Alan Kraus was all in on no-till for 25 years on his dairy farm in central Wisconsin. But strip-till started to pique his interest shortly after he moved to Minnesota 10 years ago.

“In my mind, with the beautiful soils in our region, strip-tilling your corn and no-tilling your soybeans is a great way to go,” says Kraus, who currently serves as the soil health specialist for the Rice and Steele Soil and Water Conservation Districts (SWCD) in Minnesota. 

“When I first moved here, I wanted to learn more about strip-till, which is why I started going to the National Strip-Tillage Conference.”

Knowledge & Networking

Kraus attended the last two Strip-Till Conferences, where he made connections with innovative farmers like Minnesota strip-tiller David Legvold, who was inducted into the Strip-Till Hall of Fame at the 2024 conference. 

“The diversity of topics and speakers sticks out at the conference, but the big benefit is that interaction you get with other farmers,” Kraus says. “You learn a lot and pick up several take-home ideas in those 1-on-1 conversations at the conference.” 

Kraus wanted growers in his districts to experience the same networking and learning opportunities, so he organized the Southeast Minnesota Soil Health Bus Tour, which will bring up to 50 farmers to the upcoming 2026 National Strip-Tillage Conference in Springfield, Ill. 

“I saw the opportunity, applied for a grant through the Minnesota Office for Soil Health, and got it,” Kraus says. “A $100 ticket buys you a seat on the bus and registration for the conference and pre-conference event. We’ve estimated it’s about a $900 dollar value when you factor in travel, meals and hotel.”

Gaining Traction

Growers can register for the bus tour at RiceSWCD.org. Kraus says a good mix of rookie strip-tillers and veteran strip-tillers have signed up so far, as the practice continues to pick up steam in the region.  

“In the past 10 years I’ve been living and working here, strip-till acreage has really increased significantly,” Kraus says. “A lot of farmers are seeing those soil health and erosion control benefits. We get a lot of wind here. We don’t need all that tillage on these soils. Strip-till offers an opportunity to warm the soil up without doing all that tillage and it’s a practice that’s gaining a lot of popularity here, which is good to see.”

The 2026 National Strip-Tillage Conference kicks off Thursday, Aug. 6 in downtown Springfield, Ill. Attendees can also sign up for an exclusive pre-conference workshop, hosted by ForGround by Bayer at the Bayer Crop Science Research Farm in New Berlin, Ill., just a short drive from the conference hotel. 

Download the program and reserve your spot at StripTillConference.com.