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Noah Newman:

It is time for another edition of the Strip Till Farmer Podcast. Great to have you with us. As always, I'm your host, Noah Newman. Big thanks to Yetter Farm Equipment for sponsoring the program. We'll have a special message from them later in the podcast. This week, we are going one-on-one with Minnesota strip tiller, Greg [inaudible 00:00:24]. He shares his economic-based strategy for managing his 900-acre strip tilled corn operation. Had a lot of fun talking with Greg, let's waste no more time. Here he is.

Greg Entinger:

Greg [inaudible 00:00:38], New Prague, Minnesota. We're about 50 minutes south, a little bit southwest of the Twin Cities, between Twin Cities and Mankato. I am a strip tiller since 2015, converted over to no-till soybeans in 2017. So current operation is strip till corn and no-till soybeans.

Noah Newman:

So you mentioned you switched to strip till with corn. What was your big motivation for switching to strip till?

Greg Entinger:

I was just talking about that this weekend. Erosion control was one of my major concerns, but then, once I started digging into it, it was really more the economics of things, cutting back on fuel, cutting back on time, cutting back on fertilizer. I saw all these savings that were being generated without loss of yield. So if you can maintain yield and cut inputs, there's more profitability there, so that was a huge, huge thing that just kind of sunk in with me right away.

Noah Newman:

Yeah, absolutely, and we'll dig into more of the economics here in a minute. But I'm just curious, how difficult is it when you're changing from conventional till to strip till, just in terms of changing your mindset, how big of an obstacle was that?

Greg Entinger:

Yeah, I grew up turning the soil black. I mean, that's the way I grew up. But you have to put trust in the technology, I mean, you have to put trust in people that are doing it. I mean, I went out and talked to two strip till farmers, somewhat in my area, I mean, I got to go 20 miles one direction and 15 miles the other direction to find the closest strip till guys. But I spent some time with them talking about it, and they always said, just sell everything because you'll never go back.

I think another thing that scares people away, too, is just the cost of the toolbars. But there's progressions that you can get into, you can just buy a toolbar free point without any fertilizer tank. I mean, that's the most economical way of starting. That will get your soil structured to start changing. In a few years, after you have some savings, buy a Montag tag hopper system behind it. You can just kind of start building your strip till bar. You don't need to make that first $300,000 investment, you can just start stepping stones. But I mean, I did not start that way, I started with a ... I'm going to name a brand, SoilWarrior. It was a single hopper, 12-row unit. I ran that for five years, and now I stepped up to a twin hopper because I saw more savings capabilities there. So you can start off small, and make progressions and make bigger steps.

Noah Newman:

Yeah, just kind of taking it step by step. So when you made the switch, did you sell some of your older equipment? Or how did that work, in terms of how your equipment-

Greg Entinger:

I was fortunate enough where I didn't need to. Not a lot of people say you're betting the farm, but I was betting the farm on it. I was fortunate to be able to not have to sell the equipment. But once I bought into the system and saw that the system works on my own, yeah, I sold my big four-wheel drive tractor, I sold my field cultivator, I sold my ripper. And I recouped three quarters of the cost of the strip till bar right there. So over those years that I started strip tilling and not selling my equipment, the savings that I had made up the rest of the cost. So I think three, five years was selling the equipment, and the savings, I mean, that toolbar is paid for. And then, like I said, we bought a twin hopper. It was used ... honestly, I think it paid for itself in two years, three years. We got a good deal on it, but I honestly think, with fertilizer savings, we've darn near paid for that thing already.

Noah Newman:

Wow, that's incredible. Yeah, how do you quantify the extra money and hours saved by strip tilling? Do you have a specific number off the top of your head, in terms of how much you've saved?

