the practices traditional, not advanced. In fact he insists on spelling interseeding ‘innerseeding,’ the spelling used in the literature from the 1800s that he used when researching the practices. 

The then strip-tiller started by interseeding cover crops — which he joked with 2021 National No-Till Conference attendees were his ‘gateway drug’ to using every inch of his soil at all times.

Steinlage was recognized as a No-Till Innovator at the conference…