2023 Conservation Ag Operator Fellow Loran Steinlage of West Union, Iowa, takes us on an international no-till tour in the July 7 edition of the Ask the Operator webinar series. 

The global panel represents farmers from four continents and includes German no-tiller Alexander Klümper, Australian no-tiller Tom Robinson, Thailand-based agribusiness consultant Tim Welsh, and other special guests. Steinlage and the panelists discuss their regions' unique no-till challenges and the common geopolitical issues facing farmers across the world.

Email Michaela Paukner with any questions about the webinar, working with the No-Till Farmer marketing team to provide resources for your farmer-led group or anything else related to No-Till Farmer.

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.

Alexander Klümper is a German no-tiller and experienced conference speaker. Klümper stopped plowing in 1994, started no-tilling in 2015 and went 100% no-till in 2017. His farm sits at 52 degrees north latitude, the same latitude as southern Canada, in a dry area with just 18 inches of annual rainfall. The region can sometimes have as little as 10 inches of rain per year.

Tom and Cassi Robinson farm in Southern Australia, growing spring crops over winter with an annual 13-17 inch rainfall. Tom’s father, Ashley, started no-tilling in the early 1990s and moved to zero till in 2002. Since then, they have added a stripper front in 2010, moved to full controlled traffic farming (CTF) in 2015 and started focusing on correct nutritional inputs through sap testing. Cassi has driven the change in the addition of rotational grazing cattle on cover crops with fully portable fencing, water and yards.

Tim Welsh is an independent agribusiness consultant and director of AgriSource Co. Ltd. He's worked in international marketing and agribusiness development in Asia since 1982 and has been based in Thailand for the past 36 years. Prior to founding AgriSource in 1989, he worked as International Marketing Director for the USA Dry Pea & Lentil Council and Grain Merchant for Cargill Inc. Welsh maintains an active interest in his family farm in northeast Iowa that includes grain, cattle, forestry and agro-tourism.