After more than 30 years in strip-till, Dean Sponheim has seen the wins, setbacks and hard lessons learned that only time can teach.

Through Success from the Ground Up, Cargill provides financial support to soil health organizations focused on providing access to training and technical information that can help remove barriers for row crop farmers who want to rebuild the health of their soils, plant cover crops, and make better use of their water. 

This article from Oklahoma State Extension explores how farmers are implementing and benefiting from strip-till in the region. 

“The networking is one of the things I love most about the Strip-Till Conference,” says Zack Smith, who strip-tills in Lake Mills, Iowa. “The farmers attending this conference are some of the most innovative folks you’re going to find."

Farmers explored a range of conservation practices, from drainage water recycling and oxbow restoration to strip-till and cover crops during a choose-your-own-adventure field tour designed to bring real-world solutions to life across western Iowa last week.

I studied agronomy at Iowa State after growing up on a diverse farm, and while I was there, decided to double major in horticulture, which turned out to be the greatest thing I’ve accidentally done.