Spring Farm • 2023

SPRING FARM 2023

SPRINGTIME IS CALVING TIME ON FERRARI FARM NEAR DAYTON

By LORI BERGLUND

DAYTON

—

Nothing says springtime on the farm like a newborn calf.

At the Troy and Lori Ferrari farm near Dayton, there’s more than a hundred ways to say spring as calving season brings abundant new life to the neighborhood.

Growing up in the Stratford and Pilot Mound area, Troy Ferrari says working with a cow/calf operation became second nature to him.

“It gets in your blood,” Ferrari said. “I was born into it. My dad had cows. I was raised with them.”

Located upland from the confluence of the Boone and

Des Moines rivers, the Ferrari farm is an ideal area to blend traditional crop rotation with a cow/calf operation. Fertile soils link seamlessly with both pasture and timber, making good use of the land.

“We live in an area where there is good pasture, and to utilize those pastures, cows work the best,” Ferrari said.

The cow/calf area of the farm sprawls through open pasture,

timber, trees and creeks. Corn and soybeans dominate the rest of the farm, along with suitable areas for hay to keep the cows fed and happy.

Long before he turns a wheel in the field each new year, Ferrari is busy in the barns with calving season starting in earnest in February. Heifers — the most time-consuming — go first, while the cows — more independent when it

comes to calving — usually calve in the pasture once spring arrives.

“This year we will have 65 first-calf heifers and 70 cows,” Ferrari said. “We try to keep about the same number over the years, but we’ve been doing more heifers in the last few years because I had sold some cows and it was time.”

While in the past he has kept bulls, and has done his own artificial insemination (AI), he has more recently been purchasing a number of bred heifers.

“We used to AI all of our own heifers, sometimes 50 to 150, but I’ve kind of given that up because of the time

See FERRARI, Page 3C

News photo by Lori

FRESH FEED draws a crowd (above) in the outdoor lot as Troy Ferrari and son Rylie look over part of the herd on their farm near Dayton. This year, Troy Ferrari plans to have 65 first-calf heifers and 70 cows.

-Farm

Berglund

“It gets in your blood. I was born into it. My dad had cows. I was raised with them.”

TROY FERRARI

Dayton area farmer

SPRING FARM 2023

A FIRST-GENERATION DAIRY

Iowa’s dairy farmer part of AMPI’s big cheese success

By DOUG CLOUGH

SANBORN — A mild cheddar and monterey jack cheese produced in O’Brien County by Associated Milk Producers Inc.’s (AMPI) has earned first place in the Wisconsin Cheese Makers Associations shredded-blend category.

AMPI’s entries topped nearly 2,250 contenders from 197 companies and cooperatives across 35 states in the biennial competition. AMPI was distinguished as the only dairy farmer-owned company to have two entries named to the elite group of top 20 finishers, which were announced the last week of February.

AMPI’s CEO Sheryl Meshke makes it a point to tout the Midwest as an integral part of their successful cheese making.

“When I think about what sets our cheese apart,” said Meshke, “it’s the farm families who come together as a co-op to care for the land, animals, and they jointly own the cheese making.”

Kevin and Cari Knapp, of Larchwood in

Lyon County, are one of Iowa’s dairies and part of the AMPI cooperative supplying the Sanborn facility with milk.

“We have 150 milk cows, all registered Jerseys,” said Kevin Knapp. “During the 20 years I’ve supplied AMPI with product, we’ve tried Holsteins, Guernsey, Brown Swiss, and Ayrshires as well, but we favor the Jerseys. I’ve found their milk has the highest butterfat content and protein, and they are a smaller cow that requires less feed.”

The Knapps are first-generation dairy farmers, although Kevin Knapp has experience working at an Illinois dairy, and Cari Knapp was born and raised on a dairy farm. The couple also has 200 acres of corn to provide sileage and corn for their cattle.

The Knapps married in 2002, milked in Illinois and then moved to Iowa Labor Day weekend of 2003, to the area where Cari Knapp was born and raised.

Like most modern-day dairies, the Knapp

See DAIRY, Page 2D

-Submitted photos

ABOVE: The Kevin and Cari Knapp Dairy of Larchwood is one of Iowa's dairies supplying milk to AMPI's Sanborn facility. "Our whole family is part of our dairy's success," said Kevin Knapp. The Knapp family members, in back, from left, are Erica, Angie, Kevin, Nathan and Logan; in front, from left to right, are Tara and Cari.

LEFT: Tara Knapp, 18, is seen here feeding a baby bottle calf, a chore that she shares with her sister Erica. Tara not only works with the family at the dairy, but she is also a certified nurses assistant (CNA).

WINDS OF

Ag markets eyeing potential for a new weather pattern blowing in

By KRISTIN DANLEY-GREINER

The Midwest has entered its third year of a La Nina where winter temperatures are cooler than normal in the north and drought-like conditions persist.

But indications are strong that the weather may switch to ENSO (El Nino and the Southern Oscillation) neutral from March into early summer and eventually El Nino in mid- to late summer.

“Basically we’re transitioning from larger scale weather patterns to more localized thunderstorm-driven precipitation in May and June. We’re seeing for much of the Upper Midwest, elevated probabilities of cooler than average temps in March through May, and in Iowa a slightly elevated signal for wetter than normal conditions,” said Justin Glisan, state climatologist.

Farmers will want to strongly consider planting in April if possible, when the weather likely will transition to ENSO neutral, Glisan said.

The wetter winter experienced across most of Iowa that included rainfall in February and March has led to some runoff since soils are still carrying a frost depth of 6 to 10 inches, particularly across the northern three-fourths of the state.

“We’ve seen improvements of soil profiles across southern Iowa on the drought monitor. There are still severe drought conditions in the northwest corner of the state, which reflects the longer-term precipitation deficits and drier soil profiles going back three years,” Glisan said.

“We’ve seen a slower improvement in northwest Iowa. This has to be one of the top 10 wettest winters with

a more active storm track in February.

“But the caveat is that there’s a frost level and snow pack on the ground, which helped insulate the soil and (did) not allow very deep infiltration.”

The weather outlook not only guides farmers when figuring out when to plant but also affects the markets.

Chad Hart, Iowa State

University ag economist, said there’s a 75-cent to $1 discount on old crop versus new crop and that’s a reflection of the potential for the weather pattern to change.

“We can argue that the gap we’re seeing now between an old and new crop could get larger if the long-term weather forecast plays out, because if La Nina disappears and

we see more moisture move in, then the old adage in the market ‘rain makes grain’ will bring more potential bushels entering the marketplace this fall and likely continue to widen the gap between old and new crop,” Hart said.

“I could argue that farmers in past years, particularly on the eastern side of the state, have enjoyed a droughtstressed market because they were able to produce nearrecord to record crops, so it was the best of both worlds for eastern Iowa farmers — strong yields and high prices.

“But that came at the expense of the folks in western Iowa and the Great Plains. When you look across the bulk of crops in the U.S. the past two to three years, we’ve had some incredible revenues driven by the drought stress from Mother Nature,” he added.

THE MIDWEST HAS ENTERED its third year of a La Nina where winter temperatures are cooler than normal in the north and drought-like conditions persist. But indications are strong that the weather may switch to ENSO (El Nino and the Southern Oscillation) neutral from March into early summer and eventually El Nino in mid- to late summer. BELOW: A corn field is shown in drought conditions.

Justin Glisan

“We’re seeing for much of the Upper Midwest, elevated probabilities of cooler than average temps in March through May, and in Iowa a slightly elevated signal for wetter than normal conditions.”

