Greendale Farm
Image Credit: Xerces Society via Jennifer Hopwood
Farm Story
Greendale Farms is run by Dale Theel, and includes his wife Denise, and sons Chris and Josh. The farm was owned by Dale’s parents, and he grew up here helping around the farm. His dad had a few dairy cows, then a Hereford cow-calf operation, and some hogs. In the 60’s the farm transitioned away from cattle and went bigger into the hogs. In the mid-70s the hog market declined, so they pivoted to cash crops. When his dad retired, Dale took over operations and continued in cash crops. Today, he farms about 650 acres including corn, soybeans, and winter wheat near Fond du Lac.
Steps Towards Conservation
Dale’s dad was influential in starting him down the conservation agriculture path. Dale can remember “being maybe 10-12 years old, and a no-till planter salesman talking to my dad and I became interested in that [different style of planting].” His dad also discussed soil health. Dale recalls him saying, “if you have worms, you’ve got healthy soil.” In contrast to their neighbors, Dale’s dad liked to see residue on his fields. “He took the coverboards off the plow, so he could see a little bit of residue. And by the late 60s or early 70s, he switched to doing chisel plowing rather than moldboard plowing and was working in the direction of minimum tillage and conservation things,” Dale says.
Dale decided to continue with these practices when he took over the farm. He also started to try no-till corn and soybeans. However, he learned it was easier to do no till soybeans into corn because “the soybeans like the residue leftover from the no-till planting more than the corn does,” Dale says. Next, Dale expanded his no-till practices into winter wheat and is now 100% no-till in his operation. Dale has learned what to do on his land by trying different practices and learning from others at no-till conferences.
In conjunction with no-till planting, Dale also plants green. This means he plants his cash crops into actively growing cover crops. He’s planted into standing winter rye and crimson clover and then crimps those to terminate the cover crop. He also sprays a herbicide to make sure the field has good weed control and make way for the cash crop. This practice maximizes living roots in the soil as the cover crop is not terminated until the cash crop’s roots have established and can take their place.
A neighbor saw Dale doing these conservation practices over the years and encouraged him to teach others. He saw the perfect opportunity for that when he was approached by a Fond du Lac County soil conservationist to join the Between the Lakes Demonstration Farm Network. Dale said yes and joined the Network.
Dale’s future goals with the Network and conservation practices include adding native prairie and pollinator plants into his operation. “Rather than just a strip with pollinator plants, I’d like to add them into my cover crop and throughout the field,” Dale comments. He also plans to expand his use of cover crops, especially through interseeding into corn at the v3 to v6 growth stage.
Benefits of Conservation Agriculture
Dale has experienced many benefits from his conservation agriculture practices. He’s seen more moisture retention from his no-till practices. Dale explains that “residue on top of the ground and stalks sticking up help catch the snow,” which then stays on the field, and replenishes the soil moisture when it melts. No-till also conserves soil moisture by avoiding tillage passes that dry out the top few inches. The higher soil moisture is apparent in the way Dale’s crops grow. He says, “when it gets to be late July or August timeframe and you drive around and look at other people’s crops, you can see that their crops’ leaves are more curled or more stressed than what my crops are with the no-till.” The snow also insulates and protects the overwintering cover crops. Dale recalls, “I remember one year in the early 90s when almost everybody had winter kill under winter wheat. I was one of the few farmers that didn’t have winter kill because the residue and stalks gave more protection.”
Dale has also noticed significant benefits from a cost savings in labor. With no-till practices, he makes fewer passes, and spends less time working the field. He also has fewer rocks to pick. Because of these reductions, Dale’s also noticed a big decrease in fuel and machinery costs.
Advice for Others
Dale recommends that farmers simply try conservation practices in your own operation. It’s easy to say “’that won’t work in our soil or that won’t work with my livestock’ or 100 different excuses why it won’t work. But until you try it, you don’t know if it’s going to work or not.” And usually, with a few adaptations for your specific soil and operation, you can make these practices work in your operation too. Dale suggests if you want to try a practice, but don’t have the equipment, you could have someone do some custom planting, just to try some of the practices.
Dale reminds farmers to forge their own path, and not be too concerned with what others may think. He recalls a quote that’s helped him, “it said, ‘what will the neighbors think if I do that?’ And the answer was ‘don’t let that be your limiting factor.’” He thought that was a perfect answer because he’s encountered some conversations like that. “I remember one of the first years I did no-till one of the neighbors came over and looked at what I had and said, ‘boy if it wouldn’t of rained you wouldn’t have anything.’” Dale reflected on that, and “later on thought ‘neither would he. Really, I’d probably have more than what he did because he tilled the soil and let evaporation take more of his moisture out, but I had saved more of my moisture.’”
Finally, Dale reminds farmers to “not just base your success on yield.” Instead, he says you should consider your bottom line. For example, “if you can raise fewer bushels, but at less expense, then you have a higher net income and you’re still ahead, even though you may not have the highest yield.”