INVESTING CHECKOFF DOLLARS
COVER CONTROL
A 4-inch rain in 60 minutes made Corning farmer a believer in cover crops
BY AARON PUTZE, APR
F
or those who love to farm, strong soils are at the heart of the operation. Perhaps that’s why more farm families are growing fond of planting cover crops. Count Ray Gaesser of Corning among them. “Farming is all I ever wanted to do,” he says. “To make the most of the opportunity, you need the land to work for you. “Take care of it, and it will take care of you.” Gaesser, the longtime soybean
16 | MARCH 2019 | IASOYBEANS.COM
industry leader and a 2018 candidate for Iowa’s secretary of agriculture, is an enthusiastic spokesperson for cover crops. When he and his wife Elaine began farming in 1978, so too, did their journey into conservation. They proceeded to make improvements to the land they farmed, including the installation of terraces and grassed waterways. But it was an afternoon in May 2010 that shaped their belief in expanding the use of cover crops.
“It was a defining moment for us and how we viewed conservation and what the potential was for planting more acres to cover crops,” says Gaesser. On that particular day, Ray, his wife Elaine and their son Chris peered out from their farmhouse windows as raindrops pelted the panes and water engulfed their farmstead. In less than one hour, more than 4 inches of rain had fallen on already saturated soils.
