“My land is my bank, and my bank is my land.”
- Harvey Koepke, 1957
A living land ethic
Our parents and grandparents taught us first to take care of our soil, or land resource. That means using tried and true techniques along with constant experimentation with new technology to leave the land better than we found them. On our farm, we grow corn, alfalfa, soybeans, winter wheat, and barley. While the combination creates a pretty picture, the goal is to plant something different in a given field every year in order to reduce inputs and pest pressure, enhance yield, and protect and build soil.
Mimicking nature and being regenerative
Our greatest success as farmers is when we follow nature’s lead. For us, that means not disturbing the soil-- as, after all, nature does not till the soil of a prairie or a forest floor. We practice what is called “no-till”, where we plant seeds with no form of tillage beforehand. It’s a method of not leaving a footprint, literally and figuratively. Instead, our farming practices are about allowing earthworms, soil microbes, and all of nature to do their work and thrive!
Soil is alive
We see soil as a community of living organisms like the picture shows. Roots, microbes, worms, and insects all work together to provide us food. If we help foster and build the community, we do better as farmers, and the resource grows in productivity while protecting the environment.
Putting it all together
We are strong believers in utilizing no-till, cover crops, and integrating livestock into the landscape to build a healthy soil community. But what does it do for the rest of the environment? We’ve reduced our carbon footprint by not plowing, and we’ve sequestered carbon within the soil. We can document we have sequestered about 10,000 tons of carbon in the past 20 years on our farm alone. We have also reduced soil erosion, and helped foster clean water in the watersheds we farm in. We are active participants in local water quality improvement efforts.
Additional resources
Fringe benefits
…we get to take in all of nature’s beauty as well. We try every day to keep our fields green, the waters blue, and do our part to build a better tomorrow.