JUSTIN GLISAN State climatologist

SPRING FARM 2023

-Submitted photos

ABOVE: Nathan Knapp, 20, throws feed into the feed bunks for the family's dairy cattle. Nathan is working on the family dairy while earning a degree in diesel technologies at Southeast Technical Institute in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. He'll put his education to good use as he plans to continue dairying with his father after graduation.

LEFT: Angie Knapp, 16, proudly shows her awardwinning Holstein at the Lyon County Fair. Angie Knapp helps with the milking chores. Since she was in fourth grade, Angie has been in show competition at the fair in Rock Rapids.

AGRICULTURE AND COMMERCIAL SOLAR

Solar energy isn’t just for homes or commercial building. Agriculture can greatly benefit from going solar! Solar power for farms can help decrease energy costs and increase productivity

BACKUP POWER GENERATOR FOR INDUSTRIAL USE

Investigating in a backup generator is just as critical as carrying general insurance policies that cover farm buildings, production equipment and living assets.

SPRING FARM 2023

Ferrari

and space it takes,” he explained. “For genetic consistency, it’s easier for me to buy them.”

Ferrari has been very pleased with the bred heifers he has been purchasing from a ranch out of Nebraska the last few years.

“They were bred to a bull called Patriarch,” Ferrari explained. “I think he’s one of the best calving bulls I’ve seen. He’s a registered Angus.”

Taking a walk through the barn at the Ferrari farm demonstrates the quiet and easy nature that Ferrari describes in these heifers turned new moms. It’s remarkably quiet. The animals are at ease and seem undisturbed by a new visitor in their home. Two-day-old calves relax in beds of dry cornstalks, while others get up on their feet to nurse.

For a cow/calf producer, there’s nothing better than seeing those young calves standing strong at their mother’s side, and knowing where to find its dinner. That’s not always the case, but Ferrari had a very strong success rate with his first group of calves this season, losing only a set of twins out of 40 newborns.

“It went very well,” Ferrari said. “We had 40 heifers bred for one day, Feb. 23, and those 40 started on Feb. 10 and were done by Feb. 21. We had 40 calves in 10 days.”

That makes for a very busy schedule, especially in the depths of winter. Over the years, most of the family has helped in one way or another. Daughter Torrie is now a student at the College of Veterinary Medicine at Iowa State University. Jossie works as a lab tech for McFarland Clinic in Webster City. Jaynie is a radiology student at Iowa Central Community College. Son Rylie is also a student at Iowa Central and plans to transfer to Iowa State to major in finance.

Rylie Ferrari helps out when he can, but for calving season Troy Ferrari is on-call nearly non-stop.

“When we’re calving heifers, we have to look at them every two hours around the clock, and it’s just the two of us. We had 40 calves in 10 days, and it was very cold during that time, single digits.”

The hard work does not discourage Rylie, who plans to come back and farm with his father. He chose a major in

finance as a way to broaden the knowledge base already in place at the family farm.

“He’s been educated in the operations side of it,” Troy Ferrari said. “He wants to learn more about the finance side of things.”

Rylie Ferrari agrees with the need to get all the bases covered, from cleaning a calf to working

a spreadsheet.

“Farming is more of a business,” the younger Ferrari said. “It goes really well together.”

Over the years, this diversified farm of corn, soybeans and hay, has been active in most areas of the cattle market.

“In the past, we’ve fed fat calves and done a little bit of everything,” Ferrari said. “We’ve

done some backgrounding, fed cull cows, and now we’re just calving.”

The specialization works well, especially considering the laborintensive nature of heifers, in particular.

“Heifers are 10 times more work,” Ferrari said.

The 40 new calves that arrived in February each started their life

with about 30 minutes of blowdrying before they were returned to their mothers, warm and dry to help them on their way, The bred heifers out of Nebraska have been a welcome addition to the farm, according to Ferrari.

“They are usually very quiet, very good mothers,” he said. “They’ve got good udders, very uniform, and a lot of consistency in them.”

Even the heifer he picked out as the most nervous in the barn, put up no fuss as a photographer stopped by the pen for some photos. The cleanliness of the barn and the gentle nature of the stock was impressive.

Another group of heifers was busy calving in early March, and the cows will come due later in the month. While moisture may be needed for cropland, Ferrari likes to see dry lots and dry pasture as the cows begin to calve outside.

“The cows are tough,” Ferrari said. “A mature cow, if it’s in the 20s but it’s dry, those calves will be fine. Ideally, I’d like to see it in the 50s.”

The cows will calve primarily in the pasture, with Ferrari checking on them with the fourwheeler at least four times a day, and more if needed.

“The cows and heifers are a lot of work, but they’ve always been good to me,” Ferrari said. “You have to be determined, work for nothing, and go through the bad times.”

Happy cows, happy life.

-Farm News photo by Lori Berglund

A CALF FIND ITS WAY to momma for dinner at the Ferrari farm near Dayton. The Ferrari farm blends traditional crop rotation with a cow/calf operation.

“When we’re calving heifers, we have to look at them every two hours around the clock, and it’s just the two of us. We had 40 calves in 10 days, and it was very cold during that time, single digits.”

TROY FERRARI

Dayton area farmer

SPRING FARM 2023

Dairy Continued from Page 2D

always say, ‘If you’re not at the table, you’re probably on the menu.’ I much prefer being at the table, giving back and also being able to help guide decisions.”

Knapp is quick and clear to point out what’s best about dairy farming.

“It’s a great way to raise children. All our children have a work ethic second to none,” he said. “Whether they choose to use that work ethic to continue dairying or to be a nurse or pursue another career, that ethic will serve them well.”

Of course, there’s the satisfaction of contributing high-quality milk to AMPI championship cheese.

“That’s the same cheese we produce and sell to consumers every day,” said Knapp. “We’re focused on caring for cows that give quality milk for skilled cheese makers. It’s like we say at AMPI: It’s our Co-op Crafted Promise.”

AMPI is headquartered in New Ulm, Minn., and owned by dairy farm families from Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. The cooperative’s award-winning cheese, butter, and powdered dairy products are marketed to food service, retail, and food ingredient customers.

a great way to raise

All our children have a work ethic second to none. Whether they choose to use that work ethic to continue dairying or to be a nurse or pursue another career, that ethic will serve them

-Submitted photos

ABOVE: Logan Knapp, 12, is the youngest of the Kevin and Cari Knapp children. He shows Jersey cows at the Lyon County Fair, which occurs the third week in July.

RIGHT: Erica Knapp, 14, shows off her Guernseys at the Lyon County Fair in Rock Rapids. She enjoys feeding the baby bottle calves at their family's dairy. All of Kevin and Cari's children have shown their dairy cows at the fair since they were in fourth grade.

“It’s

well.”

KEVIN KNAPP

Dairy farmer

It doesn’t have to be a muddy mess with these tips

By KRISTIN DANLEY-GREINER

Between bouts of rain and snow, freezing and thawing pasture ground, calving conditions haven’t exactly been ideal this spring.

Warmer temperatures were welcome, only to be crushed by frigid temps the following day.

Mother Nature historically hasn’t made spring calving easy for farmers, but many cattle producers have found conditions to be extra muddy this year, posing problems for the newest additions to their herds.

“Muddy conditions increase the risk for hypothermia, failure of passive transfer and infectious disease of newborn calves,” said Chris Clark, beef specialist with Iowa State University Extension and Outreach.

