Mike Plumer

It’s with great sadness that we report that cover crop expert and consultant Mike Plumer passed away Dec. 25, 2017.

The former University of Illinois Extension educator had been hospitalized in hopes of receiving a lung transplant next month. He was 68. Visitation and funeral arrangements can be found by clicking here. 

“Mike was a great friend of No-Till Farmer and a staunch advocate for helping farmers succeed with cover crops,” says No-Till Farmer editor Frank Lessiter. “He was a tireless teacher. He would stand in the hallways at our meeting for hours on end taking questions from farmers and helping them find answers to their cover crop challenges.

“We offer our condolences to his family, close friends and colleagues. He really gave a lot of himself to us all.”

Plumer was a frequent speaker at the National No-Tillage Conference, most recently at the 25th anniversary edition of NNTC held in St. Louis, Mo. Additionally, he was named in 2017 by No-Till Farmer editor Frank Lessiter as one of “25 No-Till Living Legends.”

Much of Plumer’s work in cover crop research was published in No-Till Farmer’s regular “What I’ve Learned from No-Tilling” feature.

Plumer was passionate not only about cover crop management, but also educating no-tillers about the differences in cover crop varieties, imploring them to avoid “Variety Not Stated” mixes at a time when few in the farming industry were discussing these nuances with covers.

“Mike will truly be missed. He was a very helpful, knowledgeable resource for us as we embarked on researching and writing articles about the growing practice of seeding cover crops,” adds senior editor John Dobberstein. “The loss of his industry knowledge will be tough to replace.”