Defending the Land Blog

Meet 2016 4R Advocate Darin Stolte

If you’re young and progressive, you can identify with this farmer. He was chosen as a 2016 4R Advocate by the Fertilizer Institute for his focus on nutrient stewardship. Since then, he’s sought out more practices and innovations that help him achieve the goals of 4R Nutrient Stewardship. He’s been using strip-till on his eastern Iowa farm since 2018. He has a passion for sharing what he’s learned with other farmers, like you. In fact, he hosted the 2019 Iowa 4R Field Day on his farm. We had the opportunity to ask him some questions about his farming operation and practices this past spring. See what he had to say - meet Darin.

Preparing your tractor for strip-till is equally as important as the equipment that it is pulling. Environmental Tillage Systems (ETS) Precision Ag Specialist, Gavin Held, shares his checklist of the most commonly overlooked items that will prepare your tractor for a successful strip-till season.

Technology doesn’t have to be your enemy. Conducting pre-season technology checks can save you time when it's “go time”. ETS Precision Ag Specialist, Gavin Held, has been on many farms across North America and Canada facilitating machine set-ups, inspections and in-season trouble shooting. He has also personally ran the SoilWarrior over 1,000 acres using RTK guidance and prescription maps for variable rate fertilizer application. Gavin has shared his personal pre-season SoilWarrior technology check-list.

Purchasing new farm equipment takes time and consideration. Equally important is finding an operator for your new piece of equipment. At Environmental Tillage Systems (ETS), our customers often tell us one key to their success is having a skilled operator for their SoilWarrior. 

Dan Coffman isn't just a customer who runs a SoilWarrior. Coffman adds to his SoilWarrior experience by sharing updates from his operation on social media regularly. 

Three popular pre-plant phosphorus (P) application methods are broadcast or surface applied, deep banding and strip- or zone-application. Each of these methods has a definite impact on movement of P both on- and off-target that directly influences plant health and growth, but also nutrient reduction strategies put forth by many states.

Many Environmental Tillage Systems customers are interested in learning more about strip-tillage practices, even after they purchase a machine. We caught up with Ron Frankenstein and Darin Stolte at National Strip-Tillage Conference to ask them about their experiences at the conference and running a SoilWarrior. 

When we think of strip-tillage we think of photos of machines creating zones in the spring or fall. Those photos are  great, but how do the crops look? That is where #SoilWarriorGrown comes into play. 

Spring planting is done and the SoilWarrior is back in the shed until fall or next spring, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t continue to learn about strip- till at different events this summer. From national conferences to training days there is something for every strip-till farmer or enthusiast wanting to learn more.

 The 2018 National Strip-Tillage Conference will be held July 26-27 in Iowa City, Iowa. Now in its fifth year, the conference has become the premier learning and networking event in the U.S. for forward-thinking farmers. This year’s conference will include 7 general sessions, 12 strip-till classrooms, and 20 roundtable discussions along with unlimited networking with fellow strip-till enthusiasts. According to National Strip-Tillage Conference Attendee Surveys 95.2% of Strip-Tillage Conference attendees would recommend attending. *