While the operations of no-tillers Jimmy Emmons and Loran Steinlage are very different, their strategies for managing water are the same. 

On Emmons’s family farm in Leedey, Okla., 40 miles below the panhandle of Oklahoma and 35 miles from Texas, water is a precious resource. It’s an arid environment with an average of 20 inches of rainfall per year, and every decision is made with capturing moisture in mind.

Emmons manages 250 head of cattle on 6,000 acres of native rangeland. He also runs a 2,000-acre diverse cropping operation, growing wheat, soybeans, sorghum, irrigated dairy alfalfa hay, sesame, sunflowers, canola and specialty grains. 

To the north, Steinlage farms in West Union, Iowa, where 100% of his land is pattern tiled. With average annual rainfall of 36 inches, excess moisture is farmers’ biggest problem.

The Steinlage family used to run a full dairy livestock operation until a series of personal challenges necessitated a decrease in acreage from 2,500 to 750 acres. Now they grow corn, soybeans, wheat, buckwheat, rye, barley and sunflowers.

Despite the differences in operations and climate, Steinlage and Emmons have found similar solutions to opposing water problems. 

Both farmers use no-till, cover crops and relay cropping as moisture management and soil building strategies, and they call each other often to compare notes. Emmons says the biggest quality they share is their approach to water management. 

“Whether it’s raining 6 inches or 60 inches…