In the late 1990s, South Dakota farmer Kurt Stiefvater was ready to give up on the transition to no-till. He’d been no-tilling crops for a decade. But he admits he didn’t understand how it really worked.
“I just didn’t understand the transition time to go from low tillage, a one-pass tillage system to no-till and how your soil has to adjust biologically,” Stiefvater explains.
Rather than give up, the fourth-generation grower instead pressed on with no-till. He stepped up crop rotation, moving to multiple species and focusing on getting more nutrients into the soil.
“I use less commercial fertilizer now, less N, P and K,” Stiefvater says. “I’ve doubled organic matter on some fields in the last 15 years. I don’t have the erosion from wind or water as much [as I did before no-till]. And I’m able to capture the soil and keep it where it’s at.”
Holding on to the soil
Growing up, Kurt Stiefvater farmed alongside his parents and siblings on the same land he cares for today. In addition to corn and soybeans, the Salem, South Dakota, farmer grows oats, grain sorghum, winter wheat, alfalfa and cover crops while managing a cattle operation.
The family farm once included beef and swine finishing enterprises, but those entities were phased out as Stiefvater transitioned into managing the operation full-time in the mid-1980s.
It’s no secret farmers in the Midwest face a variety of weather challenges. That said, ideal growing conditions vary from year to year depending on moisture.
To mitigate those obstacles and their possible impact on crops, Stiefvater relies on the five principles of soil health as a foundation for his stewardship journey:
- Limit soil disturbance
- Maximize soil cover
- Increase plant diversity
- Keep living roots in the ground
- Integrate livestock
According to Stiefvater, by using those principles, he’s been able to increase soil organic matter, with some doubling from 2% to 4%. Nitrogen use has also been reduced from 1.1 pounds per bushel to 0.70 pounds. And he’s seen a 30% reduction in potassium and phosphorus application without impacting yields.
“With less chemical disturbance, use of crop rotations and cover crops, I have learned to manage my soils and make nutrients more available to the plants,” he explains.
Implementing those practices on 100% of his acreage combined with tile lines allow water to be filtered before entering a watershed, which helps keep soil nutrients in the field.
Adding to the bottom line
While his conservation legacy truly begins from the ground up, the results of his efforts to improve soil health have a ripple effect on his entire operation.
Beyond soil health, the veteran farmer has been able to cut input costs by using less fertilizer. Additionally, equipment expenses and labor costs have been reduced.
“I also do rotational grazing on my pastures,” Stiefvater says. “And I get more animal units use out of my acres of pasture with better weed control and less chemical use with the rotational grazing.”
He relies on cover crops following small grains and some on soybean acres, while blended species serve as winter feed for his cow/calf operation.
“I allow cattle to graze them [cover crops] during the winter months as they get exercise, a variety of plants, spread manure and consume the crop residues,” he says.
With between 25% and 35% of his acreage seeded to covers each year, Stiefvater points out the species provide a living root for more days of the year, which protects the soil from wind and water erosion while adding crop diversity to his management plan.
Cover crop species he uses include turnips and radishes, oats, winter wheat, sunflowers and flax. He has tried hemp as well as other brassicas like rape seed.
“The last couple of years with it being dry, I change up my mixes according to the amount of moisture we have,” Stiefvater says. “I’ll maybe use more legumes because they will have the moisture to grow. Otherwise, I must use more grassy crops because my main goal is to grow forage for my livestock feed while also looking at the benefits for the soil.”
In the future, the conservationist hopes to include even more covers into his row crops to continue growing feed for his cattle while continuing to enhance soil health and control erosion. This year, he included grain sorghum (milo) to help generate additional residue for soil protection and to increase organic matter.
“I would also like to produce my own compost extract to lower my fertilizer costs and improve soil biology,” he adds.
Spreading the word
A staunch believer in conservation, Stiefvater is a mentor and advocate for soil health across his home state. Whether he’s speaking at South Dakota State University to agronomy and farm business classes about farm production practices or hosting soil health schools, his stewardship journey is an open book. The conservation champion also speaks out on rural mental health, a growing concern across the American countryside.
“In my talk, I share how stressful it can be by not having crop or livestock diversity in your operation,” he advises. “Stress can build when an enterprise is not performing well. All your eggs should not be in one basket. This allows for other enterprises to still have a positive outcome and lower stress in your life.”
The long-time farmer is hopeful that by sharing his story, others will be encouraged to create their own unique, positive message on sustainability by using their resources and management goals.
His conservation legacy, though, begins and ends deep beneath the ground.
As Stiefvater often shares in his presentations, “We have studied space for a long time; now we need to explore the soil below our feet and understand the vast soil web of the earth’s crust.”
Looking to the future
Analyzing the impact of every activity on his farm, he can monitor not only the soil, air and livestock under his care but also the economic return generated from the operation. His long-term vision to improve the soil truly leaves its mark as the core asset of his stewardship legacy.
“We study ag history of how soil loss and degradation has happened to implement better and reverse this trend to improve our base asset,” Stiefvater explains.
“Previous generations have used cover crops to provide a nitrogen source before commercial fertilizer. We believe we can use these techniques with present-day genetics, equipment and understanding of soil biology to improve our farm’s sustainability.”
Stiefvater is optimistic that his daughters show interest in the family farm and might consider returning one day.
“I’m trying to get them excited about [conservation], and they seem interested in some of the practices that they could take over and continue the land stewardship,” he says.
Having his daughters return to the farm would bring his operation full circle as he realizes his lifetime role is to improve the natural resources under his care.
“The bottom line is making [the land] better for the next generation,” he says simply. “Going forward, it’s about improving the soil and by growing that biology, keeping it protected and making it a resilient soil for the future.”
As farmers everywhere continually seek ways to add profitability to their operations, he has found conservation practices do more than just improve the soil on his farm. Ultimately, a lower cost of production pays dividends in the long term through increased profitability.
“Our goal is to improve soil health for long-term sustainability and ensure financial success for the next generations,” Stiefvater concludes.
