No-Tillers Cashing in on Direct Sales to Consumers

At this year’s 34th National No-Tillage Conference in St. Louis, I heard the real story behind a federal controversy I’ve wondered about for 10 years. This revelation came during a classroom session presented by Jonathan Lundgren. Now the operator of Blue Dasher Farms in Estelline, S.D., Lundgren gave up a career path as a USDA scientist due to unfortunate political manipulation by folks in Washington.

A half-dozen years before I concentrated my ag journalism career on no-till, I edited Massey-Ferguson’s 6-times-a-year Farm Profit magazine that circulated to 400,000 U.S. growers. This memory came up with the recent news that a western Canadia startup company (Ursa Ag) is building tractors with very little technology — selling them for half the price of today’s more advanced tractors.

In recent years, our No-Till Farmer editors have shared numerous conversations with no-tillers interested in finding new ways to expand farm income past traditional cash crop, milk and meat production. While we’ve seen many opportunities for developing a direct-to-consumer business, many growers maintain it seems like too much work.

If you’re no-tilling and seeding cover crops, you’re in a much better position to deal with higher nitrogen (N) prices than many other growers. That’s because cover crops can provide up to 100 pounds per acre of N you don’t have to buy.

No-Till Farmer Editor Frank Lessiter returned to the National No-Tillage Conference in January to moderate a thought-provoking discussion with No-Till Innovators Jim Moseley, Rodney Rulon and Lisa Holscher about the critical role farmer-to-farmer mentorship plays in the advancement of no-till, cover crops and other conservation practices.

If you ever had the chance to meet Dick Foell, you quickly realized his excitement for no-till knew no bounds. Unfortunately, Dick passed away at the age of 90 on March 1 at his home in central California. Through his journey he touched many lives with his wisdom, humor and an unwavering spirit of perseverance. He is survived by his wife of 63 years, Laraine ‘Chic’ Foell, two daughters, two sons, 12 grandchildren and 14 great grandchildren.

Relay Cropping, New No-Till Drill Among Early #Plant26 Highlights by No-Till Farmer

In this No-Till Farmer podcast, brought to you by Bio-Till Cover Crops, we’re sharing the conversations we had this week with Quality Drills and Alaska Agro about the logistics of this long haul, the no-till retrofit project, and hear more about the no-till field coming up at the farm.

On this episode of Conservation Ag Update, brought to you by Titan International, we share a key takeaway from the USDA Prospective Plantings report, and catch up with Wisconsin no-tiller Kevin Klahn to discuss his state record-breaking soybean yield.

In this No-Till Farmer podcast brought to you by Yetter Farm Equipment, Senior Editor John Dobberstein shares highlights from his interviews with several exhibitors at the Commodity Classic show in San Antonio as they discussed products, innovations and management strategies that you’ll find of interest for this coming season.