Greg Entinger:

Well, I think, fertilizer, I'm 50%. I mean, I talked to my agronomist, and we went back and forth from the single hopper to the twin hopper. And oh, it ain't going to make a difference, we're still going to be costing the same. But I called him six months later and said, well, we did it. We've got a two hopper system. And he goes, well, okay, I'll start making maps for the [inaudible 00:05:00] separately, and [inaudible 00:05:02]. And he calls me back, he goes, I can't believe it, I mean, you're cutting down even further than what we were before. Just because you're not ... we're putting on crop takeoff in the lowest areas, that those are the highest areas that don't need product. Or where product is really needed, where my fields are low in fertility, we can apply more there to start bumping that up. Instead of just putting out a full 100 pounds of P and 100 pounds of K, we're going 25 pounds where I don't need it, and we're putting [inaudible 00:05:38] 150.

But yeah, it's just, we're able to build my fields, build my fertility, but yet, cut costs because I am putting that fertilizer in that six-inch band. My agronomist ... I mean, you have to trust your agronomist. We're putting that fertilizer in that six-inch band instead of across 30 inches. You can cut your rates down over time. Don't do it the first year you do it because your soil needs to start adapting to it. But as you start progressing in this world of strip till, you can start looking at cutting down your fertilizer rates, and keep on going, and get to a manageable level that you feel comfortable with. Will I ever put down zero? I have, because my fertility was way high in these areas. So your soil is your bank, you're banking that soil, you're banking that nutrients out there.

Noah Newman:

Yeah, are you dealing with a lot of different soil types where you are?

Greg Entinger:

Oh, shoot, I got a 90-acre field that has 12 different soil types.

Noah Newman:

Oh my gosh.

Greg Entinger:

Yeah. I joke around, I'm in the hills of [inaudible 00:06:44] County. I mean, got heavy clays down to [inaudible 00:06:47] across one field. It's just legumes and muck and clay, and sandy soils, too. So you get these people that, oh, I've never worked in my soil. Well, come over here and take a look, because I bet I got your soil somewhere in my fields. It's just crazy, my cousin who farms nine miles away from myself, and it's amazing to see the soil type difference just between me and him at nine miles apart. And the first year I started strip tilling, he's like, yeah, you do it. But that first year, they thought I had ... the neighbors, as well as him, he thought I had the greatest corn in the county. Why? Was it because of strip tilling? I don't know. Was it the year?

But yeah, I think I had the healthiest crop in my area. I kept moisture in the ground, I was feeding it properly, and so forth. But after that year, he's like, you know what? Let me borrow that machine. Let me strip half of my ground. Because he was, no way, this ain't going to work. It might work, but it ain't going to work. But that next year, he stripped half of his ground, and the following year, he's like, I'm on board, let's strip everything. So between the two farms, we were able to share costs again, and that's how we got into the dual tank, is sharing that expense of that equipment bar. So we're running that strip till bar across, total acres between the two of us, corn and soybeans, is over 2000 acres. But we're really stripping our soybean stuff and going to corn, so it's about 1,000 acres we're going across. And now we have some guys that are asking us to do custom strip tilling, so they're starting to see what's happening here. So I think we have 300 acres of custom strip tills here.

Noah Newman:

Wow, that's a lot.

Greg Entinger:

Yeah. I mean, just time savings. I mean, it's just, combine corn, I'm done. I don't have to go out there and rip it. I love the field combing, I loved the ripping in the middle of the night out in the middle of the field. I loved it. I don't like it anymore. I'm ready to get that strip done, and I'm done. I combine corn, I'm done. I come back in the spring and plant soybeans. And that's the toughest thing, no-till soybeans is a no-brainer. These guys need to go and just try it. And that's just the hardest thing for them to do is just try it. Take a 40-acre field, and take half of it, or 10 acres of that 40-acre field, and just leave it. Don't touch it in the fall, and plant no-till soybeans into it. And then, you can do a side by side comparison, but they just won't do it.

Oh, you got to turn that soil black and get it warmed up. No, you don't. This last spring was just wet here in my area. Guys were working those that soil up twice, but the adage is, you work it up once, you lose an inch of water out of your soil. Well, they were working it two times, so they lost two inches of water in their soil. I was no-tilling beans, my beans came up like a week before they did because I was planting into moisture. The seed swelled up and started growing. Well, they had to wait for a rain for that seed to get moisture to start swelling and growing. So it is just fun, guys. Think about it, it's just a no-brainer.

