No-till Producer, Winside, Nebraska

Scott Heinemann is the third generation of his family to farm and feed cattle in Wayne County, Nebraska. 

In 2006 Scott and his wife Pam discontinued feeding cattle and began the process of converting the feedyards back to native grasses and wildflowers.  Around the same time he went from conventional tillage to 100% no-till.  He gradually increased the diversity of his crops from a corn/soybean rotation by adding alfalfa, oats and cereal rye.  In 2014 he added diversified grazing mixes following small grains.  While they still do not own any cattle, they have reached out to area cow-calf operators to offer grazing opportunities.  They now have cover crops on all acres and are seeing the benefits multiply with each successive year.

In the last 20 years, Scott has planted hundreds of trees and shrubs, and seeded numerous grass waterways and buffer strips.  In 2016 Scott and Pam were given the Nebraska Soil and Water Conservation Society Honor Award, and in 2018 received the Polaris Habitat Stewardship Award from Pheasants Forever.