Strip-till Farmer Podcast

Ben Pederson runs a 100% strip-till operation in Lake Mills, Iowa. He takes a holistic approach to strip-till and encourages out-of-the-box thinking to keep his operations on a pathway to profitability. One such example is he’s started using ion technology and the physics of thunderstorms to increase his yield potential and ROI without increasing inputs.

In this episode of the Strip-Till Farmer podcast, brought to you by SOURCE by Sound Agriculture, Jodi DeJong-Hughes an Educator with the University of Minnesota Extension gives us a preview of her lecture for the 2022 National Strip-Tillage Conference, discussing what you can do to deal with compaction in your fields, improve your soil health, make money on soil-saving practices and much more.

In this episode of the Strip-Till Farmer podcast, brought to you by SOURCE by Sound Agriculture, author Robert Paarlberg talks about the research that went into his book, his advice to commercial farmers and farm organizations about advocating for sustainability, what those groups need to do to combat the myths surrounding sustainable agriculture and more.

In this episode of the Strip-Till Farmer podcast, brought to you by SOURCE by Sound Agriculture, Indiana strip-tiller and consultant Chris Perkins introduces what to look for in a corn hybrid, shares how to develop a plan for success with corn, explains why he doesn’t believe in fall fertilizer and much more.

Soil health specialist Jim Hoorman is joining Strip-Till Farmer for an exclusive pre-conference workshop July 27 ahead of the 2022 National Strip-Tillage Conference, and he’s giving us a preview of his presentation in this episode of the Strip-Till Farmer podcast, brought to you by SOURCE by Sound Agriculture.

In today’s episode of the Strip-Till Farmer podcast, brought to you by SOURCE by Sound Agriculture, Illinois farmer Rock Katschnig talks about how strip-till has benefited his 3,500 acre operation in northwestern Illinois, the equipment he uses to strip-till, what changes he’s making this year to his fertilizer program amid an expensive fertilizer market and much more.

In this episode of the Strip-Till Farmer podcast, brought to you by Terrasym by NewLeaf Symbiotics, associate editor Sarah Hill talks with Steven Mirsky, Research Ecologist, USDA Agricultural Research Service, about adopting covers with site-specific management, how growers can quantify the benefits of cover crops, how cover crop genetics have improved in the last decade and more.

In this episode of the Strip-Till Farmer podcast, brought to you by Terrasym by NewLeaf Symbiotics, Mark Stock, co-founder of BigIron Auction Company, explains what to consider when deciding to sell your equipment, his advice for getting it ready for sale, insights on the current used ag equipment market and more.

In today’s episode of the Strip-Till Farmer podcast, brought to you by Terrasym by NewLeaf Symbiotics, Michelle Miller aka the Farm Babe, shares her advice for building your farm’s social media presence, monetizing your social media content and effecting change in your local community and beyond.

Jerry Hatfield, the retired director of the National Laboratory for Agriculture and the Environment, says farming is not rocket science. Farming, with all of its interactions and inputs, is much more complex than a physics problem. At an event held by Iowa’s Southfork Watershed Alliance, Hatfield explained how water, tillage, nutrients and weather fit into the puzzle that is today’s ecological and industrial agriculture system. In this episode of the Strip-Till Farmer podcast, brought to you by Terrasym by NewLeaf Symbiotics, Hatfield shares data indicating how strip-till increases soil organic matter, what’s an ideal water infiltration rate for soil, his advice on when you should get into carbon markets and more.

What would you do if the axle on your strip-till bar snapped in the middle of a field while you were planting? Davenport, Iowa, farmer Robb Ewoldt turned this very problem into an experiment — one that ended up proving the difference in yield that strip-till can make compared to no-till. In this episode of the Strip-Till Farmer podcast, brought to you by Terrasym by NewLeaf Symbiotics, Robb shares the bushel-per-acre results of his unintentional trial, the other lessons learned over his years of strip-tilling, how he’s incorporating cover crops on some of the 2,000 acres he farms and how he’s teaching his nearby city neighbors about conservation agriculture and soil health.

This week, we’re revisiting Strip-Till Farmer’s top 5 most played episodes of 2021 to share highlights from conversations that resonated most with other strip-tillers. Some are even among the most listened to episodes ever since we started this podcast in 2016, including our #1 episode of the year, “Biological Farming with Gary Zimmer.”

In this episode of the Strip-Till Farmer podcast, brought to you by Yetter Farm Equipment, associate editor Sarah Hill talks with Daniel Kaiser, nutrient management specialist at the University of Minnesota about the range of pH values needed for optimum crop performance, how liming works in the soil, what factors to consider when applying lime and more.

In this episode of the Strip-Till Farmer podcast, you’ll meet Iowa farmers Landon Brown (New Providence, Iowa), Chris Blome (Alden, Iowa) and Glen Hodnefield (Radcliffe, Iowa). Landon and Chris are just a few years into strip-tilling, while Glen’s been doing it for 25 years. Listen in as they discuss their successes and challenges, the equipment they’re running, their planting and fertilizing techniques, and more.

For this No-Till Farmer podcast, we caught up with Paul Mikesell, founder and CEO of Carbon Robotics, a new company that is tackling weed control with a combination of artificial intelligence and lasers. This past year, in 2021, the company released its first production units of a machine called the LaserWeeder, which has the potential to eliminate the need for herbicides or tillage for weed control.

For this Strip-Till Farmer podcast, brought to you by Yetter Farm Equipment, we chat with Wolcott, Indiana, grower Jason Federer, whose transition to 100% organic production on his 4,000-acre operation is nearly complete. Utilizing a diverse rotation that includes approximately 10 crops each year as well as cover crops, Jason is also implementing a modified strip-till system that involves planting corn between strips of alfalfa.

There are any number of reasons a farmer might adopt strip-till as a management practice — from reducing soil disturbance to targeting nutrient management to improving soil health. Independent crop consultant Dorian Gatchell of Minnesota Agricultural Services says these motives all have a common purpose: to improve plant health and therefore boost yields.

For this Strip-Till Farmer podcast, brought to you by Yetter Mfg., we chat with Jeremiah Durbin, independent crop consultant, Sustainable Legacy Consulting; soil health specialist and Tennessee Association of Conservation Districts, about those physical, chemical and biological aspects of soil health and how he uses his mechanical background to help trouble-shoot issues in the field.

In this episode of the Strip-Till Farmer podcast series, we caught up with Mike to talk about some Ecdysis research on insecticidal seed treatments and what becomes of them after planting. He’ll share some of his findings about how neonicotinoids are metabolized as well as background info on the Ecdysis Foundation and how they’re working with farmers to develop strong ecological systems that will stand the test of time.

Gary Zimmer is known as the “father” of biological farming, a system in which farmers work hand-in-hand with nature to create healthy mineralized soils to produce pest- and disease-resistant crops while reducing chemical inputs. Zimmer operates Otter Creek Organic Farm in southwestern Wisconsin, following a rotation of 1 year of corn and 1 year of soil building using a cover crop of cereal rye, alfalfa and four types of clover. For this Strip-Till Farmer podcast, we caught up with Gary to talk about his system of biological farming. He explains why he avoids disturbing what he calls the “middle zone,” where most root growth takes place. He also explains why he focuses on soil building before anything else, how feeding soils is like feeding cows, the differences between green carbon and brown carbon, why it’s important to use neutral pH fertilizers, and much more.