The most viewed content for 2023 on our website, www.striptillfarmer.com, highlights industry news, farmer features, strip-till trends, new equipment, nutrient management breakthroughs and more. As we enter the new year, we wanted to share the most popular content from 2023.

With all of the news gathered, interviews collected, countless hours of writing and video production, we made this year one to remember. More importantly, we made all of this year’s content for you! The following aren’t items we thought were the best of this year— these were the best of the year according to our audience. The Digital Media Department hunkered down in a caffeine-induced frenzy and compiled the ‘can’t miss’ content from 2023.

Most Read Blogs:

  • Strip-Till Success Stories from the Deep South By: Noah Newman
    • Noah Newman cold called Elora, Tenn., strip-tiller Eric Reed to gauge his interest in speaking at the 2023 National Strip-Tillage Conference. He quickly answered the phone, greeted him like family even though it was their first time talking to each other and immediately opened up about the unique challenges of farming on the Tennessee-Alabama border.
  • Is Strip-Till the Solution to Soil Stratification? By: Noah Newman
    • Marion Calmer noticed symptoms of nutrient deficiencies in his corn a few years ago. He began to wonder if soil stratification — the accumulation of phosphorous (P) and potassium (K) in the surface — was a problem on his no-till farm in Alpha, Ill.
  • Strip-Till Gaining Momentum in Minnesota By: Frank Lessiter
    • Recent field days and ag shows have clearly shown a significant increase in strip-tillage interest among Minnesota growers, maintains Warren Formo. In fact the executive director of the Minnesota Agricultural Resource Center went so far to predict strip-till could become the predominant tillage system in Minnesota by 2026.
  • What’s Your Long-Term Equipment Strategy? By: Shay Foulk
    • Over the last 5 years, more of the progressive operations that Shay Foulk worked with — the high-level, high-management operations — were starting to utilize strip-till as part of their system. Strip-till can play a really important role in the future of production agriculture.
  • Mentee Tops Mentor in Chase for Record-Breaking Yields By: Noah Newman
    • Smithville, Ga., strip-tiller Alex Harrell learned a thing or two from one of his mentors, Randy Dowdy, when Dowdy set the soybean yield record with 190.23 bushels per acre in 2019. It’s no coincidence that one of Dowdy’s tips for growing high-yielding crops is to always share what you learn. 

Most Read Feature Articles:

  • Concentric Sphere Fertility Feeds High-Yielding Corn All Season By: Dan Crummett
    • “Does it make sense to fertilize soil that will not be supporting a crop?” Chris Perkins doesn’t think so, but his approach to nutrient management may leave a lot of crop consultants and university folks shaking their heads in dismay. Still, the pioneering strip-tiller is producing 300 bushels of corn per acre with just over a half pound of applied nitrogen per bushel yield goal.
  • Willingness to Change & Attention to Detail Fuel Strip-Tiller's Record-Breaking Year By: Noah Newman
    • Ben Kron won the National Corn Growers Association 2021 National Corn Yield Contest’s strip-till, minimum-till, mulch-till, ridge-till irrigated class in Indiana with nearly 391 bushels per acre. He also broke the state’s strip-till, irrigated corn yield record that same year. 
  • Strip-Till & Banded Fertilizer Boosts ROI By: Dan Crummett
    • Since becoming the sole operators of their family’s Homewood Farms in 2000, Dan Lane and his wife, Jennifer, have used precision practices and conservation tillage to significantly boost corn and soybean yields as well as overall farm income.
  • Strip-Tillers Increase Acreage & Outyield No-Tillers in 2022 By: Noah Newman
    • Strip-Till Farmer’s 10th annual benchmark study of strip-till practices conducted in early 2023 shows that strip-tillers continue to have the upper hand over their no-till counterparts when it comes to corn and soybean yields.
  • Strip-Tiller Takes Unconventional Path to High Yields By: Noah Newman
    • Caleb Traugh, of Blakely, Ga., isn’t your typical strip-tiller. He didn’t grow up on a farm. He doesn’t have an ag degree, and he didn’t go to college. But the 26-year-old has been obsessed with the science behind soils and plants for as long as he can remember.  

