No-Till Success in Cass County’s Red River Valley

Luann Dart is a writer from Elgin, N.D.

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Overboe – who grows corn, soybeans and wheat – has dabbled in no-till since he started farming in 1970, but he couldn’t make it work without the proper equipment or knowledge.

“It was a challenge,” he says.

When the wet cycle began in 1993, his heavy clay soils were especially challenging. They just wouldn’t dry out and warm up in early spring without tillage. The planters and drills available then didn’t work well either. They couldn’t go through the residue without plugging frequently, especially when it was damp. And, perhaps most importantly, there weren’t many people with no-till experience who he could turn to for advice.

“I was just a voice in the wilderness out here. I didn’t have anybody to work with on no-till,” he says.

But things changed. The equipment got better. Air seeders and planters were developed that could handle the residue and there were people who could help.

In 1996, Overboe bought a no-till drill and found success, especially with no-till soybeans into standing cornstalks and wheat stubble. He’s no-tilled soybeans ever since. As he gained experience and confidence with the system, he gradually expanded his use of no-till throughout the rotation and is now able to no-till corn and wheat, even on his heavy clay soils.

“I couldn’t have done it without help of other farmers who had experience with no-till and the folks at Cass County Soil Conservation District,” he says.

Soil scientists and soil health experts at the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and North Dakota State University (NDSU) were invaluable. When Overboe ran into problems, they were able to suggest solutions and provide technical advice. They were also able to document improvements in his soils.

Overboe has participated in many different conservation programs and whole-farm conservation planning projects. He’s currently enrolled in the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP), which encourages conservation enhancements.

In 2014, NRCS worked with Overboe to help further some of his already conservation-based farming operation with a CSP contract.

“The conservation plan we put together with Lynn included planting a pollinator plot, and cover crop mixes that would improve soil quality and water quality. He has been willing to host a tour group and provide us with soil samples that were used in demonstrations to educate local high school children on the benefits of soil health and how it ties to water quality. He has a real passion for conservation and is willing to try any new innovative ideas, making working with him all the more exciting for the NRCS,” says Joshua Monson, NRCS District Conservationist with the Fargo field office.

“To have their help made a world of difference the second time around,” Overboe says. He also credits Dr. Abbey Wick and Dr. Dave Franzen at NDSU for their assistance.

Today, the only tillage Overboe uses is when he side-dresses anhydrous onto his corn, using a special applicator that doesn’t destroy much soil structure.

This past year, he hosted a tour group with NRCS to share his practices with others.

“That was a lot of fun and they were amazed that you could run a soybean drill into stalks that are standing. I just use vintage equipment, I don’t use a chopping head on the combine, so it doesn’t look like a lawn after the combine goes through it. It looks like an old-fashioned cornfield and that’s what I seed into,” he describes.

While Overboe doesn’t see his soil blowing away from his fields anymore, he’s also noticed other benefits.

“Where I benefited significantly is soil structure and organic matter. With each 1 percent increase in organic matter, you have holding capacity of 27,000 gallons of water per acre increase, which is very significant. It can carry it through a dry year,” he says.

Overboe says tile drainage has been key to making no-till possible on his farm. On his heavy soils along the Sheyenne River, the clay subsoil is so dense that water doesn’t drain through it. That’s an advantage when it is dry, but it’s a problem when it is too wet. Tile removes the excess water that sits on the top of the clay. That makes it possible to leave residue soil surface to protect from wind erosion and build organic matter.

On his lighter soils on the former beaches of the ancient Lake Agassiz, the water table is high. Tile wicks away excess moisture for planting in the spring. Some of these fields are classified as highly erodible and have to be no-tilled to keep them from blowing. But they tend to dry out in the summer. Overboe has installed control structures on the tile outlets to hold water back on the land in the summer.

“The Red River Valley can be a challenging environment to practice no-till in wet years. Some producers choose to tile rather than battle soil and system limitations on poorly drained soils. This can alleviate the stress on the producer and facilitate the adoption of soil health practices,” says Hal Wieser, NRCS, Jamestown.

Overboe has seen resulting increases in yield through both no-till and tiling. He points to a cornfield which had recently been tiled and had been no-tilled for years. In 2016, the corn yield approached 250 bushels an acre.

“I’ve been farming since 1970 and I’ve never seen anything like that before. It just blew my mind,” he says. Soybeans seeded into that same field were outstanding in 2017 because of the moisture containment, as area soybeans suffered from a lack of moisture.

“I look forward to a lot of good crops down there,” Overboe says.

Overboe’s no-till continues to evolve. He’s diversifying his corn-soybean crop rotation with spring and winter cereal grains and planting cover crops. Winter cereals and cover crops will protect the soil from wind erosion over the winter, boost organic matter, recycle nutrients, use excess moisture and give earthworms and other soils organisms more live roots to feed upon longer.

“Worms are an indicator of soil health. When you have a higher worm population, you have good soil health. I do now have an extremely high population,” Overboe says.

NRCS also assisted Overboe in selecting a multispecies cover crop mix of warm- and cool-season grasses and broadleaves, rather than just the cereal rye he uses on some fields.

“You really need to do a multispecies. It’s much more beneficial and they are very helpful with that,” he says.

Overboe encourages others to delve into no-till, even if it’s on a small scale, and to experiment with cover crops.

“With the advent of lower cash crop prices, farmers may consider growing more different plants that don’t necessarily help the bank account a lot but will have big enhancements toward soil health. These are crops they probably would not consider when corn was $7. They can also grow cover crops for seed during low commodity prices for their own use in future years,” he suggests.

He purchased a stripper header, so he can leave cereal grain stubble standing upright, like he does with cornstalks. Tall stubble catches more snow over the winter, but also dries out more quickly in the spring because there’s less residue in a mat on the soil surface.

On the top of the soil, the crop residue and cover crop holds the soil in place. Underneath, the soil is thriving, Overboe says.

“When you take a shovelful of dirt, you’ll see soil layering and you’ll see the micropores of the earthworms throughout the shovelful. You’ll find a lot of earthworms, too, but the soil structure is really exciting,” he says. Overboe doesn’t worry anymore that no-till won’t work some years.

“No-till has gotten to be fun,” he says. “It’s almost gotten to be automatic.”