“Wet, muddy coats do not insulate as effectively as clean, dry coats. Born into these conditions, newborns can struggle to regulate body temperature and become chilled, which can lead to weakness, lethargy and suckling issues. Pathogens thrive in muddy lot conditions and udders can easily become dirty with contaminated mud and manure.”

Because each farm has its own setup, there’s no one-sizefits-all recommendation to fix the scenario other than to make sure cows are calving in welldrained areas that are high and dry.

"Use bedding to create dry areas and layers of insulation between the animals and the wet ground, and remember to remove saturated bedding and/ or re-bed as necessary," Clark said. "Feeding on concrete or pads of packed rock or lime can create a solid base under high traffic areas that can become extremely messy.”

With higher hay prices, the next best bet would be to

use corn stalks instead, Clark recommended.

“They work well and are probably the most readily available and affordable option in Iowa. Wheat straw is a traditional option, too, but probably a little harder to find and I suppose things like wood shavings might be options as well,” he said.

Clark said calving under a roof can help by offering protection for cattle and keeping the ground drier. It also creates

a more favorable scenario for farmers.

“Additional advantages would be protection from wind and cold temperatures, which is good for producers as well as the cattle. It can be a lot more pleasant to be out there with the cattle when working inside a good calving barn as opposed to out in the cold, mud, wind, etc. Disadvantages include cost of the building, which is significant and sometimes simply prohibitive, and the

animal concentration under the roof,” Clark said. That’s because more animals under one roof boosts the risk of disease transmission among the herd, increases the risk of calf injury and compounds the manure load. “Scours, navel ill and respiratory disease would be primary concerns for young calves. Mastitis would be a concern for cows. Calves can easily get injured by cows when confined in tight quarters

and although the ground is protected from precipitation, it is now exposed to manure and urine from a lot of animals so pen conditions can still get messy,” Clark said. “Labor will be required to clean and bed regularly.”

Calving out in the open pasture or on a cover crop field means fewer animals clustered in one area, less manure piling up and a lower risk of disease

See CALVING, Page 5C

-Photo courtesy of Iowa State University Extension

BECAUSE EACH FARM has its own setup, there’s no one-size-fits-all recommendation to fix the muddy calving scenario other than to make sure cows are calving in well-drained areas that are high and dry.

Chris Clark

SPRING FARM 2023

'EXCITED FOR THE POSSIBILITIES' Meyer brings planter design to life

BY DOUG CLOUGH

HOLSTEIN — Kyle Meyer recalls, as a high school kid, his father encouraging him to use their farm’s shop equipment to “‘tear stuff apart and put it back together.”

He made trailers and built dozer blades to fit tractors to push silage.

“I enjoyed welding and designing parts that would make farming easier,” said Meyer. “I built a dozen blades after having a few prospects who were interested.”

After high school, Meyer attended Iowa State University earning an Agriculture Systems Technology degree.

“It was a good way to combine my farming background with design,” said Meyer. “The handson electrical and hydraulic labs were useful as I wanted to create my own designs and test them in the field.”

Meyer worked for an Amesarea farmer while in school and built a dozer blade for him.

After graduating from ISU in 2005, Meyer — now 39 –began his farming career two miles north and an one-eighth of a mile east of town. Farming with his father, they have grown their corn and soybean rotation to 3,000 acres.

“We typically have a field or two of alfalfa, also,” said Meyer. “There’s a good-sized dairy down the road, and we sell the feed to them. It’s a good relationship.”

Meyer’s farm acreage isn’t the only thing that’s grown, however; he married wife Dana, 33, in 2017, and the couple

have two children, Adalyn, 4, and 2-year-old Olivia.

One of the things that has remained constant for Meyer has been his love for designing equipment that makes life on the farm increasingly productive.

“For the past six years, I’ve been thinking about what an ideal planter should be like,” said Meyer. “While planters are typically anywhere from 20to 90-feet wide, I’m making a 60-foot planter, 24-row, 30-inch. I made it a goal to create something compact and efficient to travel with down the road.”

Other qualities of planterdesign importance to Meyer include:

n A short wheelbase with a narrow transport width making the planter easy to maneuver.

n Locating the seed tanks out to the wings, causing less compaction issues.

n Creating a clean toolbar design, routing hoses and wiring harnesses more efficiently.

n Reducing the hydraulic requirements from the tractor.

“Overall, I want this planter to be well-refined, so owning it will pay off for the farmer. Most planters are overloaded in the center,” said Meyer. “I wanted to alleviate this problem while also solving other common large planter problems causing strain on their components.”

Meyer, during the winter of 2020, began designing his planter with computer-aided design (CAD), making parts based on his overall goal to be compact and efficient to travel to the farmer’s field. Meyer’s CAD

drawings are now finalized, and he is building a prototype to test this spring.

“The prototype will be ready by planting season,” said Meyer.

“I’m looking forward to giving it a go in the field. It’s exciting to find out what works and what needs to be improved.”

Meyer is well-seasoned to the entrepreneurial process, having designed his patented TiltSpear Double Bale Spear for tractors and payloaders.

“The user can move bales 25% faster than with a conventional double spear,” said Meyer. “I also worked with a small startup company, Agriculture Concepts, helping design a product called Tracktill. Tracktill is designed to help eliminate pinch row compaction caused by planter and tractor wheels that can greatly reduce yields.” Yetter Farm Equipment Company purchased the license to Tracktill.

“I’ve also had several failures,” said Meyer, “and, honestly, the more I’ve gotten used to it, the better risks I’ve taken — the more I consider mistakes part of the process leading to success. If I’m not making mistakes, then I’m not working hard enough to end up with a great product.”

For now, however, Meyer is focusing on his new planter.

“I’m excited for the possibilities, what it can do not only for me, but other farmers,” said Meyer. “You’re either improving or standing still, and I prefer to move.”

-Submitted photos

KYLE MEYER (above) has always enjoyed welding and designing parts that would make farming easier. BELOW: Even in high school and college, Kyle Meyer began designing dozer blades to fit tractors.

transmission and injury. But this scenario proves to be more difficult when it comes to checking the moms, capturing the calves and assisting with births. It’s also nearly impossible to provide shelter and protection in the event of a sudden storm or a drastic drop in temperature. “Confined outdoor pens with cement or packed rock or lime as a base would obviously help prevent mud but would require bedding to create a safe, comfortable, warm environment for calving,” Clark said. “Bedding would still become saturated with manure and urine, plus would be exposed to precipitation so regular cleaning and re-bedding would be important. Cost is a factor here as well, as cement is expensive. A compromise might be to put cement under feeding areas but not necessarily under entire pens.”

If a farmer has the space available, it’s ideal to rotate cattle into cleaner, drier pens when an area becomes muddy and compounded by manure and urine. But Clark cautioned cattle producers against turning cow-calf pairs out to pasture too soon. While that helps spread out the herd and moves them into cleaner settings, it also can pose problems.

"One is that pastures may not yet be ready to graze and may be very wet themselves. This creates the risk of reducing pasture productivity by grazing too early and damaging the wet ground," Clark said. "The other problem is that newborns still arrive into a muddy and often, pathogen-contaminated environment.”

Instead, producers could consider implementing a modified Sandhills Calving System by cycling the remaining pregnant females into a new calving area instead of pasture ground inhabited by older animals.

Producers should first consider if they have enough land or pen space for this option and are able to check on the herd, capture calves and assist with births if the heifers are spread out across several pens or fields. Also critical is ensuring there’s adequate water and fencing options.

