Is Organic No-Till Possible? with Rick Clark & Dan DeSutter

December 15th 2020
Rick Clark and Dan DeSutter talk about their experiences with organic no-till and some of the practices they are implementing on their own operations to make it possible.

[@ugtitto2654]

There's a lot of trial and error in organic no-till, but it's great that conversations like that are taking place.

[@marvinbaier3627]

I went a Rick Clark seminar earlier this year. It was great information and he knows what he is doing.

[@jvin248]

After watching a couple of videos of 'top corn/bean yields' that are of course all high chemical, exotic hybrids, and heavy tillage -- Regen Ag needs a similar top producer challenge for no tillage, no chemicals, no irrigation, heirloom open pollinated seed, and tracking input costs/profits. That will advance the whole Regen Ag program because farmers will have a new goal post, celebrity growers to emulate, and profit potential.

[@tomf.2274]

Great to hear this kind of farming and sharing of all you have learnt. Farmers of the future. Hats off to those willing to change their ways and produce nutrient dense food while building bio diversity, cleaning up the water and reducing soil erosion. Hopefully you see continued improvement over time and sleep easy in your success.

[@carterwaldren4035]

This is the future. Awesome.

[@CraigAgronomist]

Great ideas here: new tech inter-row crimper & inter-row mower to replace inter-row cultivators. Plus endorsements of 5 soil health principles. Plus belief in fungal -dominated soils that suppress weeds that prefer bacterial-dominated soils. Plus kudos to Dr Rick Haney TX & Dr Erin Silva WI. Plus advice on planting green into cereal rye & crimping or cripping at milk stage. Plus goal of ~ 6000 lbs/ac biomass goal to suppress weeds.

[@ryecarlson7867]

How do you go from the perennial mix or alfalfa back to small grains or winter rye cover before beans without tillage? Also would like to see the results from corn in crimped balansa clover.

[@LtColDaddy71]

You just plant right in to it. The more species you have the better. Once the cover crop peaks in maturity, they will mechanically terminate, and beans won’t. In corn, you have to time it with v1, or else the corn will take a hit from being rolled.. I’ve gotten away from the broadcasting and started treating the application of cover crops more precisely. It was neat putting air seeders on the combine, made me feel clever, but the quality of your cover crops when applied by top grade equipment pays off. I’ve never farmed conventionally. It was an inch along thing at 1st. I didn’t want to be beholden to outside factors. So I figured out how to make it work.

[@ryecarlson7867]

@@LtColDaddy71 yeah I got all that. Plant into cover crops myself and am organic, but when you have a perennial like alfalfa its not just going to let you seed a small grain into it unless you kill it somehow.

[@LtColDaddy71]

@@ryecarlson7867 I’ve been able to if it’s early spring and the alfalfa is dormant. Everybody is different though. Weather etc...

[@denniskemnitz1381]

Thanks Tom for info.could planting winter wheat into dormant alfalfa in fall possibly produce a june wheat crop in kansas. Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

[@hardcoreplayafromthehimala4888]

31:34 will that rye on the ground from seed start growing?

[@jacoblandis4535]

Often any seed would sprout in the summer and then die before fall without putting a seed head on. There are some farmers experimenting with planting winter rye and soybeans at the same time in the spring trying to get a living green cover that will die before fall.

[@hardcoreplayafromthehimala4888]

@@jacoblandis4535 once I had oats that grow to high, after storm field was flat as football field similar to this stage, seed started to emerge wery fast because hot and wet conditions. I know this is different, and beans will choke rye...

[@PandaArmy-fy5zh]

👍

[@henkhessel3651]

Yes: Cattle.

[@joeclark6043]

"better have some financial backing, before you start" For sure.

[@joeclark6043]

@@tristenkase1959 Hope it works out. People around me have been trying it for the last 12+ years without consistent success

[@vivalaleta]

Hard to believe. Are they following all the 6 steps?

[@davisbonk53]

Ricks system works if you inherit thousands of acres

[@vivalaleta]

If you aren't using the poisons how can you grow without improving the soil? No till should be a given.

[@keithberns910]

Yes, but no-till and organic are very hard to accomplish at the same time - takes much, much higher levels of management to do...when do right, it is an amazing system