Keeping plants healthy throughout the growing season is critical to a successful corn crop. But understanding and satisfying early season nutrient needs can help strip-tillers set the stage for a bumper crop. Jerry Hatfield, supervisory plant physiologist with the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS), has done extensive research on the interactions within the soil-plant-atmosphere spectrum and their connection to air, water and soil quality. Hatfield will discuss recent research that looks at the correlation between early-season nutrient applications on plant health in strip-tilled corn and its impact on yields.

Farming in arid conditions, Plainview, Texas, strip-tiller Steve Olson views water as a precious commodity on his 2,500-acre cotton, corn, sorghum and wheat operation. With most of his strip-tilled corn and cotton under center pivot or drip irrigation, he uses moisture probe technology and intensive water management practices to maximize crop yields in a drought-stricken area. Olson will share his experience and advice for making every drop of moisture count in a strip-till system and how he’s designed a sustainable fertility program to accommodate his dry conditions.

While strip-till can dramatically improve soil structure and health, there are additional practices that can supplement a system to further increase productivity. Cover crops have proven to be a valuable asset in retaining nutrients for Lakefield, Minn., farmer Jerry Ackermann. But through aggressive experimentation during the last 3 years, he’s also seeing added benefits that have helped reduce input costs and increase yields. Ackermann will share how his evolving cover cropping program has accelerated water infiltration and reduced reliance on herbicide application.

Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey is a fourth-generation farmer from Spirit Lake, Iowa. His priorities as Secretary include advancing science and new technologies to better care for Iowa’s air, soil and water.

Lowpoint, Ill., farmer Todd Mooberry understands that every field is different and one size doesn’t fit all with strip-till. Mooberry began strip-tilling corn in 2001 on his 1,800-acre operation and seeking ways to better adapt the practice to the variable soil types and slopes on his farm. He designed several products to improve strip-till efficiency, including a strip-freshener attachment to run through soybean stubble in spring as an alternative to no-till. Mooberry will offer some tips and equipment strategies to help minimize erosion concerns on rolling ground, better time fertilizer application and utilize cover crops in strip-till.