“Moving pregnant cows to a cleaner, drier environment can work well to protect newborn calves in certain situations. There should be less risk of chilled calves and dirty udders and stuff like that. And the new calving area will not be contaminated with pathogens being shed by older calves,” he said.

Cattle producers know to check their herd often, but it’s especially important when conditions are muddy. “When we are talking about things like hypothermia and failure of passive transfer, the earlier we can intervene the better,” Clark said. “Early intervention can be valuable to help calves get going and ensure colostrum consumption.”

While it’s ideal to check every hour or two, especially as cows progress during the second stage of labor, which

normally takes 30 minutes for cows and upwards of an hour for heifers, it isn’t necessarily feasible for lots of farmers.

“I’ve seen some recommendations or rules of thumb to check every three to four hours. Many producers are checking more like once or twice a day according to the NAHMS survey. There is a growing use of barn cameras that can feed surveillance video right to your TV, computer or phone. This technology can be tremendously helpful by allowing producers to keep an eye on things while doing something else or even being away from the farm,” Clark said. “It also helps with night checks — it’s much more fun to get up and quickly check the camera than to bundle up and go do a manual check every time.”

Another strategy might be to

use the Konefal feeding method to promote calving at a certain time of day, Clark suggested.

“The idea here is to feed in the evening, which promotes more calves being born during the day. Although, for producers who work day jobs, they may not gain a whole lot by promoting day calving if they are away from the farm and unable to watch and assist during those daylight hours,” Clark said.

He reminds producers that muddy conditions can beef up the energy requirements for cattle, too. More calories are burned as cattle trudge through thick and deep mud, pushing their energy requirements upward by as much as 30 percent.

“This time of year I often emphasize the importance of sufficient nutrition to support adequate body condition

score at calving and meet the increasing requirements of third trimester and early lactation, he said.

"It is critical for health and performance of cow and calf that the diet is balanced to meet the greater energy requirements of challenging environmental conditions.”

In fact, some cattle will avoid eating because they don’t want to have to exert the extra energy required to sludge through the muck and mud to reach their feed. It’s wise to manage the conditions around the feeding area and make sure a suitable path can be navigated from loafing areas to feeding areas.

"There's no question that most of these suggestions are easier said than done, but investing effort in these areas can reap great rewards with greater calf survival, health and performance," Clark said.

-Farm News file photo

CHRIS CLARK, beef specialist with Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, cautioned cattle producers against turning cow-calf pairs out to pasture too soon. While that helps spread out the herd and moves them cleaner settings, it also can pose problems. If pastures are not ready to graze, he said it creates the risk of reducing pasture productivity and damaging the wet ground.

SPRING FARM 2023

MORE ACREAGE AND BIGGER YIELDS

USDA projects record crops for corn, soybeans in 2023

By KRISTIN DANLEY-GREINER

The February commodity outlook report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture indicates an increase in corn and soybean production for 2023. That can be attributed to more acreage and a bigger yield for the corn crop and the same acreage but a better yield for soybeans.

“Either way, we’re adding to production no matter where the USDA is at right now. They’re projecting record crops for both corn and beans. They’re not outlandishly large records, but the idea is, for the most part, that we’re passing what we predicted in 2021, which was a strong production year despite the drought,” said Chad Hart, Iowa State University Extension agriculture economist.

The report indicates 15 billion bushels of corn and 4.5 billion bushels of soybeans produced in 2023. That means there will be plenty of supply when approaching this fall and harvest.

“If we do get record crops, that will lead to price erosion. The USDA right now is showing the corn price backed off from the 2022 crop, falling just barely out of the teens. We’re seeing some build-back in feed demand but not completely as in 2021. We’re showing ethanol demand flat, sweetener demand flat and a small bounceback in export demand,” Hart said.

Export demand could bump up as the weather pattern in Argentina and Brazil is falling apart. So instead of the droughtdriven La Nina, things likely will change and Argentina’s crop will bounce back, Hart indicated.

“Argentina’s suffering through a drought like we have been, but in Brazil, they’ve seen incredibly strong crops the last couple of years,” Hart said.

Andrew Wheeler, spokesperson for the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation, said the corn market continues to weaken from the recent highs set in June 2022 and currently is nearly 20 percent below that high.

“USDA projects corn exports for the current marketing year will be 22 percent less than last year and 30 percent below the levels seen two years ago, which is due in large part to strong competition in the corn export market from the Black Sea area and Brazil,” Wheeler noted.

Domestic feed demand for corn is

also down from a year ago, with USDA forecasting a 7.7 percent drop in feed demand. This is due in large part to beef production in January down 7.6 percent from a year ago and total red meat production down 2.5 percent from a year ago.

Corn use for ethanol is also forecast to decline this year by 1.5 percent, he said.

The 2022 corn crop was 1.3 billion bushels smaller than the 2021 corn crop and the relatively high prices seen during the summer and fall of 2022 are beginning to ration demand, Wheeler said. Total corn utilization for the 2022-2023 marketing year is expected to decline by more than 1 billion bushels.

“The soybean market peaked in June 2022 and after a sharp break in JulyAugust 2022 has been slowly working its way back toward the June 2022 highs as the Argentinian soybean crop withered in heat and dryness,” Wheeler indicated.

The 2022 rally in soybean prices was led by strong demand for soybean oil as soybean oil prices reached all-time highs last year. Shortly after, demand for soybean oil weakened and dropped 40 percent before finding an equilibrium price level. Whole soybean exports from the U.S. are forecast to decline by 7.8 percent this year and with Brazilian soybean harvest moving forward at a rapid pace, world and U.S. soybean prices have softened in the past week, dropping 80 cents per bushel in the past week.

Grant Kimberley, executive director of the Iowa Soybean Association, said that looking at carryover, things are still tight for soybeans unless producers see significantly higher yields with high acres for corn and beans.

“We’re not going to see a big change from what was already planted last fall. Inputs have come down a little bit recently, more so on the fertilizer side,

but are still pretty high. We aren’t seeing overly attractive price levels when we look at how expenses are, so that could be a red flag for the ag economy and farmers’ profitability,” Kimberley said. “It will be interesting to see if the recent pull back in prices does spur a little more demand.”

Larry Buss, president of the Iowa Corn Promotion Board from western Iowa, added that the weather will continue to impact crops in his area and markets.

“In my territory, after the 2022 crop season we had a root zone with zero moisture. The drainage ditches all dried up in Missouri Valley. I did excavating work on my farms in western Iowa and felt nothing in the top five feet. Since this winter, we’ve picked up probably five to six inches of moisture in the form of rain or snow,” Buss said. “We’re one of the drier parts of the state. If we transition to an El Nina, it could cost us dollars as far as getting the crop planted on time.”

-Farm News file photo

THE LATEST USDA REPORT indicates that 15 billion bushels of corn and 4.5 billion bushels of soybeans will be produced in 2023.

Chad Hart

SPRING FARM 2023

BROTHERS LOOK FORWARD TO SPRING

Farm shop makes work go smoothly

By LORI BERGLUND

DUNCOMBE — Brothers

Joe and Bill Geis have seen a lot of planting seasons together.

Through late-season snows, early springs, floods and drought, there isn’t much they haven’t worked through in a lifetime of farming in Webster County.

With their late dad Kenneth, the brothers grew up planting corn and soybeans four rows at a time, lugging bags of seed and hoping that the weather would hold to get every field planted on time.

