Springtime in hilly Wisconsin

We have had over two weeks of April weather with rain almost every other day. Water was standing in fields on our ridges. Grasses and alfalfa were growing by leaps and bounds. We don’t like to complain, because no rain is not good either, but you’re not a true farmer if you don’t complain about the weather, even if it’s to your dog.

Then, the water faucet stopped, and we could begin to cut trees around fields that the early April ice and windstorms had destroyed. There were few things we could do because the ground was so saturated, but we were able to remove trees and old fences with a backhoe. Unfortunately, we created some huge ruts on field edges next to neighbors in places that needed new fences.

Our own 4,000-gallon trucks were able to go to certain fields on the ridges while we waited for the custom manure applicators to arrive. Fortunately, a Pipping manure tank that we built last year provided us with plenty of extra storage during the rainy season this year. Do you know how much an inch of rain is equal to in gallons of water? It’s approximately 42,000 gallons. Trying to keep clean water out of manure is a challenge.

With so many small fields, our ability to haul manure with our trucks is important. In 2025, we had 838 acres of corn on 118 fields. Most field are cropped in contour strips, so it’s difficult to use a manure transfer system hose. On some farms, we are able to truck manure to a frac tank. Then, we apply manure through a hose hooked on a tractor, which applies the manure through a low disturbance tool bar to the fields. The manure contractor had nine semi trucks plus our own three trucks, so we were able to move about 750,000 gallons a day.

Our landlords and neighbors are getting to see the advantage of this system; with the low disturbance toolbar, there is almost no odor. The general population had lots of questions when we first started the system a few years ago. Now, they educate others about the natural fertilizer the big dairy on the hill is bringing to town. To farmers, the nutrients in manure are very hard to replace, and every year, we have more acres that do not get any commercial fertilizer.

As we got into the third week with no rain, and the manure had been applied, we started to plant alfalfa and corn. This is our twenty-fifth year of no-till planting alfalfa. It has been a learning experience, but in our hills, anything for a system that lowers erosion and prevents rock picking is welcome. The first no-till years, we seeded one bushel of oats with about 15 pounds of alfalfa. Before planting, we used to spray Roundup to the entire field to kill all grasses and weeds. In the last 15 to 20 years, we have been using rye or wheat as a cover crop. That has replaced the planting of oats in the spring. The rye is killed when it reaches a height of eight to 12 inches. Then, we plant 20 pounds of alfalfa per acre.

For the past couple years, we have used a turbo tiller on some of our rye fields to smooth out some of the roughness created by the previous season’s harvest or manure applications. It also creates more seed to soil contact for better germination. As the little alfalfa plants grow (they need rain to get started), the rye regresses. When the alfalfa is four to eight inches tall, we clip it back onto the ground. The next three crops are very close in yield to our one-year-old stands.

One of my complaints about no-tilling alfalfa is the small size of the seed box on a 15-foot drill. It only holds two bags of alfalfa seed, which is enough for 5 acres. That creates a lot of trips from the tractor to the drill over the course of 150 acres.

After the recently applied manure dried, which only took a few days because of the windy weather, a 12-row corn planter started working on the large fields, and the six-row planter started on the small fields. My grandson, Ira, is learning how to plant corn for the first time. My job most days is to be a mentor — trying to add my 50 years of experience to his nimble but young mind. His good mechanical skills, which his father passed along to him, and his computer skills are a blessing in the race to get as much corn planted as possible before the week of wet weather that can happen at any time.

As the older farmers would say, “It doesn’t grow much in the bag.” We say, “Do it early in the spring so you don’t have to work in cold weather next fall.” Springtime brings out the work ethic that successful farmers have. A few long days lead to a whole bunch of normal farm days.