I mean, guys need to look at their financials and say, what does it cost me to do all this field work, and does it pay for it? I mean, I'm right at bushels, or I'm outgrowing bushels with my neighbors in this area. So you're not losing it, but what does it cost you? Okay, if I lose a bushel per acre by no-tilling soybeans, does that bushel pay for that extra cost? No, it doesn't. Does two bushels? No, it doesn't. Does five bushels? Well, yeah, now you're starting to get into the area, if you lose five bushels, yeah ... all right, if I would've worked up that field and gained five more bushels, yeah, it'll pay for itself. But you got all that time, that time and energy invested into it.

Noah Newman:

Yeah, on top of the money, that seems like the big part with you, too, is just all the extra hours you save.

Greg Entinger:

Yeah, it's crazy. I mean, I do have a presentation I did a while back. I should pull it up, I should've pulled it up before our meeting here. But I mean, like strip tilling, I think I'm down to go over ... I can do about 25 acres an hour, and I think ripping was like, 10, 15 acres an hour I was doing. And then you got to come back in the spring and do another 10, 15 bushels an hour. So I'm getting done in half the time that it does take to do conventional work. And I'm doing it one time, I'm not coming back in spring and refreshening it.

And I have the flexibility to do it in fall or spring. So it's ... last fall was really dry, and we took the strip till bar out, and it was really dry here. And the soil was hard, and we just, you know what? We're going to wait until we get moisture in the spring and strip till in the spring. So this spring, we're just going to come out, we'll have our 500,000 acres done in four days. So it's like, huh, all right, four days in the spring, not too bad. And people need to fill call date. Well, it's going to take them four or five days to fill call date, six days call date. But we'll be done, and we'll have our fertilizer out there for the year.

Noah Newman:

Let's burn a time-out and thank our sponsor Yetter Farm Equipment. The 2984 Strip Freshener from Yetter gives you flexibility within your strip till system. You control the level of tillage performed to create the ideal seabed. Strip Fresheners can also place liquid or dry fertilizer in the strips. Use it ahead of the planter to facilitate consistent soil warming and bring existing strips to life. Use a Strip Freshener in the fall, in the spring, or in both seasons. You decide. Visit yetterco.com, that's Y-E-T-T-E-R-C-O.com, for more information. Now, back to the conversation. So you're not just dead set on building strips in the fall or spring, you wait to see what the weather dictates and the soil dictates, and then you make a decision. So it could change, one year, you might build your strips in the fall, and then, next, you might build them in the spring?

Greg Entinger:

That is correct. We would like to get it done in the fall. I mean, fall's very ... years before, we had about 90% done in the fall, and we felt there's just a lot to do in the spring. You don't have the right weather in spring yet, it can be a little bit more of a hassle. But I mean, there's no one way of doing it. I've gone to the National Strip Till Convention a few years ago, or when I first started my first year, I'm like, before I even started, really, how do I do this? Well, you got to figure it out yourself. Well, no, you tell me how to do this. No, you got to figure it out yourself. And I'm a true believer in that now. I mean, you have to do trials. If you're not failing, you're not learning. I have failed a few times, but I learned from that.

And you got to take the bad days, and go, okay, hey, what did I do wrong here? I'm not trying to do those trials across all my acres, I'm picking 20 acres or 15 acres, and trying things. And that's one thing about the no-till soybeans, I mean, we were stripping our corn stubble for soybeans for a few years, and I'm like, you know what? Why are we doing this? So I'm like, let's take 20 acres or 40 acres of my soybeans, 600 acres of soybeans, let's take 20 acres and no-till it. And we had zero difference in soybean yields. And it's like, well, that's a no-brainer. So it's like, the next year, I think I did three quarters of my soybeans no-till, and the other, strip till. I'm like, wow, why am I doing this again? So then, following year, I 100% no-till. My cousin was right there with me and watching and everything, and he started doing the same thing.