Today, the brothers have separate farming operations but work closely together. Of course, things have changed a little. They plant corn 24 rows at a time, while the soybean planter takes a 16-row swath. Seed tenders have replaced the bags, but they still find themselves hoping every afternoon that the weather will hold so that they can get every field planted on time.

With the spring season arriving, farmers everywhere are talking about much the same things, input prices, and the weather.

“Probably our biggest concern this year is moisture,” said Bill Geis. “It’s abnormally dry. Last year it was dry going into the spring, but this year I think it’s even worse.”

While there have been plentiful snowfalls in the winter season, the moisture that is received just doesn’t get into the soil as needed, he noted.

“It all goes down the river,” Bill Geis said.

While dry, the 2022 season was not a bad one for the Geis brothers.

“Yields last year were average,” Bill Geis said. “They weren’t great, but they were pretty good.”

In 2022, the brothers finished planting both corn and soybeans in the first two weeks of May.

See GEIS, Page 8D

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-Farm News photo by Lori Berglund

BROTHERS BILL AND JOE GEIS work together in the spring to get equipment ready for planting.

SPRING FARM 2023

New varieties for 2023 include short stature corn; tar spot resistance ratings available

By KRISTIN

DANLEY-GREINER

Seed companies roll out new technology and traits often, with one emerging this season that could be of interest to Iowa growers.

Alison Robertson, Iowa State University Extension field pathologist, said some companies will have ratings for tar spot resistance that will offer growers more information. All commercially available corn hybrids are susceptible to tar spot, but some are more tolerant than others. In fact, in just 10 to 14 days, a crop can be completely wiped out by tar spot.

Ratings are set by seed company agronomists who study the hybrids at research plots across the Corn Belt where tar spot is

Clare, Iowa

Owner / Operator

Joe Martin

prevalent. Based on their findings, the hybrids then are rated accordingly.

Mark Licht, Iowa State University Extension cropping systems specialist, said there are companies working on nitrogen use efficiency and drought tolerance in seed varieties.

“The biggest thing coming out is short stature corn from Bayer. I haven’t worked with this yet but have a couple trials slated for this summer,” Licht said.

Short stature corn hybrids have been developed to be shorter than standard-height corn hybrids — one-third shorter to be exact.

According to Bayer, short stature corn has been genetically altered to have stronger stalks due to the reduced height, which are less likely to break or fall over in high winds. The shorter plants also make corn fields more accessible to standard ground equipment longer into the season.

Other benefits of short stature corn as part of the “smart corn system,” according to Bayer, include fewer growing risks, the use of more precise inputs and the ability to grow more corn from the same size acreage.

Brian Leake, spokesperson for Bayer, noted that the emerging technology is “critically needed for our ability to feed 10 billion people on the planet by 2050.”

Soybean cyst nematodes could become a thing of the past with BASF’s new Bt soybean trait.

However, growers will have to wait until the

end of the decade to see it materialize. The trait, GMB151, could become the first Bt soybean in the U.S. market and the first BT protein to target SCN.

Soybean cyst nematode infestations can cause poor stands, stunted plants, yellow foliage and low soybean yields. Losses can range from 5 to 90 percent of the yield potential.

For the 2023 growing season, NK Seeds unveiled 64 products that span maturity groups and trait packages, including 29 NK corn hybrids, 28 NK soybean varieties and

seven Enogen hybrids.

The DEKALB brand launched 29 new products spanning the 75 to 120 relative maturity geographies. AgriGold will bring 15 new corn hybrids with 21 new trait additions on new and proven hybrids as well as 35 new soybean varieties to the market in 2023.

LG Seeds will deliver 19 new corn hybrids and 23 new soybean varieties to the market in 2023.

The 2023 class from Pioneer includes 44 new exclusive corn products and 36 new soybean varieties.

-Photo courtesy of Bayer

ACCORDING

TO BAYER, short stature corn has been genetically altered to have stronger stalks due to the reduced height, which are less likely to break or fall over in high winds. The shorter plants also make corn fields more accessible to standard ground equipment longer into the season.

“The biggest thing coming out is short stature corn from Bayer. I haven't worked with this yet but have a couple trials slated for this summer.”

MARK LICHT

ISU Extension cropping systems specialist

Alison Robertson

By KRISTIN DANLEY-GREINER

The U.S. cow herd size likely will shrink in 2023 due in part to a loss of pasture ground from drought conditions, while the pig herd may bump up slightly.

According to Chad Hart, Iowa State University ag economist, the cow herd has been growing smaller the last couple of years with producers taking a lot of heifers to town instead of keeping them on the farm.

The breeding herd has dropped in size, too, and will continue to shrink through 2023, he noted.

On the hog side, the industry

isn’t growing or shrinking, but rather treading water, Hart said.

“Right now, cattle prices are marching higher as we move through 2023 because of the smaller herd size. We won’t see the hog herd start rebuilding until pasture and range land in the Great Plains are ready to support that,” Hart said. “So we’ll see stronger prices across the board looking at feeder and fed cattle. But when it comes to the hog producers, they’re likely going to see lower prices.”

Domestic demand still seems strong even with some issues internationally. There was a sizable drop in export sales

last year for pork compared to 2021, but sales were on par with last year.

“I wouldn’t call it bad, but I wouldn’t call it great. The problem is we built up the hog herd based on increased exports of 2020 to 2021 that’s leading to downward price pressure in the hog industry,” Hart said. “Cattle has had a strong export demand through 2022, but that weakened at the end of the year, falling back toward the average. We’re seeing a little bit of weakness given export demand for cattle, and that’s not really hurting cattle prices nearly as much.”

While high feed costs likely will subside slightly, other input costs are still going up with inflation.

“We are seeing some of the highest costs on the livestock side the industry has ever faced,” Hart said. “They will get some feed price release, especially as we move into 2023. But it’s still going to be a higher cost industry now than ever before,” Hart said.

Andrew Wheeler with the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation added that live cattle prices have been trending upward for the past nine months and are trading near the highest levels

seen in the past ,five years. In fact, beef production in January and February of 2023 was 7.6 percent below year-ago levels, and the January cattle inventory report indicated that beef cow numbers in the U.S. were down 4 percent from yearago levels. As grain prices work their way lower, feeder cattle prices are moving higher and this could stimulate some increased retention of heifers for next year’s breeding herd, but in the shortterm that reduces beef supplies even more, Wheeler noted.

SPRING FARM 2023

How much is soil erosion costing you?

By DARCY DOUGHERTY MAULSBY

Remember that blizzard that hit many parts of Iowa right before Christmas 2022? Those sustained, howling winds are gone, but evidence of the damage remains in the form of snirt (a mix of snow and dirt), from ditches to yards.

“Erosion happens a lot faster when intense weather events occur,” said Angie RieckHinz, an Iowa State University Extension field agronomist in north-central Iowa. “Soil degradation is happening in Iowa, and we need to slow this process down.”

There is a cost to soil erosion — and it can be high.

Ever wonder how much money is in the ditch in the form of snirt?

So did Jodi DeJong-Hughes,

Angie Rieck-Hinz

a regional educator with the University of Minnesota Extension who specializes in tillage systems, soil compaction and improving soil health.

Nearly a decade ago, DeJongHughes sampled snirt in the ditch along state Highway 40 in western Minnesota. Laboratory analysis and math revealed that on a per-acre basis, fields were losing $82 to $96 worth of nutrients (including nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium).

Given today’s fertilizer prices, those dollar amounts would be substantially higher, Rieck-Hinz said.

