Manure is a gift and a curse for dairy farmers. It becomes the dark cloud for dairy operations, being the source of time constraints, nutrient runoff and financial strains. Finding methods and approaches that bring consistency and flexibility to applications is often hard to find. That was, until conservation agriculture.

For some farms, innovation means introducing conservation practices ahead of the curve. For others, it may look like growing crops outside the “normal” local rotation. Elsewhere, it may mean introducing cutting-edge technology. At Uhlorn Family Farms of Ferdinand, all three are at play.

“Everyone knows what these practices are. Many farmers are doing them already,” says Dr. Sanford Eigenbrode, professor of entomology at the UI and a project lead for the Innovative Agriculture and Marketing Partnership (IAMP).

“No-till is not an end-all-fix-all but it is a good tool. Just like anything else, you need to use all your tools and need to manage on different levels and pay attention to different things.”

The year of 1692 was a bad year in the town of Salem, Massachusetts. The previous spring had been warm and rainy, and the main crop of cereal rye had been harvested during the summer and threshed around Thanksgiving.

Sure, Midwest farms can utilize no-till planting, but can Western producers make it work in a drier climate? Two Idaho producers tell us how it's working for them.

Challenged as part of a workshop to "share your ag story," Justin Place took them seriously. He shares his farm story with people all over the country – and he's reaping quite a crop.