Most Read News Articles: 

  • Strip-Tiller Sets New Soybean World Record with 206-Bushel Yield By: Noah Newman
    • In a classic case of the student surpassing the teacher, strip-tiller Alex Harrell of Smithville, Ga. bested the current soybean yield record holder, Randy Dowdy. Harrell set a new world soybean yield record with an astonishing 206.7997 bushels per acre, topping Dowdy's 2019 yield of 190.23 bushels per acre.
  • Yetter, Fast Ag Solutions Launching New Strip-Till Bar By: Noah Newman
    • Yetter Farm Equipment and Fast Ag Solutions have collaborated on the creation of a new 24-row, 30" strip-till toolbar — the Fast DuraPlacer with Yetter Strip Freshener CC's.
  • AGuru Founder Bill Preller Shares Vision for Future of Strip-Till
    • Strip-Till Farmer caught up with AGuru Machinery founder, president and strip-till specialist Bill Preller for a conversation about the future of strip-till and how his company fits into the equation. 
  • Strip-Cropping Experiments Result in 50-Bushel Corn Yield Increase By: Julienne Isaacs
    • Jason Webster is a farmer and the lead commercial agronomist for the Precision Technology Institute (PTI) for Precision Planting in Pontiac, Illinois. Webster and his team conducted 160 agronomy trials at the PTI’s 400-acre research farm in 2023, and hosted thousands of visitors from around the world to share their results.
  • Unverferth Announces Purchase of Orthman Manufacturing Inc.
    • Unverferth Manufacturing Co., Inc. is excited to announce the purchase of Orthman Manufacturing’s agricultural product lineup and the two manufacturing locations based in Lexington, Neb. Manufacturing personnel and various support people will be offered employment with the new ownership. 

Most Viewed Videos:

  • The Biggest Strip-Till Lessons Learned at the Precision Planting PTI Farm
    • Jason Webster, Precision Planting PTI Farm manager, discussed the 6 major topics he’ll touch on during his Keynote Presentation at the National Strip-Tillage Conference, Aug. 2-4 in Bloomington, Ill., including the fertilization reallocation concept, advantages of strip-tilling soybeans, and how strip-till stacks up to no-till, conventional-till and vertical-till. Webster also previews the pre-conference workshop at the PTI Farm.
  • How to Build a Strip-Till Rig from an Old Cultivator
    • No-tiller and strip-tiller Jeff Gaska of Columbus, Wis., shared how he turned a 12-row John Deere cultivator bar into a custom strip-till rig, plus made it adjustable so it can double as a sidedress machine.
  • In-Depth Look at 2023 Strip-Till Innovator’s Equipment
  • Transitioning to Strip-Till with Help From National Strip-Tillage Conference
    • Ride along with Ryan Shaw, 2023 Strip-Till Innovator Award recipient, as he runs his strip-till rig ahead of corn planting in Marlette, Mich. Ryan and Melissa Shaw have been strip-tilling 100% of their ground since 2014. In this video, Ryan reflected on lessons learned at the National Strip-Tillage Conference over the years and how attending the conference helped calm their fears when they switched to strip-till.  
  • 2023 Strip-Till Innovator’s Dos and Don’ts of Strip-Till
    • Hop inside the cab with Ryan Shaw, 2023 Strip-Till Innovator Award recipient, as he runs his Environmental Tillage Systems (ETS) SoilWarrior ahead of corn planting in May. The Marlette, Mich., native shares the nuts and bolts of his system, lessons learned since his strip-till journey began in 2014 and his ultimate “strip-till truths.”

Most Listened to Podcasts:

Most Attended Webinars:

  • Planter Maintenance: The Foundation for a Successful Season 
    • This Precision Planting training session highlighted the connection between planter maintenance & emergence, as well as the most overlooked area on the row unit that has the biggest impact on yield.
  • Locus AG's CarbonNOW® Carbon Farming Program
    • Watch the editors of Strip-Till Farmer and Locus Agricultural Solutions (Locus AG) meet for a live online program demonstration webinar of Locus AG’s CarbonNOW® carbon farming program. Have you been excluded from other carbon programs because of regen ag practices? CarbonNOW is quickly becoming the preferred program in the carbon farming industry because it utilizes powerful biologicals – crop-specific soil microbes – that boost yields & ROI as an approved practice change.
  • Benefit with Biologicals
    • Biologicals are quickly gaining recognition as a vital solution to the biggest problems facing the agriculture industry. More farmers are incorporating them after seeing the immense value they bring to crops and ROI. But with all of the options on the market, how do you know which one to choose? 
  • Strip-Tillage, Cover Crops & Carbon: Market Solutions & Expert Perspectives from the Field
    • This live panel is a joint presentation of ETS/Soil Warrior and ForGround by Bayer, two leaders in regenerative agriculture and preserving soil health. Experts from ETS and ForGround will lead an in-depth discussion about the benefits of integrating cover crops with strip-tillage, and how both companies support farmers who do. Plus, a farmer with firsthand knowledge of the practices will be on hand to talk about his motivations, challenges and results.
  • Combat Dry Soil with Strip-Till: Water Infiltration and Savings
    • Water is one of the most limiting factors in production agriculture. Strip-till allows growers to capture water when it is available and conserve it for later use. This presentation discusses the dry growing season that we are experiencing across the corn belt and how strip-till can help growers overcome some challenges during dry spells.