Written by Jonathan Eisenthal

When it comes to soil health, every farmer knows the impact of prolonged high temperatures, heavy winds and sudden downpours. Cover crops are gaining in popularity to help reduce the negative effects of Mother Nature, and a recent field day, organized by the Soil Health Partnership, took a deep dive into cover crop practices that help farmers better weather drought and soil movement from wind or rain.

“There are ways to make your operation resilient through soil health practices,” Renville County Soil and Water Conservation District‘s Holly Hatlewick told a group of several dozen farmers and ag professionals to set the tone of the day. The setting was the farm of Brian Ryberg, who plants cover crops and uses conservation tillage as a strong believer in the impact of these soil practices for thriving corn and soybean plantings.

Pfarr demonstrates the Slake test.

Hatlewick, along with Brian Pfarr from the Redwood Soil and Water Conservation District, demonstrated the benefits of soil health techniques in a variety of ways.

Soil with a healthy biology develops an aggregate structure that drains surface water quickly and holds it like a sponge. Pfarr performed what’s known as a Slake Test on chunks of soil drawn from nearby fields. By dropping the soil into mason jars filled with water he showed how samples from a strip-tilled field showed good soil aggregation and thus held together well, while those taken from a conventionally tilled field had little aggregation and quickly fell apart. Pointing to the water in a jar that had quickly become black with dissolved soil due to poor soil structure, Hatlewick demonstrated how poor soil structure can lead to nutrients and soil particles leaving a farm after a big rain.

The attendees also saw Ryberg’s 36-row combination side-dress and cover crop planter, as well as walked through and examined side-by-side plots of single cover crops and cover crop blends. Ryberg’s setup and similar practices can reduce the number of passes operators need to make through the field, delivering major fuel savings.

The Minnesota Corn Growers Association (MCGA) supports the Soil Health Partnership, which is an initiative of National Corn Growers Association, to run on-farm soil health trials across the state. Ryberg is one of four Minnesota farmers participating in the on-farm trials with two additional sites also funded by the Minnesota Corn Grower to be initiated this fall.

“We are delighted to see farmers come out to a field day about soil health and experience the kinds of practices farmers are using to reduce soil loss by erosion. We hope these Soil Health Partnership sites both discover and showcase benefits to corn farmers all across the state,” said MCGA Research Director Paul Meints.

Soil Health Partnership tests, measures and advances progressive farm management practices at 100 farms in 12 states.