Those numbers don’t tell

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the whole story, though. The snirt was not analyzed for other valuable plant minerals or organic matter content in the snirt. Even if snirt ends up in a different part of the field, rather than a road ditch or yard, it affects the field’s productivity, Rieck-Hinz said.

Topsoil that’s eroded off a slope has a much bigger negative impact on crop production than the accumulation of eroded topsoil on downslope areas, which likely have more-than-adequate topsoil to produce crops.

If that weren’t enough, soil that’s eroded by wind or water can also end up in Iowa’s waterways, where it adds sediment and excess nutrients (including phosphorus) that degrade water quality.

See EROSION, Page 10C

515-532-2444

CLARION 1501 Central Ave. East 515-532-2444

HAMPTON 1291 Olive StreetAve. 641-456-3573

-Farm News photo by Darcy Dougherty Maulsby EVER SINCE THE BLIZZARD that hit many parts of Iowa right before Christmas 2022, snirt (a mix of snow and dirt) has been a common sight, from ditches to yards.

SPRING FARM 2023

Geis

Continued from Page 6D

This year, they hope to get both crops in the ground a little sooner.

“In a normal year, we like to be done with corn in April, and with beans the first week of May, usually,” Bill Geis said.

While there is a growing trend that sees some farmers planting soybeans before corn, these brothers concentrate on both commodities at the same time. They run two planters, one with corn, one with soybeans, and just keep going from field to field as soil conditions and weather allow.

“Our biggest challenge is finding the help,” said Joe Geis. “We just need enough bodies to do everything.”

Part-time help is used to deliver seed and just help out with any jobs that keep the planters rolling. Their brother, Dave Geis, who is retired from an off-farm job, helps when possible, and they also have a few others that work as needed.

One thing that hasn’t changed is their crop rotation plan. They’ve never been too tempted

Livestock

by the idea of going all-corn, mainly out of concerns for plant health.

“There’s too much risk of disease, root worm and other things like that,” said Joe Geis.

Technology, the brothers agree, is the biggest change they have seen in more than four decades of farming. Such things as auto-steer and seed monitors may seem to make the job easier, but it’s an ever-changing challenge to just keep up.

“The technology is great when it’s working. When it breaks down, you have to call somebody,” Joe Geis said. “We didn’t grow up with it, so we struggle sometimes.”

When it comes to routine farm maintenance, the brothers work together in a spacious shop that is also a bit of a neighborhood gathering place. Early March has seen them busy with maintenance on semi-trailers and getting them ready for hauling water when it comes time to spray. The shop is designed in three separate areas, including an office, equipment maintenance, and cold storage.

Continued from Page

It is possible that cattle prices during 2023 will continue to run higher than prices seen in 2022 and support higher retail beef prices in the supermarkets, he pointed out. The cattle cycle is likely at a turning point this year with liquidation likely ending early in 2023 and some slight expansion of the cow herd likely to be seen in the January 2024 report.

Hog inventory numbers in the December 2022 quarterly report were down 1 percent from a year ago and 2 percent less than two years ago, Wheeler explained. But the breeding herd was up slightly compared to last year and it is expected that U.S. pork production in 2023 will be slightly greater (1.5 percent) than it was in 2022.

By the fourth quarter of 2023, pork production is forecast to be 4 percent greater than it was in the fourth quarter of 2022, he said.

Hog prices are currently 15 percent lower than they were last year.

For the year, USDA forecasts hog prices to be 6.7 percent less than they were in 2022.

“Exports are doing OK

The shop is a good place for neighboring farmers to stop in, visit about the weather, inputs and commodity prices.

“No one is happy about prices,” Bill Geis said. “I hope the price we’re paying for things goes down, but we’re used to it at this point and we just have to pencil it into the budget. It’s nothing new.”

“You can’t change it,” Joe Geis agreed.

The brothers also agree on perhaps the biggest advancement they have seen in their decades on the farm. In their farming careers the brothers have seen new tractors that are so much easier to drive, hybrids that perform better than ever, and yet they have a simple answer for what has made life better for farmers.

“Air conditioning,” the brothers readily agree. And for anyone who grew up sweating under a blazing hot sun or stuck in a stuffy cab, it’s easy to say that the comfort of a little cool air on a hot summer day should never be under-estimated.

like high costs of construction and uncertainty of production costs will slow significant growth of the breeding herd.”

Mike Anderson, executive director of the Iowa Beef Industry Council, noted that on the beef side, another record was set for exports, with Japan as the No. 1 exporter and South Korea as No. 2. China is No. 3 but demand there has been skyrocketing, he said.

these past few months. Mexico and Korea have seen growth. China, Hong Kong and Japan have seen some decline over the past few months. The picture for exports is still bright, but with the current strength of the

dollar, it will see modest gains,” added Pat McGonegle, chief executive officer of the Iowa Pork Producers Association.

“According to the USDA pig crop report, expansion of the herd will be tempered. Issues

“An Iowa contingency just came back from a weeklong trip that was amazing. The demand is high in those countries. We went to really neat grocery stores and a Costco. There were huge banners and displays about premium pork and prime beef, so they really do view our meat as a high-end product, a premier product, which is awesome,” Anderson said. “We anticipate the Chinese market to be just huge in the next few years with their increasing population. They don’t have enough food in their own country to feed everyone and have to get it from other countries. They got a taste of corn-fed beef from the U.S. and can’t get enough of it now.”

-Farm News photo by Lori Berglund BROTHERS JOE AND BILL GEIS stand in the spacious shop where they can get equipment ready for spring in a timely fashion.

-Farm News file photo BY THE FOURTH QUARTER OF 2023, pork production is forecast to be 4 percent greater than it was in the fourth quarter of 2022, according to Andrew Wheeler with the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation.

Pat McGonegle

Often-overlooked nutrient boosts crop production

By DARCY DOUGHERTY MAULSBY

There’s a lot of talk — and debate — about carbon credits and how they might put more money in farmers’ pockets, but there’s another way to build a “carbon wealth account.”

“Carbon is a foundational building block of every nutrient in the soil and is essential for crop production,” said Dr. Jim Ladlie, founder and CEO of ProfitProAG.

About 45% of plant mass is made up of carbon. “Carbon must be managed properly, since it’s one of the most limiting resources in crop production,” Ladlie said.

Carbon plays many key roles in natural cycles that can enhance crop production.

“Beneficial bacteria and fungi love plant-derived carbohydrates and need soft carbon sources like root exudates,” said Al Toops, chief agronomist with BTI Ag LLC.

The microbes open nutrient pathways in the soil that enhance nutrient uptake into the plants. After the growing season, plant residue decomposition starts the cycle over again.

Soil carbon is “black gold” on a farm. It’s also something that farmers can readily influence.

Stored soil carbon is a bit like a bank account, Toops said. While certain farming practices allow farmers to grow this bank account, withdrawals come from soil erosion and other factors.

“What’s in your carbon bank

account?” Toops asked.

Carbon provides many key benefits

The importance of carbon can’t be overemphasized when it comes to producing healthy crops with stronger yield potential, Ladlie said.

The advantages of carbon include:

n Improved nutrient availability and uptake. Many

nutrients in the soil must be processed by microbes before plants can take up the nutrients. Beneficial fungal species break down carbon residue and move it to the soil, explained Toops, who champions the BeCrop Test, which sequences strains of DNA to determine what microbes are in the soil and also measures various factors related to carbon. Beneficial microbes, especially mycorrhizal fungi, are

essential in releasing valuable nutrients that are locked up in the soil. When these natural pathways work properly, crops can tap into the goldmine of free nutrients stored in the soil.

n Reduced soil density. Soil compaction is no asset to efficient crop production. It can make seedbed preparation

See CARBON, Page 11C

-Farm News photo by Darcy Dougherty Maulsby CARBON IS A FOUNDATIONAL BUILDING BLOCK of every nutrient in the soil and is essential for crop production, says Dr. Jim Ladlie, founder and CEO of ProfitProAG.

