Learn how John was able to cut input costs by implementing regen ag practices.
John Carter is a farmer from southeast Iowa. He started farming with his dad in the late 1980’s. He now manages 480 acres of corn and soybeans, feeder calves and a cow-calf operation.
Over the last 5 years, John has been experimenting with cover crops in small amounts, but in the fall of 2020, he decided to put his entire 480 acres into cover crops. Also, this fall, John decided that he needed a more efficient way of feeding his livestock instead of always supplementing with haylage blend. So, this crop season 15 acres of John’s corn was planted in 60″ rows. Inter-seeded between each row was a cover crop blend specifically for grazing. Not only will the inter-seeded cover crops be good for John’s livestock this fall, but they have also been feeding John’s cash crop with nutrients as well. On the rest of John’s fields, he has regular 30″ rows and uses cereal rye as a cover crop. In the spring some of this rye is baled and used as forage for the livestock.
Research and images assembled by Emma Ehlers | 2021