Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
production from Iowa State University (ISU).
8
They farmed corn, soy,
cattle, and hogs, but became increasingly dissatisfied with conventional
approaches, and began experimenting with ridge-till strategies for grow-
ing corn and soy. Instead of cultivating the entire field, ridge-till farmers
establish and maintain contours in their fields with ridges 6 to 8 inches
high. Each spring, they till only the top few inches of the ridges for the
seedbed. These ridges provide more exposure to sun and better drainage,
which overcome any problems associated with crop residue. Instead of
spraying the entire field with herbicides, ridge-till farmers apply thin
strips over the ridge-top seedbed, and cultivate between ridges. Instead
of spraying the entire field with chemical fertilizer, ridge-till farmers
apply precise amounts when the emerging plants need it most. Instead of
maintaining a barren field susceptible to wind and water erosion, ridge-
till strategies use crop residues to hold soil in place. Research conducted
by David Lighthall during the 1990s documented that ridge-till farming
typically use only half the herbicides and three-fourths the nitrogen
of conventional techniques.
9
From 1967 to 1983, the Thompsons
purchased no fertilizer or herbicides.
In the early 1980s, farmers and farm advocates from Iowa banded
together to address the crisis in agriculture that was sweeping across the
upper Midwest. The collapse of commodity prices was undercutting the
economic viability of farming, the negative environmental consequences
of conventional farming practices were mounting, and the fabric of rural
communities was unraveling with the demise of thousands of family
farms. In 1985, Practical Farmers of Iowa (PFI) was founded to generate
and exchange practical knowledge generated by farmers for farmers.
Dick Thompson was elected as PFI's first president.
10
The creation of PFI
formalized the way Thompson had been conducting research and exten-
sion on his own farm for years. Hundreds of farmers, rural advocates,
teachers, and extensionists had visited his farm every summer through-
out the 1980s to learn about his planting techniques, crop rotations, and
re-incorporation of animals into in his farming system. PFI's founders
were convinced that Thompson—and other farmers like him—had
developed strategies that could address the crisis in farming, but they
could not get the attention of ISU researchers. They decided to take mat-
ters in their own hands and organize on-farm research, using randomized
and replicated plots that would yield statistically valid results. The few
