The good thing about Cashton soils is they don’t dry out. The bad thing about Cashton soils is they don’t dry out. That’s the saying around here. It’s partly why I use cover crops like cereal rye.

We keep hitting new levels with our no-till system. There’s no stopping and it keeps farming interesting — certainly more interesting than the traditional wheat-fallow rotation we used to follow.

I'm very goal oriented. I spent 9 years working as a process engineer for ADM before our family made the move to my wife’s family farm in 2014. My corporate experience meant a lot of performance evaluations and structured goal setting, which I now apply on the farm.

The Poor Crew from Pennsylvania State University, NRCS and ARS looking to study nutrient losses in runoff left my farm very disappointed this past fall.

In 2017 the wheels came off, both literally and figuratively. First, and worst, our bank suddenly decided to not renew our operating loan.

I think readers will find our experiences with no-till to be equally foreign and familiar. Foreign in the fact that on our family farm, the horsepower that runs our field operations comes from actual draft horses. Familiar in that we've gained many benefits from making the move to no-till.

I'm a sweeper in my local curling club. It’s my job is to manipulate the ice, helping guide the stone down the perfect path to its ultimate target.

We were uncharacteristically resistant when our agronomist, Joe Nester, first brought up the idea of using cover crops. Now we’re hooked and they’re helping bring our no-till farming system to the next level.

Working smarter not harder was the leading reason my husband initially made the switch to no-till about 18 years ago.

“Lazy man's farming,” is what my Dad called no-till. It was the 1980s, and in his mind both no-till and organic farming were dirty words. They were the two extreme ends of the farming spectrum.