On this edition of Conservation Ag Update, brought to you by CultivAce, Vincennes, Ind., No-Till Innovator Ray McCormick explains how he cracked the phantom yield code on his farm. Plus, fellow No-Till Innovator Rick Clark checks in from Williamsport, Ind., with a look at his soil that’s 100% no-till, 100% organic and 100% free of synthetic nutrients, herbicides, pesticides and fungicides.

In the Cover Crop Connection, Steve Groff showcases the benefits of his unique cover crop mix on his Holtwood, Pa., farm. Also in the episode, Donnellson, Iowa, strip-tiller Mark Dobson explains how he plans to seed cover crops with 360 RAIN, and in the Video of the Week, a central Illinois farmer describes the challenges of planting green into 5-foot-tall ryegrass.  

This episode of Conservation Ag Update is brought to you by CultivAce.

CultivAce is a West Coast manufacturer and distributor of a comprehensive line of foliar and starter fertilizers. CultivAce offers innovative solutions that drive agricultural crop yields and cultivate profitableoutcomes.

With a relentless focus on delivering the highest quality foliar and starter fertilizers, we are committed to empowering growers with the tools they need to achieve remarkable results. CultivAce is built on two fundamental principles: products must be the highest quality, and they must make the grower money. If a product doesn’t meet these standards, CultivAce doesn’t manufacture it.

For more information go to CultivAcegrowth.com.

 

TRANSCRIPT

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Harvest 2024: Avoiding Phantom Yield Loss

Corn harvest is about 50% done and soybeans are at 67% according to the October 13 USDA Crop Progress Report. Let’s talk about the phantom yield loss phenomenon, which is the loss of potential corn yields when some parts of a field are harvested later than others. Our Conservation Ag Operator Fellow Ray McCormick found a way to avoid phantom yield loss on his farm in southern Indiana.

“I believe phantom yield loss comes from deteriorating kernels on the ear. So, we picked a lot of really wet corn last year and it was a struggle because we have to hold all our corn on a buyer’s call. So, we’re just today — September 4 — hauling off our last load of last year’s corn. We have to hold it in the bin a long time. When you’re picking very wet corn, putting it in the bin, running it through the dryer, you’re getting more cracking up with the combine, a lot more cracking up going through the dryer, trying to reduce that much moisture out of it. We’ve never had yields like we had last year. Probably won’t this year. But last year we broke all the records on our farm, field after field after field, and we were picking it wet. We’ve got an old dryer, that’s not easy to do. But farmers might want to look into not letting it dry too much in the field and picking some wetter corn and seeing if they can’t boost yields by picking the corn wet vs. 17 or 18.”

The ‘Holy Grail’ of Soil Health

Let’s go from Vincennes, Ind., to Williamsport, Ind., where fellow No-Till Innovator Rick Clark has reached what some consider the holy grail — his 7,000 acres are 100% no-till, 100% organic and 100% free of synthetic nutrients, herbicides, pesticides and fungicides. Clark gives us a look at what his soil looks like on a late fall day.

“We put wheat in this field. This field is also going to be part of an ongoing experiment where we’re going to come back before the ground freezes and we’re going to plant yellow field peas that are cold-tolerant. Then next spring, we will harvest the wheat, and the peas together and then separate them. I think this is the future of what we’re going to be doing more and more on this farm. Look how easy the shovel goes in (the soil). The first thing off the bat we see is an earthworm. It’s just amazing what kind of soil health we’re seeing. This is almost November now and we still have this kind of earthworm activity. Look at how this soil breaks apart in your hand. It’s like cottage cheese. This is exactly what we want. There’s another worm, there’s 5 more worms. This is what it’s all about. Right here.” 

Clark says he saves about $2 million on inputs per year. You can ask him all about it during a classroom session at the 2025 National No-Tillage Conference in Louisville. The program is out. Head to NoTillConference.com to check it out and reserve your spot, and we’ll have a special preview from one of the speakers later in the show.

Make Farming Fun Again with Cover Crops & Regenerative Agriculture

Mackane Vogel here with this week’s Cover Crop Connection. No-Till Legend Steve Groff says regenerative agriculture allows him to have fun with cover crop mixes and build soil health at the same time. Here’s Groff, waist deep in his cover crop field, to tell you a little bit more about his cover crop mix of hairy vetch and black oats and his regenerative ag philosophy.

