Loretta Sorensen writes from Yankton, S.D.

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As fourth generation on the farm, Karlsbraaten thought the information she had gleaned from Bismarck farmer Gabe Brown’s son Paul might seriously conflict with her father’s long-time farming practices.

“But he had actually considered moving to no-till and cover crops before I brought it up,” she says. “That was great for me because I fell in love with farming when I was in high school. What I learned in college and during the time I worked as an agronomist led me to firmly believe farmers like Gabe Brown were using land resources in a much more sustainable way.”

Karlsbraaten used agronomic classes, such as plant science, that she completed at North Dakota State University (NDSU) to learn more about soil science. However, her ongoing discussions with both Paul and Gabe Brown helped them develop and implement plans to improve soil quality and their farming resources.

“When you understand the science of the plant and soil ecosystem, then no-till, cover crops, and using livestock all make a lot of sense,” Karlsbraaten says.

The last time her father used a plow was the fall of 2010. In Spring 2011, after thoroughly discussing no-till practices with Brad Jacobs, the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) District Conservationist in Pierce County, Karlsbraaten and her father moved to 100% no-till and have never looked back.

“The first five years were really hard,” she says. “For 2011 planting, Dad bought a John Deere 1890 no-till drill. It was very nerve wracking to wait for our crops to emerge when all around us traditionally tilled and planted crops were already up. It took time, but our crops caught up with those around us and our yields that first year were acceptable.”

Their no-till journey hasn’t been without obstacles. Hair-pinning, failure of the disc drill to cut through residue and plug the seed slot, seemed their greatest challenge.

“In the first five years, hair pinning was pretty bad in a field or two,” Karlsbraaten says. “We’ve overcome much of that by switching to a John Deere 1970 planter with a wavy coulter disc in front, which easily cuts through residue. When we plant into a field with corn stubble or wheat stubble, we can run right through it with the 1970. Even so, we still have some hair pinning issues.”

Karlsbraaten and her father have also learned to patiently wait for things like morning dew to burn off residue before they attempt planting. Their patience further reduces potential for hairpinning.

“This is our third year using the 1970 planter and its working well,” she says. “Our current goal is to balance our soil’s carbon and nitrogen content, so residue breaks down faster. This fall I noticed a lot of last fall’s corn stover was gone, so we believe we’re making progress in that area. In talking with other no-till farmers, we’ve heard it takes around five years to improve soil quality to the point where stover breaks down quickly.”

Karlsbraaten and her father have used cover crops since 2011 to help break down hardpan and add nitrogen to soils. Their mix typically consists of turnips, radishes and legumes.

“The brassicas, like turnips, help with weed control,” she says. “They also hasten buildup of soil organic matter. We add a grass in our mix to help prevent soil erosion.”

Jacobs believes Karlsbraaten and her family will realize significant gains in soil quality and health as they continue to refine their no-till and cover crop practices.

“Michelle and her family are bringing many beneficial practices together to help improve the sustainability of their farm land,” Jacobs says. “Our North Dakota NRCS offices are happy to serve as consultants and information sources for others who want to explore and/or implement these conservation practices in their own operation.”

Karlsbraaten has found rye, with its allelopathic effect, to be a great way to control mare’s tail and kochia. Since both weeds are becoming chemical resistant in her area, using rye has been a great weed management tool.

In Fall 2017, in a 250-acre field they just started farming, Karlsbraaten and her father planted rye in fall. They grazed it after it emerged and then hayed it in spring.

“Grazing didn’t hurt it,” she says. “When we cut it in spring, it was so easy to see that, any area where our seeder skipped, mare’s tail and kochia, which had overrun the field in the past, were just thick.”

However, where rye grew, there was no sign of either weed.

“After seeing how the rye performed, we plan to use it on any areas in our fields where weeds are a problem,” Karlsbraaten says. “Getting that done will depend on how much time we have each year, but it’s a goal we’ll work toward.”

Karlsbraaten has also used rye ahead of soybeans for weed control. The practice requires sufficient moisture for germination. In the future, she and her husband will explore the use of cover crops seeded into standing corn.

Their most recent addition to their no-till operation has been the use of livestock to graze cover crops.

“We’ve always had cattle and have heard other no-till farmers say that, once they brought livestock into their operation, their crop yields and soil quality significantly improved,” Karlsbraaten says. “For that reason, we expanded our cow herd to graze more cover crops. We took a 280-acre field this year, sowed a cover crop and brought the cattle in 60 days later. We’re using this field as a test to see what impact the livestock have on the soil.”

Karlsbraaten is completing an annual standard soil test and a Haney Soil Test, using chemical and biological soil test data to measure the state of her farm’s soils.

“We also did a test in a wheat field, turning off the fertilizer boom for a specific section of the field,” Karlsbraaten says. “That section of the field produced a lower yield, but our inputs were so much lower we were still further ahead economically.”

Karlsbraaten is also finding that the field areas they fence off and use to feed cattle over winter produce between 10 and 15 more bushel of cash crops the following growing season.

“We overwintered cattle on about half of one field where planted beans this year,” Karlsbraaten says. “When we harvested that field, the area where the cattle were fenced easily yielded 10 to 15 more bushel.”

Karlsbraaten has seen an explosion of earth worms on their no-tilled soils and very little rain runoff. There’s also more “cottage cheese” structure in the soil and many more soil pores. On average, yields across their farm land have increased and soil organic matter levels in their fields has increased about 1%.

While she and her family have experienced great gains with these new practices, Karlsbraaten believes they haven’t yet reached their full potential in terms of soil quality and crop yield.

“There are more things we want to try integrating into our system,” Karlsbraaten says. “As time permits we’ll keep testing different options and working toward better soil quality and sustainability.”