Achieving proper soil fertility comes down to hitting the maximum level of nutrients that are exchangeable in the soil for optimal crop performance. This means nutrients are available in a form that the plant roots can absorb from the soil complex. Bob Yanda says the levels of nutrients are important, but it’s more critical that they be exchangeable to the root. View

Charlie Hammer is on the eternal hunt for the perfect strip-till rig. The veteran strip-tiller from Beaver Dam, Wis., has cycled through several combinations of implements in recent years in the quest to find an ideal fit for the 2,100 acres of corn, soybeans and wheat he and his wife Nancy Kavazanjian grow. View

Building on the afternoon general session’s in-depth look at the tremendous amount of soil biological activity occurring within the soil, Jill Clapperton will focus more on ideas you can use to help this favorable underground movement develop even faster in your strip-till operation. The principal scientist from Rhizoterra Inc. will use much of the time in this classroom as a question-and-answer session to help you further understand what impact your actions have on soil life. Clapperton will share dozens of ideas on how to get the most gain from your belowground friends while treating them with the respect they deserve. View

Dave Legvold’s 38-year journey from conventional tillage to strip-till has been a process of experimentation, building confidence in a system and using onfarm research to drive his decision-making. The Northfield, Minn., strip-tiller will share his strategies for improving soil health, nutrient efficiency, water retention and a systems approach to water management using tile to create a flourishing strip-till system. View

Keith Schlapkohl is taking aim at 300-bushel corn and 100-bushel soybeans, and strip-till is just one of the practices he’s using in his systems approach to high productivity. The Stockton, Iowa, farmer runs nearly 1,000 acres of strip-tilled corn-on-corn and also lays down 30-inch-row strips ahead of soybeans following corn. View

Frank Moore has a long history of implementing soil and water conservation practices on farms in targeted watersheds, particularly from 15 years ago when he worked with the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship. The Cresco, Iowa, farmer has transitioned his corn acreage from ridge-till to no-till and most recently strip-till in 2010. View

For years, precision ag was defined by two practices — grid soil sampling and yield maps. That’s no longer the case. Steve Cubbage says data now streams from everywhere and everything. Soil EC monitoring is back in vogue and new technologies like UAV imagery and Google Glass are front-page news. View

The impact of tillage systems like full-width tillage or no-tillage on soil fertility levels and soil test readings are often a topic of debate. The question seems obvious — what happens to the fertility levels in the top layer of soil, the root zone or greater soil depths whether you are churning soil or leaving it undisturbed? View

Kelly Cooper will share the cover-cropping experiences of strip-tillers within the Conservation Cropping System Project. The project manager from Forman, N.D., will share a number of practices, including both traditional cover cropping and a form of biological strip-till where radishes and peas are planted in 30-inch rows to create a natural strip to plant into in an effort to reduce in-row erosion. View

Optimizing nutrient rates and placement for corn and soybean production with strip-tillage has been too much of a guessing game for too long, says Purdue University tillage specialist Tony Vyn. While nearly all commercial strip-till units have the capability of deep-banding, shallow-banding or near-surface zone banding of liquid or dry fertilizers, there has been considerable misinformation on how strip-till supposedly changes optimal crop-nutrient rates. In addition, there are misconceptions regarding the crop safety factor for various nitrogen and potassium fertilizer sources banded at various rates or depths relative to the seed furrow. View