“I kind of like to grow mixes — actually grow mixes — because you can separate the seeds. The nice thing about growing mixes is, in this case here, this provides nitrogen for in this case, the grain to grow. So, I don’t need to add nitrogen. So, that’s a cost savings there. And you know, sometimes we will have some oilseed rape mixed in — the problem with that though, is it matures a little sooner and some of the seed starts falling out before we are able to harvest because it is kind of known to shatter though. That’s one thing I’ve been working with. We’ll mix some triticale in with this as well. I have a field up there where I have some triticale mixed in. The nice thing is, when you’re getting into, I’ll just say — regenerative agriculture — it’s just nice to not be tied into one method of growing stuff. It’s like, okay what’s growing well in this field this year? What can I plant this year?”

So all of those things come to mind and again — lower costs — I mean I hardly got anything into this stuff. I grow my own seed, so there’s very little seed cost. When you grow mixes like this you don’t need, generally you don’t need herbicide, you don’t need fertilizer. So, it’s kind of a fun way to farm, but you kind of have to be into that flexibility. I mean, if you want a cookie cutter way to farm — this is not for you. So, I don’t know. A lot of people say regenerative agriculture makes farming fun again and I think that, to me, is the fun part about it. So, that’s the space where I enjoy being and that’s the way I roll.”

Always lots to learn from a cover crop expert like Steve Groff. And as always, if you’d like to hear more cover crop tips, head to cover crop strategies dot com for the latest news, notes, videos, podcasts and all things cover crops.

Corn Belt Farmer Aims to Seed Cover Crops with 360 RAIN

Let’s go ahead of the curve now with Donnellson, Iowa strip-tiller Mark Dobson. He’s using the 360 RAIN autonomous irrigation and nutrient application system for the first time in his organic operation. And as he tells us here, he’s thinking about using it to seed cover crops next year.

“I’m doing part of my nutrients with it now. That kind of changes my organic world and I think in the future I will be able to seed cover crops with it during the season, so all my crops will have something growing when I’m done.”

“I did not get mine into the field until late this year, so I did not get to run it all season, but I did get to make some manure passes on my organic corn and it’s kind of incredible to be able to have access to your field from the time you plant it until harvest with not just water but nutrients. It’s going to make the research part of my head spin because there’s so many different things that I want to try and do with that I don’t know where the end of that is or isn’t.” 

Video of the Week: High Yields from Planting Green 

This one comes to us from Carl Clark on TikTok. The central Illinoisan planted soybeans into 5-foot-tall ryegrass, before terminating it with Roundup. No residuals. No post-emergence applications. He says the beans have been hard to cut and there’s some waterhemp scattered about. He thought he messed up, but let’s see what the yield monitor says.

“Our yields this year have been ranging anywhere from low 60s up to mid 80s. And this might actually be my best-looking field as we go along. I tell you what, I am kind of impressed. I normally like to move pretty quick. I don’t like the density. I have to run my head back a little bit further than I like. I hate dealing with large crops. There might be something to this cover crop. This actually looks pretty decent. Kind of a mess. This has been planted to a new cover. We had an airplane come in and do oats and radishes going to corn crop next year.”

And if you have a video or story you’d like to see on the program, shoot me an email — Nnewman@LessiterMedia.com. Thanks for tuning in, we’ll see you in a couple weeks, but before we go, let’s send it out to Marion Calmer in Alpha, Ill., for a preview of his 2025 National No-Tillage Conference presentation.

“Hi, my name is Marion Calmer and I'm excited. This year I get to speak again at the National No-Till Conference. That'll be down in Louisville, Kentucky January 7th through the 10th. And my topic this year is what I've learned in 40 years of independent on-farm research.”

“It seems like it's gone by in a hurry, but I'm excited to get to share it with you. And we're going to talk about the subjects of row spacing, nitrogen applications, populations. Obviously, we're going to talk about no-till versus strip-till versus conventional tillage.”

“And we're also going to talk about the kind of strip-till bars that people are using, like the one that's behind me, and how deep should we be putting that fertilizer in the strip. And, of course, I'm also going to take you through the learning curve that I have on stratification, which is a very rich layer of fertilizer that has accumulated over years and years of surface application of phosphorus and potassium.”

“So those are a few of the topics that we're going to discuss, and I look forward to seeing you this coming January in Louisville, Kentucky. Have a great day.”

Have an interesting photo or video from your farm? Or a story you’d like us to feature on the broadcast? Send me an email at Nnewman@lessitermedia.com.

And that will wrap things up this edition of Conservation Ag Update. Until next time, for more stories visit no-tillfarmer.com, striptillfarmer.com and covercropstrategies.com. Before we go, let’s send it out to Dave Hula for a preview of his upcoming presentation at the National Strip-Tillage Conference. Thanks for tuning in! Have a great day!