Benefits of fertilizer placement and no-till in soybeans.

Meet expert David Iverson, a true steward of the land! Today on Farm, Food, Facts, we have the honor of sharing his incredible journey as a fourth-generation crop farmer at Iverson Farms in South Dakota. David has taken sustainable agriculture to the next level by implementing two conservation practices: no-till and fertilizer placement, and that's not all. By strategically placing fertilizer, David maximizes nutrient absorption while minimizing runoff.  

Tune in now for our exclusive interview with David Iverson as he shares his secrets to success and how these practices have transformed his family farm.

Stay connected with the future innovation of soybeans by following the United Soybean Board website at unitedsoybean.org.

Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:18):
Farmers have been caring for the land for generations, hence the reason why we recognize and mention family farms being generational. The current generation wouldn't be here if the previous generation didn't care for the land. Today we are talking with fourth generation crop farmer, David Iverson, about two conservation practices he has implemented on his family farm, and that is no-till and fertilizer placement. David is the owner of Iverson Farms in South Dakota and he farms 1500 acres, which is about twice the size of Central Park in New York City to put into perspective, and that's of soybeans and corn. So David, to get our conversation started, when did your farm implement no-till and fertilizer placement?

Speaker 2 (01:01):
We've done a number of no-till practices and need to back up probably just a little bit and explain that. In the, in the early 1980s,my dad and I were farming together and we did a, a strip till operation and that's doing a no-till, but shaving off a top of a ridge to plant either your corn or beans into that ridge. And since then we've, uh, transitioned away from doing no-till. And so it started in the early 1980s that we've been doing some no-till, uh, slash conservation tillage, doing very minimum disturbance of the soil. So we've got a number of years, over 40 years of experience doing it.

Speaker 1 (01:41):
We're always glad to be bringing those leading experts to Farm Food Facts. Since the 1980s, for no-till - what about fertilizer placement? When did you start doing that?

Speaker 2 (01:50):
Probably somewhat about the same time we've done, uh, fertilizer testing, uh, my whole career, which started there in the 1980. We've grown in that aspect as well where we're doing more specific fertilizer studies and understanding what the soil, uh, needs and doing, uh, fertilizer analysis on small grid samples for the entire field. So that part, doing the small grid started probably about 20 years ago that we've been doing, uh, soil sampling on, on the grid, a smaller grid, and that's like two to three acre size, implement that we soil sample.

Speaker 1 (02:28):
I'm always so impressed with the sophistication of how farms have evolved throughout the generations. Since you've implemented these practices of no-till and fertilizer placement, what benefits have you seen?

Speaker 2 (02:39):
On the no-till side of it? We've seen, uh, a lot of benefits with controlling our, our wind erosion, the soil loss from, from wind erosion. I'm in an area that gets a lot of wind. I'm, I'm surrounded by, by wind turbines, and they come to an area that that is windy. And so we were one of the first in our region to get to get wind turbines. When the wind blows, if you don't have a residue that can control the soil and keep the soil in place, you can end up with a lot of that, uh, soil in the dust and blowing, you know, a long ways away. And so that's one of the benefits, uh, against wind erosion. And then also, uh, soil erosion. Uh, if we get a lot of snow in the winter and it melts quickly by having, uh, residue on top and attached to the soil, it can, uh, slow down that soil moving with the, the snow melt or big range. So those are some of the, the real practical benefits of maintaining our soil, the top soil and which is very critical in producing a great crop.

Speaker 1 (03:44):
Right. You're thinking about the future years and what about some of those benefits you've seen with the fertilizer placement?

Speaker 2 (03:50):
The fertilizer placement - It's a long term effect on that. Uh, the first couple years it takes a while to see some, uh, some benefits, but we're, we're applying fertilizer where it's needed the most and also where it will have the biggest return if we have some parts of the field that maybe have, uh, its poorer soil and regardless of how much fertilizer you put there, it may not produce much of a crop. So we will minimize the amount of fertilizer we put there. It's a economic decision to not put fertilizer where it's not needed, but it also has a real positive benefit not putting more fertilizer than the crop needs. So it's being efficient that way and that also is good for the, the groundwater. We're not over applying our fertilizer now.