So it's just, you got to do those trials. One thing, urea, the N, ENS, you can do that in the fall of the year. I did that once, and I think I had the wrong fall or the wrong winter. It was wet, it was warm. I think the ENS broke down and my nitrogen leached downward into the soil profile. So my corn was always suffering that year. And that was one thing, I'm like, I'm never putting ENS down in the fall again. It's just one of those things, I'm just like, nope, I tried it, it failed. It's too high of a risk, too much money involved, I'm not going to do it. But I tried it, and I failed, so it's like, all right, keep on going.

Noah Newman:

Yeah, it sounds like you try something new every year, maybe. With planning season quickly approaching, is there anything new you're looking at doing this year? I stumped you with that one.

Greg Entinger:

Yeah, no, I mean, it's the microorganisms or micronutrients.

Noah Newman:

Right, right. Yeah.

Greg Entinger:

That's becoming very popular right now. And we're going to do some trials with that. Not to name brands, but Pivot Bio, and ... oh, what's the other one? We're going to be doing some trials on it, so we tried some last year.

Noah Newman:

You mean like, zinc and boron, and micronutrients like that?

Greg Entinger:

Yep, yep, yep. So we're going to be trying a little bit more of that this year, just trying to get that soil as healthy as it possibly can be. And it's just ... because if you have that healthy soil, it's going to produce. And we're trying to do the minimum tillage thing with the strip till on it. It's just, you got to try the little things here and there. And does it save money? Yes, no, all right, let's not try it again next year. So it's just, you got to keep on trying new stuff. And the farmers out there, oh, it'll never work on my ground, or I'm not going to try it. Well, you're going to keep on doing the way you're doing it. There's no way of convincing you otherwise, so why are we having this conversation?

So you got to be able to try new stuff, and you have to set up the next generation for success. And that's what I think is where we're going to be struggling. I think the soil health thing ... I mean, I'm soil health by accident. I mean, I'm looking at the economics thing, but I think this is coming down from the government, too. And I think there's going to be practices like this that are going to need to be done, and I'm out front. So I think these farmers need to get caught up and start taking a look at these things, and at least trying it, trying it on 10 acres or 15 acres.

Noah Newman:

Yeah, I read an article where you called yourself an accidental conservationist. I like that. So yeah, how much of your soil's changed, and just, what are some of the big observations you've made since you switched to strip till and no-till?

Greg Entinger:

One of the biggest things, a few years ago I was clean water certified through the state of Minnesota, Department of Ag in Minnesota. So the Department of Ag, he went out into my field and walked down a property line of my neighbor's, and went 20 feet into my soil and 20 feet into his soil. And he came back with those soil samples, and during presentation that we had, he was showing off these soil samples. And the soil samples were fist-sized soil. And I'm just looking, and I was just in awe of the different soil structure of those clumps of dirt. You'd look at my neighbor's property soil, and every time you work that soil up, it's breaking down the structure of that soil. It's becoming finer and finer and finer and finer. Once you get a rain, all those fine particles just snap to each other.

And the best way to describe it is like a block of ice. But now, you go to my soil, and I haven't done full width tillage years prior to that test. And you can see the soil structure, you can see the aggregates of the soil, you can see where water can infiltrate through. Earthworm holes as big as your pinky going right through it. And I was just in awe. I never looked at dirt that way, but I was in awe of it. And four years that my soil changed like that. Because there's no way my soil was any different than my neighbors when I was doing full width conventional tillage. But in four years, for my soil structure to change and adapt, and to allow moisture to get into the ground, is just amazing.

