Chris Nissen

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NAME: Chris and Dick Nissen

LOCATION: Vermillion, S.D.

FARM: Nissen Farms

YEARS NO-TILLING: 20

ACRES: 900 acres

CROPS: Corn, Soybeans, Winter Wheat

Our farm hit a plateau in the 1990s. Yields were flat and we just weren’t making the gains we thought we should be. It’s not that we sought out no-till as the magic solution; we just knew we had to try something different, as conventional tillage wasn’t cutting it.

As it turns out, no-till was the right move. While it may not be magic, it certainly got us moving in the right direction again. This forward momentum can be attributed to no-till improving our dense soils and how we manage them.

Just like everyone else in the region, we used to work the ground heavily — chisel plowing and discing in the fall, then cultivating and discing in the spring prior to planting. Over 50% of our ground is river bottom, of which 160 acres are irrigated. The rest of our acres are dryland and up on some slight hills and valleys.

At the time, we didn’t have much tile drainage so we were relying on surface drainage to manage our rains and allow us to get in the fields. Unfortunately, our clay loam soils just don’t drain very well, and in hindsight, we can see that our farming practices weren’t helping the situation either. By working the soil so much, we were creating a nice seal in our fields, preventing water from…