SPRING FARM 2023

MARKING A DECADE OF SUCCESS

Mark Muench’s farm-based Salford dealership is Iowa’s largest

OGDEN — Mark Muench raises corn and soybeans near Ogden, as previous generations of his family have.

For the best results, Muench invests time and hands-on testing of equipment and processes to achieve success.

A little more than a decade ago, he realized tillage hadn’t improved in the preceding 40 years, compared to the rest of agriculture.

“Tractors had. Combines did. And soil is our most precious asset so tillage should have improved, too,” he explained. “Today, land is selling for record prices because of the topsoil. We need to take care of that; I was taught to take care of soil like it’s a child or family member, to never abuse it. And farmers need good yields to stay in business.”

Muench founded Salford tillage equipment in 2009 and used it on his own farm, finding it far superior to other options. Then, in the fall of 2012, Muench became a Salford equipment dealer, running the business out of his farm shop, selling his first machine in 2013. And today, his dealership is Iowa’s largest for the Canadianowned manufacturer with a plant in Osceola.

“All of the machines we offer are high speed, covering a lot of acres,” Muench remarked.“That translates to time savings, fuel savings, simplicity, and yields just as good or better with less effort.”

That efficiency proves beneficial when corn sells for $3.50 per bushel as well as at today’s higher levels.

“The better job we do with tillage, the more successful we are. The efficiencies of Salford mean it

makes more sense to invest in the equipment when prices are low to save time, fuel, wear and tear on the tractor,” Muench said. “Salford machines are expensive but replace two or three machines with one.”

Beyond efficiency, Muench said Salford tillage machines make a wonderful place to plant. And that’s what it’s really all about, according to the farmer dealer.

“What we try to do, and we offer eight models, is figure out which model it takes for a farmer to achieve what he’s attempting to achieve,” Muench said. “There’s no such thing as one size fits all. We’re all about figuring out what machine will do what the farmer wants it to do. With our experience, we can do that.”

Muench, is the advantage Salford tillage equipment has in adverse conditions. He, and his customers, create a nice seedbed without damage to soil like crusting or compaction. “Salford works well in wet springs and adverse conditions. We can run when a lot of machines can’t because they can’t handle residue,” Muench said. “They handle anything Iowa throws at you – including going from floods to drought in two years as we have.”

Muench’s sales theory echoes his own hands-on philosophy. “We want to get the Salford machines in the field because they almost sell themselves,” he said. “When farmers try them, they want to buy them.”

or set ups. Proof of Muench’s approach to soil care and farming technique has been proven by results in national yield contests.

“We entered to validate our numbers and have plaques on the wall documenting those results,” he said. “Now I have customers doing their own checks and we’re getting that feedback as well.”

Muench AgriSolutions, specializing solely in Salford equipment, is entirely selfsustaining, not subsidized by the family farm as some similar enterprises are. The owner said it will continue to grow and evolve.

“Within a couple of years, I want to move to a base of operations off the farm on a major highway with more visibility,” Muench said.

A rural setting — whether on the farm or in a new, more visible location – is essential.

assembly.

Mick Johnston helps Muench manage his businesses and develop sales strategies and advertising. Leah Porter is the office manager for all businesses.

In the beginning Muench was the salesman, truck driver, service guy, and still ran his farm. Today he’s proud to say providing good jobs is another benefit of his Salford dealership, creating some economic development.

Muench AgriSolutions stocks and sells more parts than any other Salford dealer in Iowa. And if Muench AgriSolutions doesn’t have it, the part is just 90 miles away from the shop in Osceola at Salford’s plant there. Muench appreciates the opportunity to be connected with an Iowabased manufacturer. The Salford dealership is not Muench’s first value-added venture.

“I was heavily involved in renewable fuels from 2003 to 2010,” he said. “I transitioned out of that into Salford.” This experience broadened his business background outside of farming, an asset to the dealership. Muench and his wife, Holly, have two sons with interest in being the next generation on the family farm. Muench AgriSolutions, along with the farm, are enough to keep family and long-term employees sustainable while paving the way for future growth.

Muench

AgriSolutions’ customers, like the dealership’s founder, then create the best environment to plant into by being attentive to soil preparation, soil health, and more.

Another key, according to

Muench and his team, including full-time sales and service reps, offer a perspective other dealers can’t because they run them, know them, and understand them. Salford company representatives often call on Muench to try new machines

“We never sell anything until we run it ourselves and we get familiar with it. When there’s a new model, I bring it in so we can run it and learn about it,” he said. “Then we sell when we feel we understand it and have a good working understanding of how to set it, what to do, not to do. That’s very important to me and our customers.” Tony Williams joined Muench AgriSolutions in 2014 in parts and service. Now he’s selling machines as well. Two other commissioned sales people are part of the team along with a ful-ltime service tech, Justin Peterson. Muench also employs Casey Peterson, who drives the semi that picks up unassembled machines from the factory and delivers assembled machines to customers, as well as helps with

“I have always loved generating economic activity, creating, and improving,” Muench said. “Helping farmers improve, sharing their love of agriculture and the land, is a great way to contribute to a sound future.”

-Submitted photo

THE MUENCH AGRISOLUTIONS TEAM, from left to right, includes Justin Peterson, Mick Johnson, Leah Porter, Tony Williams, Casey Peterson, and Mark Muench.

SPRING FARM 2023

Step one: Identify goals for the land

While the amount of soil erosion has decreased in the United States and Iowa in the past few decades, various researchers say it remains a serious problem.

University of Massachusetts-

Amherst researchers have conducted highresolution, topographic surveys of Midwestern soil. Their results, which the university reported in 2021, indicated that soil thickness on hilltops in the Midwest had declined at an average rate of nearly 2 millimeters a year during the past 150 years. The historical erosion rates exceed predictions of present-day erosion rates from national soil erosion assessments and levels considered tolerable by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

It can be hard to envision soil erosion from this perspective.

“Walk your fields in the spring to see what has happened,” Rieck-Hinz said. “Right now, you can see all the soil in road ditches from the blizzard before Christmas. When we had several inches of rain in late February, we could see sheet and rill erosion in unprotected fields, because the soil was still frozen below the top 3 inches. When the water can’t infiltrate, it has to go somewhere.”

Lighter colored soils are a sign that sheet erosion (from the movement of

water) has taken its toll. Rill erosion occurs during heavy rains, when flowing surface water cuts small, shallow channels into the soil.

Wind erosion is also a challenge in Iowa, especially when dry weather conditions and excessive tillage practically turn the soil into powder. That soil easily blows away, especially when fields are bare, Rieck-Hinz said.

Fortunately, there are a

number of ways to help manage soil erosion, from reducing tillage to growing cover crops to planting shelterbelts of trees that function as a windbreak.

“We have seen a movement toward less tillage through striptillage and no-till systems in Iowa, and we have also seen a slow adoption of cover crops,” Rieck-Hinz said.

There’s no silver bullet, however, when it comes to managing soil erosion.

“This needs to be a systems approach,” RieckHinz said. “The first step is always identifying goals. Is your goal to protect the soil? Improve water quality? Get higher yields? Reduce labor? Add more conservation? Enhance nutrient cycling in your field? If you don’t know what your goals are, how can you measure results?”

