It's not the easiest operational practice, but with some time, effort and patience, no till/strip till, cover crops, grass waterways and a focus on the water/soil quality do pay off:
That's the experience of Jim O'Connell in Western Linn County, one of Iowa's Farm Environmental Leader Award Winners:
It was a picturesque day for Andy to head out and ride with Jim, who is a busy man this time of year:
Despite the weather challenges, Jim is seeing strong yields resulting from his environmentally-friendly management decisions, such as strip till:
He's also seeing better weed control from his usage of cover crops:
His typical day involves sitting down behind the wheel of the cover crop planter before the sun rises and going until mid-morning, then hopping in the combine until well after dark. A big thanks to Jim for taking the time to host Andy and set a great example of how to have success while managing for the environment along with helping non-farm folks understand just how hard farmers are working to protect the environment for decades to come.