Rick owes his interest in conservation practices to his dad. “In the early 80s we had some highly erodible land that he turned into contour strips, and he seeded a lot of grass waterways down, and many other things,” he recalls. Around the year 2000, to cut manpower costs, he and his dad began no-tilling wheat and soybeans. This piqued Rick’s interest in conservation practices because “we were able to save time and labor,” and it led to unforeseen benefits like “cost and equipment cost savings,” he notes.

In 2008 Rick took the farm fully no-till, and in 2009, began incorporating cover crops. “We were able to basically eliminate our tillage equipment, and we reduced our passes across the field,” he says. Rick dropped from doing 3-4+ passes on the field per growing season with tillage equipment, to 1-2 times (one for planting and one for harvesting) doing no-till. He also experienced less wear and tear on equipment, which reduced the money he had to invest in repairs.

The soil on the farm has begun to improve. Rick’s seen water infiltration, specifically, “when we get those big huge rains, the soil seems to be able to absorb the water and to survive a lot better than the neighboring fields that are full tillage yet.” He’s also noticed more earthworms and bugs. The soil structure has improved too. Instead of a light, blow-sand appearance, the color is richer and doesn’t look like it’s going to blow away anymore.

Rick’s practices continue to grow as he works toward the future. He says “I’m constantly trying to improve water quality and trying to eliminate runoff where I can. Hopefully, when I’m done, if my kids choose to take over, it’s better then than it is now.”