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Building a soil health community

Farmers give advice on implementing soil health-building practices

Janelle Atyeo
Oct 10, 2023
Oct 10, 2023

Soil Health field day (41).JPG — University of Minnesota Extension Educator Jodi DeJong-Hughes, right, examines clods of soil turned over with a moldboard plow with soil health field day participants in Morris, Minn., last month.
Tri-State Neighbor photo by Janelle Atyeo

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Talk to someone who’s done it before. Try a little. Experiment.

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Soil Health field day (168) - Woodke.jpg — Derek Woodke farms near Morris, Minn.
Tri-State Neighbor photo by Janelle Atyeo

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Soil Health field day (43).JPG — Jennifer Hahn examines soil in a tilled demonstration field.
Tri-State Neighbor photo by Janelle Atyeo

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Soil Health field day (169) - Stoen.jpg — Gregg Stoen says he started small switching to conservation tillage on his family farm near Lowry, Minn.
Tri-State Neighbor photo by Janelle Atyeo

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Soil Health field day (169) - Chase.jpg — Mark Chase uses vertical and strip tillage on his Big Stone County, Minnesota, farm.
Tri-State Neighbor photo by Janelle Atyeo

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Soil Health field day (56).JPG — Field day participants compare ground plowed by a disc and other tillage implements.
Tri-State Neighbor photo by Janelle Atyeo

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Soil Health field day (83).JPG — Field day participants compare ground plowed by a strip till machine and more aggressive tillage implements.
Tri-State Neighbor photo by Janelle Atyeo

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Soil Health field day (68).JPG — Jennifer Hahn sifts through tillage-disturbed soil.
Tri-State Neighbor photo by Janelle Atyeo

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Soil Health field day (85).JPG — A demonstration field near Morris, Minn., allowed field day participants to compare ground plowed by everything from a moldboard plow to a strip till machine.
Tri-State Neighbor photo by Janelle Atyeo

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Janelle Atyeo is a small town South Dakota girl enjoying her work as regional editor of the Midwest Messenger and Tri-State Neighbor while raising kids and no-till vegetables in central Sioux Falls. Reach her at janelle.atyeo@lee.net.