In the second installment of No-Till Farmer’s Ask the Operator webinar series, 2023 Conservation Ag Operator Fellow Loran Steinlage of West Union, Iowa, welcome Olexiy and Konstantin, two Ukrainian no-tillers, as they discuss their no-till operations and the regenerative practices they’re experimenting with in Ukraine. The two no-tillers also share the challenges of farming in wartime and what North American no-tillers should know about the ongoing war in Ukraine. Erin Silva, associate professor at UW-Madison and state extension specialist in organic and sustainable cropping systems, elaborates on the projects she worked on with Olexiy and answers questions about making organic and regenerative practices work for your operation.

RELATED CONTENT: No-Tiller Shares Challenges of Farming in Ukraine During Wartime

Email Michaela Paukner with any questions about the webinar.

About the Speakers

Loran Steinlage

Loran Steinlage, a 2020 No-Till Innovator award winner and No-Till Farmer’s 2023 Conservation Ag Operator Fellow, no-tills 750 acres of corn, soybeans, wheat, buckwheat, rye, barley and sunflowers in West Union, Iowa. Always thinking about how to move his operation forward, Steinlage has been experimenting with advanced farming systems like interseeding, relay cropping and 60-inch corn for nearly 2 decades.

Olexiy is a certified organic no-tiller who has worked with Dr. Erin Silva of the University of Wisconsin on rye and beans. Olexiy spearheaded manufacturing of the first Ukrainian-made roller crimper, set up over a dozen Johnson Su bioreactors, grows diverse cover crops and uses farm-made Biodynamic preparations — he once increased his soybean yield by 20% by spraying EM (effective microorganisms) propagated on his farm. He also runs about 40 small plot experiments on his farm every year.

Konstantin

Dr. Erin Silva is an associate professor and state extension specialist in organic and sustainable cropping systems in the Department of Plant Pathology as well as the director for the Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences at UW-Madison. Through her work at UW-Madison, she has developed an internationally recognized program that improves the management of organic production systems and increases the profitability and sustainability for organic producers and rural communities.