JEFF CRISSINGER, VP OF AGRONOMY SALES / MARKETING
Jeff.Crissinger@NuWay-KandH.com
NuWay-K&H Cooperative continues its efforts to be a leader in the conservation space. Our agronomy team works hard to assist customers in learning and implementing new farming practices that will prepare them to take greater advantage of future financial opportunities related to the broadening sustainability marketplace.
“Growers show interest in this farming practice change.”
This fall, NuWay-K&H set a goal of applying 6,000 acres through our new strip-till equipment that we acquired during the summer of 2024. I am happy to announce that we reached that goal! Growers have shown a tremendous amount of interest in this particular farming practice change.
The main drivers of this interest were:
- Increased yield potential through banded fertilizer
- Fewer passes across the field resulting in cost savings and gained efficiencies
- Getting prepared for future sustainability payment programs
For many growers, this fall’s strip-till application was their first experience at learning what this farming practice has to offer. For others, especially those who implemented strip-till in our fall of 2023 demonstration season, their acres of strip-till have expanded year-over-year as they’ve seen the potential benefits of the practice.
If you are interested in strip-till and didn’t get a chance to try it this fall, there is still an opportunity to try the practice in the spring of 2025, if you have acres that qualify.
Interest in cover crops
The fall of 2024 also brought with it our initial efforts to expand cover crop utilization in our area. Coming into the fall, we had a 2,000-acre cover crop seeding goal. We fell just short of our goal by 350 acres, but we were still pleased with the amount of interest that was generated at the customer level and with the willingness of a few growers to try something new.
Based on the interest, we feel confident that we will be able to reach our goals for cover crop seeding for the 2026 growing season.
Customers being open to trying new practices has been a key to our success towards these goals. Part of that success also comes from our customer relationships and our ability to help them gain access to various financial assistance programs available with the adoption of conservation practices. For most growers who implemented strip-till and cover crop practices for the 2025 growing season, we found some level of funding assistance through Truterra® programs, USDA programs, local soil and water conservation district programs, or funding that we acquired through various grant applications. These efforts are an important piece of the puzzle. We anticipate these funding opportunities will continue to be offered to growers wanting to adopt conservation practices on new acres into the future.
If you have yet to try strip-till, cover crops, or other climate-smart practices but are interested in getting started or even just learning more, please don’t hesitate to reach out. We have people specifically dedicated to helping you determine the right path for your farm.