Speaker 1 (04:35):
David, let's transition talking about how you're managing and executing these different practices and specifically with the fertilizer placement, are you going off of a nutrient management plan as that's kind of your starting point to knowing where you're placing the fertilizer?

Speaker 2 (04:50):
It is, to work with an agronomist that we, he will take the soil samples and send them into a lab and together then we'll work on a, a fertilizer nutrient plan for each crop and what the, the yield goal is and to, uh, apply the amount of, of fertilizer that that's needed to get that optimum, uh, yield. But also the, the timing of when we apply the fertilizer, we try to not apply it all at one time to apply it closer to when the, the crop will be, will be needing it. So we, uh, we apply some, uh, fertilizer before we, uh, we plant, we apply some while we are planting and then also in the summer we are applying some of the fertilizer then as well. And to spread out those application processes is why stewardship it, uh, it's supply, applying those fertilizer when the crop is going to be needing it.

Speaker 1 (05:47):
And from your experience, David, I mean you said you've been doing this for 20 plus years. When you work with your agronomists and go from year to year, how much is it changing or have you seen drastic changes in your plans from year to year? Or does it stay pretty consistent?

Speaker 2 (06:01):
When I've been doing it this many years and it's fairly consistent, we tweak it a little bit each year and, you know, partially depends on, uh, the previous year a larger crop, it was, if the, if that previous year removes a lot of the nutrients, then typically we'll have to apply a little bit more than we had previously to keep the soil in, uh, in a place where it can supply the, his nutrients here to supply a good crop in the growing year.

Speaker 1 (06:29):
And you mentioned timing. Has that been something you've always done where you've kind of been a little bit more strategic about when you're applying the fertilizer?

Speaker 2 (06:38):
I think I've done that for a number of years, yes. Each year we try to, uh, what areas can we improve? What, how can we get the maximum benefit from our fertilizer placement and, and the timing of it. And so there's, there's constantly, uh, some tweaking to that. And I think that's the nature of most farmers that we, uh, we want to, uh, not just do the status quo each year and, and try to, uh, improve on, on some things that we saw a previous year. How can we improve on that and how can we get the optimum yield with, uh, not over-applying fertilizer and knowing what the crops will need.

Speaker 1 (07:16):
Right. And you've been doing this for so many years, you get to know your field's almost like a, like a person. So once you start to know that that field needs so much nutrients, have you tried any cover crops to try to reduce the amount of fertilizer you're using in that field and use a cover crop as like a nitrogen source?

Speaker 2 (07:33):
I have not yet. Right. In our local community, there has not been a lot of, uh, people have done it, but, uh, it's something I'm, I'm very supportive of and would like to explore that option. We're a higher elevation than most of the areas around us, so our, our spring, uh, soils warm up slower. So it, there are some other challenges, uh, I think that we might face than even 50 miles away that they might not face because of their topography and their soil types. Right.

Speaker 1 (08:02):
That's a really good point. You can't be doing what another farm's doing even sometimes right down the road because of some of the different challenges you might be dealing with. Now let's focus in on maybe some of the challenges you've had with no-till and fertilizer placement. Can you share some of those challenges that you experienced and maybe walk us through how you fixed them?

Speaker 2 (08:21):
Yeah. Some of the, the challenges and, uh, in no-till is getting the fertilizer into the soil. If you're not, uh, doing, uh, a lot of tillage work after you apply the fertilizer, it can sometimes be a challenge to get the corn or soybean plant is trying to find the fertilizer. And if it hasn't been much rain, uh, the root zone and the fertilizer aren't meeting up. So sometimes the early growth can be a challenge. I'm actually looking at doing, uh, some strip till for this, this coming year where it's very minimal invasive to the soil and yet you're getting your fertilizer down. So it, uh, it's kind of another aspect of no-till and getting, uh, fertilizer placed in, uh, where the, where the crop needs it.

Speaker 1 (09:09):
And when it came to the fertilizer placement, what were some of those challenges that you've experienced and overcome?

