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NAME: Keith Kemp

LOCATION: West Manchester, Ohio

YEARS NO-TILLING: 30

ACRES: 1,700

CROPS: Corn, soybeans and winter wheat

No-Till fascinates me. It appeals to the part of my personality that likes a challenge.

I got my first taste of no-till more than 30 years ago. I went to some meetings on ridge-till, and the benefits of earthworms and soil life, and I just got excited.

I loved the idea of managing our soils as a living thing. They’re not just dirt, like so many people think. Those farmers just go through the motions. I like to dig in and see how our soil life is doing, and manage with that in mind.

I started small with no-till, dedicating just 100 acres to experimenting with it. I had concerns about how to manage the residue, and if I could even raise no-tilled corn.

I just kept playing with it and researching, and then row cleaners came out. We put those on the planter and went 100% no-till almost immediately. Now I’m not sure how farmers are able to farm profitably without no-tilling.

Handling Residue

We definitely had our challenges early on. Before adding row cleaners, we struggled with residue and all the issues that went with it: cold soils, wet soils, hairpinning, disease and insects. Once we got row cleaners, a lot of those problems went away.

Our Yetter row cleaners clear a 6-inch path to plant into. They help warm the soil up and get us in…