Let’s check in with our 2025 Conservation Ag Operator Fellow Michael Thompson out in Almena, Kan. Thompson gives us an up-close look at his no-till planter setup and explains why he’s cautious with starter fertilizer.

“It’s just a liquid in furrow system. It comes out and runs right out behind these closing discs. It’s in furrow with the seed. What my goals are for this is I’m not running any fertilizers, it’s just row support, some biologicals, some compost and things of that nature. What we’re trying to do is just give that plant the best start we can. Give it a happy, healthy place when it puts the roots out so it hits the ground running and tries to do as much as it possibly can for us. It’s about giving it a nice strong start. A lot of starters get high in salts, where we don’t have a 2-by-2 system on this planter, we’re doing it in furrow, that’s where I’m more comfortable putting these biologicals down to keep the salts in control. I don’t want a high salt fertilizer close to that seed. I’d prefer to see a natural process out there to get that seed started.”

 We’ll check back in with Michael soon to see how harvest is going so far after a flash drought.

Watch the full version of this episode of Conservation Ag Update.