Once you determine your goals, this will help you fine-tune practical strategies to reach these goals. If you want to plant cover covers to control soil erosion, for example, oats aren’t the best choice, because they winter kill, Rieck-Hinz said.

After you implement practical strategies to reach the goals you’ve set, it’s important to measure results.

Soil health tests can provide specific, measurable data. So can bulk density tests, which reflect soil compaction, while infiltration tests

can measure the soil’s capacity for water and air infiltration.

Other assessments may be less scientific but are still worthwhile, RieckHinz said.

“Are you seeing less runoff, due to better soil structure that allows for better water infiltration? When you dig in your field, are you seeing more earthworms in your soil?”

Finally, have realistic expectations. “If you want to reduce tillage to protect the soil, it can take three to five years to see results,” Rieck-Hinz said. “It takes time for your soil structure to change so it’s more resilient and less prone to erosion.”

Opening the lines of tenant-landlord communication

While implementing soil conservation practices can be fairly direct when the farmer is the landowner, what about landlord-tenant relationships?

“If you’re a tenant, invite your landlord to a field day to see the types of farming practices you’d like to try,” RieckHinz said.

If the landlord doesn’t live nearby, the tenant can provide a yearly, written summary and photos of the farm to show how he or she is managing the land. Also, invite the landlord to the farm to see what’s going on, and ask the landlord about his or her goals for the land.

“We encourage landowners who want to encourage more conservation to incentivize tenants,” Rieck-Hinz said. “Maybe lower their cash rent so they have more financial resources to seed cover crops, for example, or give them a multi-year lease, rather than a oneyear lease.”

Time can be an asset or an enemy when it comes to protecting Iowa’s precious topsoil. This is easy to forget, since soil erosion is a gradual process.

The lessons of history are clear, however.

“Soil deterioration and impaired water quality due to erosion and surface runoff have become severe problems worldwide,” according to the report “Soil Erosion: An Agricultural Production Challenge,” which is available online from ISU Extension. “The problem may become so severe that the land can no longer be cultivated and must be abandoned. Many agricultural civilizations have declined due to land and natural resource mismanagement, and the history of such civilizations is a good reminder to protect our natural resources.” Don’t wait, Rieck-Hinz added.

“Iowans brag about their soil, and rightfully so, but this is a resource that needs more attention to continue to support our crop production systems.”

Brian Haugen -

Broker Chad Stavnes-

-Farm News photo by Darcy Dougherty Maulsby

TILLAGE TO PROTECT THE SOIL can include strip tillage, shown here in a northcentral Iowa field. It can take three to five years to see results from reduced tillage, said Angie Rieck-Hinz, an Iowa State University (ISU) Extension field agronomist. It takes time for soil structure to change so it’s more resilient and less prone to erosion.

SPRING FARM 2023

more difficult, hinder water infiltration into the soil, and contribute to poor root growth, which reduces crop yield through poor water and nutrient uptake.

An abundance of carbon-rich soil organic matter, in contrast, provides a great environment for all sorts of life to thrive in the soil.

“Soil microbes are like little birds that are always hungry and looking for food,” Toops said. As beneficial microbes and earthworms move through the soil to take in carbon as their source of energy, this helps break up soil density. Less compaction in the soil encourages better plant root development. An improved root system fosters better nutrient and water absorption. This also aids the soil’s capacity to withstand erosion. n Improved resilience to drought and extreme rainfall. Extreme weather events pose serious challenges to agriculture, but carbon helps here, too. Carbon-rich soils can effectively absorb rainfall to control runoff and erosion. They can also retain water to support crops more effectively during dry conditions. This contributes to greater yield stability, Ladlie said. Increasing soil carbon may even improve weed control. Carbon stimulates the growth of soil microbial communities, noted Maria Gannett, who focused her doctorate research at Cornell University on the link between carbon and weed control. “As these soil microbes grow, they also take up soil nitrogen. This process leaves less nitrogen available for plants, including weeds.”

Many of the most problematic weeds in agriculture grow well in high-nitrogen soils but are less competitive in soils with low available nitrogen levels.

“Managing soils so they have lower nitrogen levels could be one way to combat weeds without tillage or the application of herbicides,” said Gannett, who published the online report, “Can Adding Carbon to the Soil Help us Manage Weeds?” in December 2022.

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Managing carbon can boost the bottom line

Managing carbon is crucial for long-term sustainability in agriculture, Ladlie noted. A variety of farming practices can help farmers reach this goal, including minimizing tillage and using cover crops, which help add organic matter to the soil and control soil erosion.

“Cover crops can build 0.1% to 0.2% organic matter a year,” Toops said. Managing carbon properly can also boost farmers’ bottom line in terms of:

n The potential for lower crop input bills. Carbon-rich soils enhance nutrient cycling by boosting beneficial soil microbes that help make soil nutrients available to plants. If nutrient pathways are blocked, however, it’s a serious loss.

Toops has seen cases where BeCrop soil tests show 2,700 to 7,000 pounds of nitrogen (N) per acre, but only 40 to 60 pounds of N per acre are available to the crop.

“I’ve also seen situations where 500 to 800 pounds of

phosphorus (P) per acre were available, but only 60 to 120 pounds were available to the crop,” he added. When those nutrient pathways are functioning, however, that means more nutrients available to the crop, which can lower fertilizer bills.

n Reduced soil erosion and water runoff. Carbon sources help feed beneficial soil biology that drives the water cycle. “If your carbon cycle isn’t functioning properly, your water cycle isn’t either,” Toops said. This is linked to soil aggregates. Soil particles are arranged together to form aggregates, which are held together by organic matter. Soil microorganisms play an important role in the formation and stabilization of aggregates. Well-aggregated soil lets water enter the soil profile, while small pores within the aggregates hold water tightly enough to keep it around, but loosely enough for plant roots to take it up. Well-aggregated soil can absorb rainfall better, which helps control runoff and soil erosion.

n Long-term productivity. Building healthy soils and managing carbon effectively means playing the long game. Increasing organic matter and soil carbon happens over time. Making more deposits in the carbon bank account than withdrawals will keep agricultural soils productive through the years. Carbon farming practices help maintain soil quality instead of depleting it of its life-giving properties, Ladlie said. “Carbon is a plant nutrient and should be treated like one. The better you understand carbon, the better crop producer you’ll be.”

If you have a fireplace that burns wood, you know that it loses all of its heat up the chimney. Rick Titus has a wood burning insert that will burn with the efficiency of a wood stove and fit inside your fireplace so it keeps your fireplace look.

If you have a gas log in your fireplace it also sends all of its heat up the chimney. Rick has Vent Free gas logs that can burn as efficient as a gas cook stove and burn with the damper closed, thus keeping all the heat in the house.

If you have one of the newer gas fireplaces that vents out the side of the home or up a chimney, Rick can convert it over to a Vent Free log and keep all the heat in the home.

So no matter what kind of fireplace you may have, Rick has an efficient solution for it. Call Rick or email him at yahtitus@gmail. com or go to his web site below. Rick even has new fireplaces and wood stoves that can heat your home even during a power outage.

- photo by Les Houser, Wright County Monitor

-Farm News photo by Darcy Dougherty Maulsby

MANAGING CARBON is crucial for long-term sustainability in agriculture. A variety of agricultural practices can help farmers reach this goal, including minimizing tillage and using cover crops, which add organic matter to the soil and help control soil erosion.

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