The "dirty thirties" left quite an impression on my dad, who was a teenager during the gritty era. It was a time when economics were terrible and erosion was even worse.

Witnessing such a trying time made him very open to implementing all the conservation practices he knew of and that were available to him. I grew up on the stories and under the influence of the resulting ethic of conservation in farming. It’s an ethic that continues to grow and adapt on our farm today.

My first introduction to no-till came through a 1970s soils class at North Dakota State University. The instructor didn’t know much about it —nobody did at the time — but he challenged the class to learn more. I took that challenge to heart. I found growers in northeastern North Dakota and southern Manitoba who were actively no-tilling and toured their farms. I found it interesting and figured it was something I could bring home to our farm.

Check The Specs...

NAME: Joe Breker

LOCATION: Havana, N.D.

ACRES: 1,800

YEARS NO-TILLING: 46

CROPS: Corn, soybeans, cereal rye, specialty seed crops

PRIMARY SOIL TYPE: Clay

ANNUAL PRECIPITATION: 20-22 inches

True to form, my father embraced the idea. We started no-tilling in the 1980s and haven’t looked back. Instead, I continue to drive forward pushing to see how…