Speaker 2 (09:15):
I think getting the, the fertilizer incorporated, sometimes I try to do just a little bit to get the, the soil incorporated into the soil. And so then the, the, the plant sets some of the challenges and I have a vertical tillage tool that will get the fertilizer off the tops, off the top, incorporate into the soil some and some years that may not be quite as aggressive tillage tool as, uh, as optimum needed, but some years it just, just works. Perfect. So what sometimes what works one year necessarily isn't the, the thing for the next year. And it all depends on weather and rain. A lot of things are out of, uh, out of my control.

Speaker 1 (09:57):
Right. I know in Wisconsin some of the challenges, uh, the farmers I've worked with have said that they don't have access to the equipment to do some of these different practices, but it sounds like you do have access to like a no-till planter or, uh, doing some of those strip-till practices.

Speaker 2 (10:13):
Yeah, definitely a no-till planter. I think most of the, the planters sold on the market now, the newer planters are, are equipped to be able to, uh, have enough down pressure whether you can get the seed and to have good soil seed contacts and to, uh, move the residue aside so you're not dealing with residue while you're planting a strip till equipment. I'm gonna have to hire that done the amount of acres I have, I would not look at investing in, uh, an applicator to hire that done and to, uh, to see how, see how that works in the future. So that's, that's one of the, the new, um, areas where I'm gonna be transitioning and, and trying some acres in, in that strip till operation.

Speaker 1 (10:54):
Right. Well, kudos to you for, you know, kind of thinking outside the box and trying something new. I know that that's an investment for you as well comes out of your pocketbook when you are trying these different conservation practices. Last question or last topic we wanna cover here on farm food facts. What are your conservation goals for the farm maybe within the next year or the next five years?

Speaker 2 (11:14):
I think each year I want to, uh, have the soil better than it was when I started in the spring after harvest. If I've maintained the, the soil erosion. And there are times that we get large rains and it seems like no matter how much residue is out there, there's gonna be some loss, but we try to do some drainage tile that will control the erosion to get the water to run underground and do, uh, collecting basins so the water can collect and then run underground. And so those are some of the practices and so I, I monitor those and how can I improve in this area? And I improve with maintaining the soil condition and improving it by having, uh, more residue on top. And it's working with that. And I think that long term that as well to have the soil in better condition than when I started farming it.

Speaker 1 (12:04):
And when you start to, you know, you just named off a few different items that you're looking at trying, how are you learning about those topics? How does that come about that you say Iverson Farms is gonna be doing this in the next five years?

Speaker 2 (12:15):
My dad was a great example on conservation tillage to be able to make that a priority on the farm. Anytime there is any erosion, it just, like, uh, I feel like a part of me is, is gone, you know, part of that, that soil will never, never be back and it just hurts and it just saddens me. So the concept of how can we do practices and always, uh, if I'm in the field and I see a situation that that needs to be changed to do that, uh, I want to get right at it and to, to minimize that. And, and so I've just, I've had a great role model. I've implemented it and, and part of what I do and the way that I operate the farm that I operate now.

Speaker 1 (12:54):
And speaking of, you know, your dad and the things that you've learned from him, the things that you're looking at implementing in your farm, what do you think he would think of that? I mean, I always think it's kind of crazy how what they started with and what their father started with and where you are now. What do you think they would be saying?

Speaker 2 (13:10):
I'm very fortunate. My dad, he's in his early nineties and, and still, uh, still very active, helps me on the farm. So I run ideas by him and he's very supportive and likes the technology changes that we've implemented and auto steer and yield mapping and those type of things. He, uh, is very supportive of that. He, he actually will, will drive my combine in the fall and he likes the auto steer 'cause then he doesn't get, doesn't have to steer and get as tired. And so he, he's been uh, very good to embrace new technologies and back to the soil conservation and, and no-till very much embrace those. The longevity of the soil is extremely important.

Speaker 1 (13:52):
He's probably saying, where was this when I started farming? <laugh> my life a lot easier. Right. <laugh>?

Speaker 2 (13:58):
Yep. No air conditioning and just a lot of hard manual labor all the way around.

Speaker 1 (14:03):
Well, thank you so much David, for your time and your commitment to protecting our precious land. We also appreciate our listeners time as you learn a little bit more about agriculture, maybe some different conservation practices you can try on your farm. If you enjoyed listening to our podcast, please subscribe and rate us on your favorite podcast app and we hope that you tune in. Again, I'm Joanna Guza for Farm Food Facts.