I mean, I was out the farm in the woods I grew up in as a kid, and my driveway goes past the drainage ditch that my dad had dug when I was a kid. And I was driving by it one day, and I'm like, what is that? And this is just a few years after doing strip tilling. I'm like, what is that? And I see the stream of water, and I'm like, oh, shoot, that's a tile line discharge. And that tile, I'm like, that tile line has not ran in 15 years, and now, water's actually getting down to it again and running. I mean, that just is amazing.

And I have old, abandoned clay tiles, and this is one of my issues right now, I have old, abandoned clay tile lines. Water's getting down to them, and they're plugged, they're broken, they're damaged, or whatever. So now I have blowouts out in the middle of the field. But before that, water never got to those tile lines, but now I do. And it's like, all right, water is definitely infiltrating my ground. It's crazy to see the difference in the soil, and see those things really, truly happening.

Noah Newman:

Yeah, like you mentioned, when you first started strip tilling, you did it economically motivated, but did you ever imagine that it would have this big of an impact in other areas?

Greg Entinger:

They always said they would, and I did not not believe them. But I mean, yeah, it's definitely true. I knew by leaving that trash, my soil was going to be maintaining moisture. And that's the one thing, even soil temperature is a little bit cooler during those hot summer days, just because I had covered the trash from the previous crop over them. But again, too, it's the earthworms. I mean, you find earthworm piles all over my place. I mean, earthworms come up in the middle of the night when the birds aren't out, and they gather the food and put it over their hole. I'm like, really? I never seen [inaudible 00:21:54] that.

But yeah, you can spot them all over my field. And you combine corn, you have all that trash, and you go in there and plant in the spring, the trash is 90% still there from over winter, but by harvest time in fall, 90% of it's gone. And it's like, where did that all go? That's breaking down, earthworms are eating it and carrying it down into the ground, and it's just, the microorganisms are starting to work and do their job. And it's just amazing, it's fun to talk about.

Noah Newman:

Well, it's great to hear you're having a lot of success. I'll give you the last word before we let you go. Any words of advice to new strip tillers or people thinking about maybe giving it a try?

Greg Entinger:

Well, I mean, go talk. Go talk to your soil and water conservation district. Go and talk to your NCRS guy. They know who's doing these practices. Go talk to those guys and have them, or you reach out to the farmers that are doing it. The farmers who are doing it are probably like me, like talking about it. They want to encourage people to start doing this practices. Go talk to them, talk and talk and talk. I mean, I had one guy just show up out of the blue, and we talked for 45 minutes about strip tilling, and so forth. And I think the next year, he actually purchased a strip till bar and started strip tilling. I mean, the other thing is, too, I mean, this is soil health, this is an environmentally friendly practice.

I mean, I put a bid out on some land around our land that came up for rent, and rent my bid. I said, hey, I am not going to be the highest bidder here, but I'm going to be the best for your ground. And this is why. And my bid letter was two pages long. I mean, a lot of people just write a dollar amount on a piece of paper and hand it in. Well, mine was all typed up with pictures explaining what I do, what your field's going to look like, what my goals are. And it was four siblings renting it, and I spent 15 minutes on the phone with one, an hour and a half on the phone with another one, and I came back and I got the land.

So am I paying the highest rent? Was I going to pay the highest rent? No, but they saw the value of what I'm trying to do to their land, how to make it better, how to put nutrients back in there. Because I think the previous farmer just kind of stripped it down, and so, I'm rebuilding it, I'm putting the top soil back on. And it doesn't happen overnight, it's a continuous practice. But it's going to happen, it's going to work. But no, seriously, go talk to your NCRS or your soil and water conservation district. They know who's doing this out there. And then, go talk to those guys.

Noah Newman:

Thanks to Greg [inaudible 00:24:49] for joining us on this week's podcast. And before we go, I want to remind you that registration is now open for the National Strip Tillage Conference. It's taking place in Bloomington, Illinois, August 3 and 4. The deadline for the early bird rate is May 31, so if you want to save a few bucks, head to our website for more information and to register at striptillfarmer.com. Thanks again for listening. I'm Noah Newman, until next time. For all things strip till, head to striptillfarmer.com. Have a great day.