With one foot in the future and one in the past, this Iowa farm kid is seeking to integrate livestock and row cropping autonomously in order to restore health to the land, water and community.

Results of the 8th annual Strip-Till Operational Practices Benchmark study suggest a “return to normal” for many strip-tillers whose fall berm-building plans had been disrupted by wet, soggy weather in 2019.  

Fostering an ethic of land stewardship while operating a profitable, efficient farming operation is a compelling mission, and one Ben Pederson has been following for the past decade.

Summer has arrived and the growing season is in full swing. And while the planting season largely got off to a great start, a number of regions have experienced challenging conditions: from wet, soggy areas in Southern states to wind, hail and frost in the Midwest to expanding areas of high heat and drought conditions over large swaths of the west and the Great Plains — including 41% of corn production acres.

Strip-till has taken us to the next level, improved spacing and emergence to give us an even better stand. In 2019, when walking the fields, we saw that most corn plants developed suckers and a good portion of the suckers ended up developing ears that actually produced grain.