Results of continuous no-till and cover crops in heavy clay soil

When Matt Burkholder started farming this field in Allen County, Ohio, he had to contend with three wet holes. Fast forward to today, after years of continuous no-till and cover crops in heavy clay soils, those wet holes have disappeared and the soil structure has improved. His story reflects his farm's motto: "Turning dirt into healthy soil, one acre at a time."

[biggusbestus]

If I could have listened to you a few decades ago... I had heavy clay on my farm. We sold out for health/retirement reasons in 2014. Still the best 30 years of my life ! I wish you well ...God willing.

[rosehavenfarm]

Well done. I'm so happy to hear regenerative/no-till works on larger acreage. We know it works on our small holding, where the topsoil has washed away down to clay. We have seen topsoil build here of 8 inches on the areas we started on six years ago.

God bless you. Keep going!

[TheVickster]

Than you for sharing this! You are living proof about the power of regenerative agriculture. Patience pays off for both you and the planet!

[lukewiseman]

Thank you so much for this very factual, non emotional account. As you said in the video, "If I can do this on poor soil, you can do it on better soil." Thank you and keep up the good work! Luke

[Thewaywefarm]

We started farming in 2010, been strip tilling and cover cropping with no till wheat in the mix, every year our soils improve compared to some neighbors. Thanks for sharing.

[StephenCooteNZ]

Thank you. Best wishes from New Zealand.

[BronzeTheSling]

It is a great blessing to hear your story and your great attitude. God bless you too.

[zimbobway]

It’s a good thing you showed the pictures so fast I was almost able to see them

[a_l_e_k_sandra]

Thank you so much for everything you do!

[CharlesGann]

Thank you for this amazing and encouraging testimonial! Have a few of these that willbe be great test beds!

[cranerigging]

Good deal ! We are in South Indiana with rolling ridge type ground and have not plowed it sense 1978 . Today we are pretty much on an every other year basis using " No Till " one year and "Minimum Till " the next with a finishing tool . The finishing tool takes out field mice " vole's " nests every other year .

[krisroadruck]

Hah I was thinking "wow that clay looks exactly like the crap I have in my yard that I'm trying to fix". Turns out it probably IS exactly the same type of clay. I'm not far away in Fort Wayne. Hey neighbor lol

[robertmense]

Matt, thanks for sharing the news here. Wish you could get more of these farmers here in NE Missouri to start using No-till/cover crop methods, , , , Heavy clay soils here too.
If you wanted to make a video on how you transitioned from conventional tillage to no-video.

[ginaeaton]

Man, that sounds great! Praying for you guys!

[bobpiec]

Thanks for the good advice! God Bless u 2!!

[hermanhale]

This time last year I had an almost bald clay patch on one side of my yard, it looked terrible. I planted annual rye and two kinds of clover and they both did well, still going strong. I was just happy not to see poor, sad clay. Hopefully the drainage will be better this year.

[ReidAnderson]

Excellent. Thanks for sharing and well done.

[vumba]

That was great, well done on taking another path and thanks for posting this. You were dead right going away from the salt based fertilisers, they burn the soil and kill the 2orms and microbes, it is the microbes that make the soil and earthworms happy. As a matter of interest if you do want to use some salt based fertilisers you can buffer their 3ffect on the soil by using black strap molasses in the spray, works a treat and stops the burn.
Have you read any of Carey Reams books? He was very much into this sort of thing, Dr Dan Skow was one of his desciples among others, make sure you have at least 2, 000 lbs per acre of calcium to ensure you have good healthy crops. Carbon is you friend if you can increase that in the soil its great, 1lb of carbon holds 5lbs of water so great for dry soil areas, helps to feed the microbes that bind the soil too.
I read all his and others books on this type of farming and improved the soil on our vineyard just like you did, earthworms came back and when you walked on the ground it felt springy or alove underfoot. The farmer that bought it when we sold said he had never encountered soil like that before.
Go well and spread the word.

[jimmydykes]

Going on 4 yrs no till with cover here in Alabama...might take 3 or 4 more due to our climate...but it works

[marschlosser]

Well done. Can you graze covers on that field in winter? That would triple humus in the soil and help with bogging down in wet clay. While I lived in Ohio (a ways south of you) we weren't farming. Now, I'm home in Arizona. Our area is like Gabe Brown's N. Dakota place in his summer. No rain for weeks and months and then inches at a time. But, good adobe clay fortified with plenty of humus takes every drop.