By ANN HINCH
Assistant Editor

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — Seventeen years after the annual National No-Tillage Conference began, Wisconsin publication No-Till Farmer – a co-sponsor – lauded the event’s first Responsible Nutrient Management Practitioners Program award winners in what is intended to be an annual recognition.

This first year’s three winners were David Brandt of Carroll, Ohio, Mike Starkey of Brownsburg, Ind., and Dan and Ed Wilkinson of Gettysburg, Pa. Starkey, whose land was featured in Farm World two years ago in an article about Gypsoil soil additive, was recognized for his planter setup modifications and using cover crops while maintaining high corn yields.

The Wilkinsons were chosen for their inventive no-till work in shallow clay shale soils, which uses careful manure application and cover crops. But it was Brandt who was selected to give a short presentation at this year’s conference in Indianapolis about his use of cover crops.

The Ohio grower has notably used mostly legumes as part of a 37-year, no-till cover crop program on his farm. He uses no-till techniques on his 900 acres of corn, soybeans, wheat and alfalfa in addition to cover crops, including Austrian winter peas and oilseed radishes.

He said the radishes store nitrogen, potassium and calcium, which he can use later for fertilizer for cash crops. In addition, he calculated that during the past five years they have loosened his soil compaction by 40 percent – “We’re going to have 40 percent more water storage for next year,” he pointed out.

Using GPS with a hydraulic planter and fertilizer, he makes systematic seed placement of his radishes in late July. Last year, his matured radishes averaged 2.5 inches in diameter and 22 inches in length (and “smell worse than any hog manure you’ve ever smelled,” he added with a laugh). He disclosed that manure was applied to the radish field two years before he planted those first radishes.

Brandt said the 30-inch rows of corn he planted on 30-inch rows of radishes received a 17 bushel-per-acre boost from the legume’s presence. He also noted his subterranean earthworm population has increased by 3-6 times since he started planting cover crops.