Farmers from across the country share about the paths they took that led their farms to greater profitability. Some have saved costs on inputs or optimized their working capital, while others have added new revenue streams, such as carbon credits.
North Dakota farmer Paul Overby and his wife started exploring reduced tillage, cover crops, and crop rotation on their 1300-acre operation. Since then, they’ve seen labor and cost savings, better yields and quality, increased soil health, and a new carbon sequestration revenue stream.
Lance Unger and his family adopted cover crops and "minimal tillage" on their Southwest Indiana row crop farm. They've since seen increased soil health and productivity, while also earning additional income for carbon credits in year 1 of participating in Carbon By Indigo.
A decade after taking his first steps toward practices that benefit the soil, Adam continues to maximize his profitability and reduce his expenses by introducing new practices.
Quinn’s soil has made a transformation using cover crops, no till, and grazing.
On her family’s farm in Ohio, Kasey Bryant Bamberger uses digital technology and natural microbiology to enrich her soil and produce a healthier crop. In their first year of using cover crops and no-till, they even saw a large-scale weed reduction.
Mike Bretz's point of view was: “If we can actually make agriculture more profitable and improve soil health, why not go do it?” Mike jumped in headfirst with all 450 acres into beneficial practices, planting cover crops first and going for another round his second season.
Iowa farmer Kyle Schnell found the more he applies beneficial practices such as cover crops, grazing, and no-till, the more his profits increase. He spends less and earns more.
In 2013, crop prices were falling faster than the input prices, making turning a profit hard to impossible. The changes Steve made helped him make a profit and have more time with his family.
With mounting chemical prices, Tony Hein thought to himself, “I’ve got to do something different.” Exploring beneficial practices has helped Tony save costs while improving his soil health.
Indiana farmer Ken Rulon has been using no-till and cover crops for decades—and has the data to shows benefits. Some of those benefits include increasing his profitability by reducing costs on pesticides and insecticides and focusing on having something in the ground all year.
$67
%
/ acre / year
$72
%
/ acre / year
$600M
%
