No-till Farmer Podcast

The number of incentive programs hitting the market to reward sustainable agricultural practices is increasing – but figuring out the how’s and the why’s of all the programs can be a daunting task. Federal incentives to lower greenhouse gas emissions could result in a windfall for no-tillers raising low-carbon corn.

On this episode of Conservation Ag Update, brought to you by Sound Agriculture, we head inside the first-ever Conversations about Conservation workshop for landowners at No-Till Innovator Mike Starkey’s farm in Brownsburg, Ind.

In this episode of the No-Till Farmer podcast, visionary farmer Michael Horsch explains how he and his family buck cultural norms on conservation practices to farm 55,000 acres in Germany and the Czech Republic.

On this episode of Conservation Ag Update, brought to you by Sound Agriculture, 4 Leopold Conservation Award recipients — Russell Hedrick, Richard Lyons, Colleen Kershaw and Wendy Mariko Johnson highlight some of the unique conservation practices on their farms.

On this episode of Conservation Ag Update, brought to you by Sound Agriculture, No-Till Innovators Allen Berry, Barry Fisher, Ray McCormick and Loran Steinlage share 4 tips for the upcoming growing season.

On this episode of Conservation Ag Update, brought to you by Sound Agriculture, young no-tillers James Hepp of Rockwell City, Iowa and Joel Reddick of Bardwell, Ky., share their opinions on what it will take for the next generation of farmers to carry the conservation torch.

In this podcast, brought to you by Yetter Farm Equipment, world renowned no-till expert and former Dakota Lakes Research Farm manager Dwayne Beck shares essential lessons learned from the early days of no-till. Description: In the second episode of this 2-part No-Till Farmer podcast, world renowned no-till expert and former Dakota Lakes Research Farm manager Dwayne Beck shares another round of essential lessons learned from the early days of no-till that can help growers turn their modern-day operation into one that is sustainable and profitable. Beck discusses the benefits of livestock integration, proper crop rotation and residue retention in regenerative no-till systems. He also covers the potential for perennial crops to further improve soil health.

In part 1 of this 2-part No-Till Farmer podcast, world renowned no-till expert and former Dakota Lakes Research Farm manager Dwayne Beck shares essential lessons learned from the early days of no-till that can help growers turn their modern-day operation into one that is sustainable and profitable. Beck focuses in this episode on the need to farm with nature instead of against it, including the need to keep residue in fields and promote ecological diversity on farms to improve resilience.

In this episode of the No-Till Farmer podcast, brought to you by Yetter Farm Equipment, we're joined by AgroLiquid CEO Nick Bancroft and Monty'd Plant Food Co. CEO Jeff Sangalli who share more insights about the integration of their two companies, new opportunities for joint technology advancement between the companies and how the companies will continue to be “farmer first” in their market approach going forward.

In the final segment of this three-part podcast series, Dennis Michelsen and Michael Musselman, hosts of the podcast Innovations in Your Fields -- powered by NewFields Ag -- interview No-Till Farmer editor Frank Lessiter and Lessiter Media President Mike Lessiter about working together as a father-son team and the importance of drafting and refining succession plans, whether it’s a farming business or any business. They also discuss the inspiration behind Frank’s newly released book – “Frankly Speaking: A Non-Whitewashed ‘First-Hand’ Account of No-Till Farming’s Rise over 50-Plus Years.”

In part two of this podcast series, Dennis Michelsen and Michael Musselman, hosts of the podcast Innovations in Your Fields -- powered by NewFields Ag -- interview No-Till Farmer editor Frank Lessiter and Lessiter Media President Mike Lessiter about the role improved corn genetics played in the growth of no-till, and the value proposition of the practice even with today’s high input costs. Frank also talks about the beginning of the National No-Till Conference, mixes in anecdotes from decades of interviews and farm visits to lend perspective.

Dennis Michelsen and Michael Musselman, hosts of the podcast Innovations in Your Fields -- powered by NewFields Ag -- interview No-Till Farmer editor Frank Lessiter and Lessiter Media President Mike Lessiter about the evolution of no-till, the founding days of No-Till Farmer, and trends and technologies that helped no-till practices grow across the U.S. They also discuss the vision behind Frank’s first book about no-till, “From Maverick to Mainstream: A History of No-Till Farming.”

We’re back this week with another conversation with No-Till Living Legend and 2024 Conservation Ag Operator Fellow Ray McCormick — this time from the cab of his truck as he’s out scouting after a heavy rainstorm in Vincennes, Ind. Today’s episode was recorded in mid-May, a day after the Vincennes area received 5 inches of rain in less than 24 hours. Let’s listen in as Ray scouts fields with No-Till Farmer contributing writer Michaela Paukner.

Dover, Minn., no-tillers Dan and Abby Fohrman raised a no-till yield of 298.95 bushels in 2023, securing them a first-place win in the National Corn Growers Association’s Minnesota no-till non-irrigated category last year. In today’s episode of the podcast, brought to you by The Andersons’ Over Pass Lineup, contributing writer Laura Barrera talks with Dan Fohrman about his contest-winning corn yield and his approach to raising high-yield no-till corn.

The problem with traditional tissue testing for crops is the lack of information about how much of a nutrient is needed to correct a problem, according to Hickory, N.C., no-tiller Russell Hedrick. In today’s episode of the podcast, brought to you by The Andersons’ Over Pass Lineup, Hedrick and Sarah Martello, CEO and co-founder of Transparency Wise Technologies, talk about Foliar Scripts and the benefits it brings for farmers.

When Muncie, Ind., farmer Joe Hamilton decided to switch from conventional tillage to no-till, everyone told him he’d be crazy to make the transition on 1,000 acres during his first year. In today’s episode of the podcast, brought to you by The Andersons’ Over Pass Lineup, Hamilton shares the lessons he learned in year 1 and beyond.

No-tillers stand to benefit from updates to the U.S. Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) tax credit. The U.S. Department of the Treasury and IRS released a notice April 30 that details an updated version of the Greenhouse Gases, Regulated Emissions and Energy Use in Transportation (GREET) model, which is used to determine CI scores of SAF feedstocks.

More than 91% of no-tillers who responded to the 2024 No-Till Operational Practices Survey use precision technologies on their farms, and many experts see no-tillers on the cutting edge of new agriculture technology like autonomy. In this episode of the podcast, brought to you by The Andersons, no-tiller Nick Guetterman of Bucyrus, Kan.; John Fulton, Ohio State University Extension ag engineer; no-tiller Joe Hamilton of Muncie, Ind.; and no-tiller Tim Norris of the “No-Till Capital of the World” Knox County, Ohio, discuss their outlook on autonomy in agriculture and the most valuable precision technologies in use on their farms.

No-Till Living Legend Ray McCormick has improved and restored thousands of acres of farmland, woodlands and wetlands in the Vincennes, Ind., area and beyond. In this episode of the podcast, brought to you by The Andersons, McCormick takes us on a tour of some of the farm and wetland projects he’s completed around Vincennes.

No-Till Living Legend Ray McCormick from Vincennes, Ind., is No-Till Farmer’s 2024 Conservation Ag Operator Fellow. The annual fellowship spotlights the real-time decision-making McCormick uses to make no-till — or never till as he calls it — work on his farm. In this episode of the No-Till Farmer podcast, brought to you by Yetter Farm Equipment, McCormick talks about how he first got involved with restoring farmland into wetlands, seeding cover crops with the combine, his planting philosophies and more.