Managing for Profit

Reward for soil health maintenance is higher yield

A greater amount of attention is being paid to maintaining and improving soil health.  Maintenance of soil health is not new to John Maxwell, who farms in Eastern Iowa and is enrolled in the National Corn Growers Association’s Soil Health Partnership (SHP).

“We have been doing cover crops for feed since the 1970s,” Maxwell told Brownfield Ag News, “so we bring a fair amount of knowledge [about] what you should do and what you shouldn’t do through the years.”

The primary benefit that Maxwell gets from incorporating soil health practices is yield, and says the results of sustainable farming practices are easily visible when walking through fields.  For instance, erosion, he says, is virtually non-existent.

AUDIO: John Maxwell (3 min. MP3)