Tyler Duerst from Darlington, WI, discusses his experience in transitioning the family’s 300-cow dairy farm to a no-till farming system, despite the complexities of managing both liquid and solid manure. With the support of their crop consultant and with a little patience, they successfully achieved yields equivalent to yields seen with previous tillage practices. By making several adjustments to their planter and implementing a strategic approach to manure management, they have effectively adopted no-till farming and do not plan on going back to tillage anytime soon.

Jeff Endres of Endres Berryridge Farms near Waunakee, WI, shares his experience with no-till alfalfa seeding into winter rye. The Endres' have been exploring the concept of planting green in their alfalfa seeding process. Over the past several years, they have successfully implemented a no-till seeding method for alfalfa into winter rye. This method has resulted in a decrease in herbicide use on newly seeded acres and has demonstrated effective erosion control, even during significant storm events in the spring.

Local resources for no-till alfalfa:

• https://demofarms.danecounty.gov/Case-Studies

Yahara Pride Farms:

• www.yaharapridefarms.org

Dane Demo Farms and Endres Berryridge Farms

• https://demofarms.danecounty.gov/Endres

Karl Sime of Sime Farms, located near Stoughton, WI, will share information on how he utilizes cover crops for grazing his beef cows. Karl continually strives to improve his management of cover crops for grazing and harvested forage while also growing a grain crop on the same acres within the same cropping year. This method requires flexibility on the part of the farm, but ultimately can lead to time savings as the cows play a significant role in the harvesting of feed and distribution of manure.

Marie Raboin, a Conservation Specialist with Dane County Land Conservation, will be discussing the economic aspects of Karl's system. Don't miss this opportunity to gain valuable insights from Karl and Marie on the benefits of grazing cover crops.

Resources referred to in this podcast:

• Practical Farmers of Iowa, Grazing Cover Crops Farmer Toolkit, https://practicalfarmers.org/grazing-cover-crops-farmer-toolkit/

Local resources for cover crops:

• University of Wisconsin, Integrated Pest and Crop Management, Cover Crops, https://ipcm.wisc.edu/covercrops/

Dane Demo Farms and Bruce and Karl Sime:

• https://demofarms.danecounty.gov/Sime