YOU HAVE TO change with the times. At this juncture in agriculture it seems if you don’t change you will get left behind. 

Tradition was the example I was raised with. Of the 800 acres we own, some of those acres have been in our family since 1683.

We’ve built a lot of tradition in those years. That’s great for traits like work ethic and understanding the landscape, but when it comes to the thin margins we face, it just doesn’t cut it. We’re in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. That means not only do we face the pressure of profitability to change, but regulation and responsibility to protect the Chesapeake and other waters. 

Check The Specs...

NAME: Shannon & Benjamin Ellis Jr.

LOCATION: Champlain, Va.

ACRES: 4,000

YEARS NO-TILLING: 40+

CROPS: Corn, soybeans, winter wheat

PRIMARY SOIL TYPE: Sandy loam

ANNUAL PRECIPITATION: 42-47 inches

My father and grandfather started no-tilling in the ‘80s. My wife Shannon’s father also started no-tilling in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s. We were brought up with the practice so it came natural for both of us. We combined the two farms in 2023 after the passing of our fathers in 2019 and 2022 and continued the no-till tradition.  

No-till was a move in the right direction for our family farms. Our…