2 August:  Ward Laboratories, Kearney, Neb.  Tour a soil testing laboratory founded by Ray Ward, who has worked extensively with the soils and crops of the Great Plains and possesses enormous technical expertise in soil testing methods and soil chemistry.  Ray has a Ph.D. in soil fertility and has managed both the Redfield, SD experiment station and the SDSU soils lab.  Ray developed soil testing facilities for both Oklahoma State Univ. and Servitech.  In addition to overseeing the lab, Ray also actively manages a no-till farm in southeast Nebraska.  Ray will be accompanying us on the remainder of our journey again this year, which should make for many an interesting discussion of soil properties and fertilization methods, as well as the geology of South Dakota and Kansas soils.

 Mike Arnoldy, Kennebec, S.D. Mike’s first serious introduction to no-till was in 1987, and he had fully converted to no-till by 1990.  He admits to an ongoing struggle to assemble the right rotations, seeding tools, and herbicide programs.  His rotations currently include spring & winter wheat, corn, milo, proso millet, garbanzos, and sunflowers.  Mike always seems to come up with the right mix of good agronomy and time management to keep building equity despite the harsh environment.  Mike was featured in the Dec. ’02 issue of Leading Edge.

 3 August:  Dakota Lakes Research Farm, Pierre, S.D.  Dwayne Beck will guide us through his plots of corn, soybean, sunflower, field peas, lentils, garbanzos (chickpeas), canola, winter wheat, and spring wheat.  Sometimes milo, flax, alfalfa, millet, mung beans, pinto beans, and black-eyed peas (or cowpeas) are also included, as well as cover crops such as hairy vetch, sunn hemp, Indianhead lentils, and canola.  These crops comprise numerous rotations being studied for water-use efficiency, water storage, allelopathy, disease cycles, soil microbiology, nutrient cycling, weed control, and profitability (and volatility of profitability).  All plots are continuous no-till, with an emphasis on ultra-low soil disturbance.  The main farm has been no-till for 13 years now, although a North Unit was recently added (to replace the West River site) that has recently been converted to no-till.  Plots include both dryland and irrigated - Dwayne originally began studying no-till as a method of improving infiltration under irrigation.  Later Dwayne managed the Redfield, SD experiment station, producing startling results from continuous no-till, including higher infiltration rates and cropping intensity than previously thought possible for dryland production in that area.  Some of the infiltration boost is attributable to nightcrawlers (not your average earthworm), which are having a major impact on the nutrient & water cycling at Dakota Lakes.

We’ll also see Dwayne’s Concept Seeder - a continually evolving but fully functional showpiece that incorporates some of the most imaginative yet practical ideas to be found anywhere in the industry (the bridge hitch, parallel-link single-disc openers, true hydraulic down-pressure for each opener, a depth-limited spoked closing system, etc).  Expect to see industry adopt some of these ideas.

 Dan Forgey of Cronin Farms, Gettysburg, S.D.  Dan is the longtime cropping manager for this sprawling grain and cattle operation¾Dan is the agronomic mind behind many of their decisions.  Permanent no-till since the early ’90s, the farm is continually diversifying its rotations, going to 5- and 6-year rotations to handle ‘cheatgrass’ and other problems associated with the shorter rotations.  They are “serious” about field peas, now grown on a significant acreage, and fitting into their rotation typically as s. wheat >> w.wheat >> peas >> corn >> soybean (or sunflower).  They continue to push the envelope of what is possible with high-yielding wheat.  Cronins run mostly Deere equipment, due to their ownership stake in several dealerships (the farm’s profitability allowed the purchase of the dealerships, not the other way around). 

4 August:  David & Carol Gillen, White Lake, S.D.  David & Carol have been 100% low-disturbance no-till for 14 years, and were featured in the March ’04 issue of Leading Edge.  Gillens include two years of wheat in a 6-year rotation, in an area that has gone almost entirely to a corn >>soy rotation.  None of this is transplanted ideology: All aspects of Gillens’ operation are scrutinized for potential improvements in financial performance.  Production practices include 22-inch corn and cover crops.

 Rogers Memorial Farm, Lincoln, Neb.  Paul Jasa, Extension Ag Engineer, will give us the tour of long-term no-till research at this site, with emphasis on changes in soil physical properties.  Crop rotations and various agronomic practices are also studied.  Some tillage plots are included for comparison.