Special Report
No-till farmer seeks practices to further soil health
In partnership with the American Soybean Association (ASA), Brownfield Ag News hosted several newsmakers and trade show exhibitors on the stage in the ASA booth during the 2018 Commodity Classic. One of the interviews featured information about the National Corn Growers Association initiative called the Soil Health Partnership (SHP).
Roger Zylstra says soil health is the next critical step on which farmers need to focus. Zylstra became a SHP cooperator hoping to see more soil improvement than he had seen with his long-time practice of no-till farming.
“By being involved using cover crops and more precise nutrient timing, we think that we can actually increase the productivity of our soils by increasing its health,” Zylstra told Brownfield Ag News on the American Soybean Association Stage at Commodity Classic in Anaheim.
Zylstra, who farms just south of I-80 in Iowa, plants rye or a mixture of rye and oats right after fall harvest.
“We get some really cold winters and it doesn’t look like there’s much out there,” said Zylstra, referring to cover crop growth that goes into dormancy in winter, “but in the spring it greens right back up and we know that that’s holding the nutrients in the soil, but also protecting from erosion.”
Jacob Ness is a SHP field manager in western Iowa and Nebraska. “I work on a daily basis with our growers,” explained Ness, also talking to Brownfield on the ASA Stage at Commodity Classic. “I just help guide them through different decisions that they make with our research plot, and adopting cover crops, no-till and different soil health practices.”
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