Laurent (Woody) Van Arkel

Dresden Ontario

Corn soybeans wheat

Sugarbeets

Hog finishing barn@Woody_VA

Van Arkel Farms Ltd

Principals I farm by:

Do as little soil disturbance as possible

Keep living roots growing at all times

Reduce to a minimum nutrient runoff

Reduced Soil Disturbance

No till Beans and wheat

Living root system(covercrops)

• After manure

• Between the strips

• In the fall after harvest

• Interseeded into corn

After manure

Legumes

Cover crop fed manure

In Between the strips

The size sugar beet seed

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2016 2015 2014 2013

van arkel piling yard district company

Sugar Beet tons/acre

In the fall after harvest

Planting green comes with some risk

Interseeding into corn

intersee

The Future

Goals for the future

Work together as an industry

Going home to farm

• Start slowly

• Start small ( 5 acre plots )

• Develop your own plan

• Talk to others

Midwest Cover Crop Council

Do what you believe right

Don’t worry about what others think

Find your own way

Think about the greater community

We do not inherit the soil from our fathers… We borrow it from our children

Photo by Alex Clevers