EMBRACING THE NO-TILL ‘GREENHOUSE’ EFFECT Written by John Dobberstein from No-Till Farmer USA and originally published in July 2018
frost-free days, and he estimates his fields have at least two dozen soil types. Steinlage used to raise continuous corn for many years, but rootworm resistance and weed issues started building up. He began working more closely with the NRCS in 2006 and since has brought soybeans and winter wheat back in the rotation. This year he replaced Roundup Ready corn and soybeans with 100% nonGMO hybrids and varieties. He also raises barley, winter wheat, cereal rye and buckwheat for cash crops, and rye and wheat for seed. Steinlage no-tills corn around April 17 at a rate of 21,000-38,000 seeds an acre, although he saw later planting dates this year with his non-GMO hybrid. PRECISION NO-TILL. West Union, Iowa, no-tiller Loran Steinlage has seen as much as a 15-bushel yield benefit in corn by interseeding it into cover crops with planters and drills he’s built or modified. Ever in search of increased productivity, Steinlage is converting his 750-acre farm to relay or “companion” cropping to take advantage of synergies from raising several crops together.
From interseeding to relay cropping to ‘engineering by inventory,’ Loran Steinlage is building a profitable, divergent no-till operation Several years ago, a trip with friends to look at greenhouses led Loran Steinlage to a Mennonite farm. It was there that he started looking at his farming practices a little differently.
and profitability.
On the Fringe Steinlage’s 750-acre farm sits in the northeast corner of Iowa in the Paleozoic plateau, on the edge of the glacial-till line. His area only sees 140
Because Steinlage variable-rates all his seed corn, using a DigiFarm RTK guidance, “we automatically get variable-rate cover crops because the covers thrive when you drop that plant population down to 21,000 to 24,000,” he says. “Where do we need the covers to be better? On the gravel knolls. We’re monitoring and seeing how fast we can gain soil organic matter on our hills.”
The farm owner had a brand new, ice-block construction house and shop and three brand new Massey Ferguson tractors. “And if you understand the Mennonite faith, they don’t borrow money, so he’s making some serious money on 20 acres,” he told attendees at the National No-Tillage Conference in January. “From that time on, I’ve really been trying to focus how we do things on our farm.” And Steinlage’s farm doesn’t look like most others in his state. Soil tests, crop yields and even infrared videos from his fields are proof enough that no-tilling, cover cropping and alternative planting systems are improving his farm’s soils
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NO-TILL HANDOFF. Non-GMO soybeans relayed near twin-row malting barley emerge in early June on Loran Steinlage’s farm. He believes relay or “companion cropping” allows for long-forgotten synergies to take place with maturing plants, noting he’s seen that on his farm with relayed soybeans and buckwheat.
ISSUE 11 | OCTOBER 2020
