Growing No-till Corn, Soybeans, and Oats with Cover Crops in Southwestern Minnesota

Ben and Kristy Dwire have been working with the NRCS on EQIP and CSP projects for several years. In this video they are interviewed by Holly Hatlewick, Renville SWCD, District Administrator at their farm in Southwestern Minnesota. Ben and Kristy farm 550 acres of cropland where they grow corn and food-grade oats and soybeans. They also have 100 acres of pastureland and hay where they rotationally graze grass-fed beef. They use no-till farming practices on all their acres and grow cover crops in most of the fields. Ben talks about how using no-till farming has dramatically improved the soil health in his fields. He also discusses how using cover crops like cereal rye helps keep the water hemp down, and under-seeding red clover reduces the need for nitrogen fertilizer.
Videography be Dan Balluff
For more information about soil health agricultural practices please visit the Minnesota NRCS website at: www.nrcs.usda.gov/conservatio...
And for more videos about other NRCS conservation-related projects please visit the Minnesota NRCS KZbin channel at: / @minnesotanrcs
www.nrcs.usda.gov/
/ nrcs_mn
Time stamps:
00:00:00 Introduction to Holly Hatlewick, and Ben and Kristy Dwire
00:01:00 No-till farming and positive impacts on the soil health, labor and family
00:03:55 Minnesota Soil Health Coalition and mentorship and friendships
00:07:17 Natural prairie strips, beneficial insects, experimentation and research
00:09:59 Cover crops benefits to the soil health
00:11:00 Reduction in inputs, labor, nitrogen fertilizer, and fuel savings
00:13:20 Challenges of growing food-grade oats and health benefits
00:18:12 Direct marketing, food-grade, and quality
00:20:45 Family
00:21:03 Working with NRCS, rotational grazing of cattle, EQIP, and CSP
00:23:03 Soil Health Coalition support network
00:23:50 Many additional farmers now using no-till practices and planting green
00:25:08 Yields vs profits
#notillfarming
#covercrops
#regenerativeagriculture

[@ehrichsj]

Love it! I'd love to work with my dad to convert to this method on East Central SD ground!

[@minnesotanrcs]

Good luck!