Cover Crop Strategies Podcast

In today’s episode, listen to a conversation with Iowa no-tiller and executive director of the Conservation Technology Information Center, Ryan Heiniger. Ryan is also joined by his son Matt Heiniger — who is a senior in high school — and the two of them discuss the new cover crop business they started together called Clear Water Cover Crops, as well as what it has been like to go from father and son to business partners.

In this final installment of the Cover Crops on the Road Podcast, we’ll finish up the road trip with a visit to New Park, Pennsylvania grower Paul McPherson at Maple Lawn Farms. His operation is unique from the first two visits for several reasons. Let’s hop in the car and head out to the farm to learn more

In today’s episode, come along on the road with me as I travel across parts of Maryland and Pennsylvania to visit 3 different farmers who are working with cover crops and no-till in unique ways. Our first stop in part 1 of this journey took us to Jim Hershey’s farm in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania. Last week, we met Cecil County, Maryland farmer Bryan Racine, who is relatively new to the no-till and cover crop movement, but is learning and innovating at a rapid pace. Let’s pick up where we left off with Bryan and head out into the field to see what he has been working on this year.

This week, let’s hop in the car and head to Cecil County, Maryland to visit Bryan Racine, who is relatively new to the no-till and cover crop movement, but is learning and innovating at a rapid pace.

In today’s episode of the podcast, come along on the road with Cover Crop Strategies Associate Editor, Mackane Vogel, as he travels to parts of Maryland and Pennsylvania to visit 3 different farmers who are working with cover crops in unique ways. The first stop in part 1 of this journey took listeners to Jim Hershey’s farm in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania. Let’s pick up where we left off on Jim’s farm and finish that conversation before heading out into the field.

In today’s episode of the podcast, come along on the road with Cover Crop Strategies Associate Editor, Mackane Vogel, as he travels across parts of Maryland and Pennsylvania to visit 3 different farmers who are working with cover crops in unique ways. The first stop will take listeners to Jim Hershey’s farm in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania.

In today’s episode of the podcast, brought to you by the National Strip-Tillage Conference, listen to a panel discussion on the state of soil conservation from the most recent Conservation in Action Tour that took place earlier this month in Sioux Falls, S.D. The panel is moderated by Lessiter Media’s own Mike Lessiter, and features manager of agronomy for Ducks Unlimited Brian Chatham, president of Field To Market Carrie Vollmer-Sanders as well as South Dakota grower and agronomist Brian Hefty. The discussion covers several hot topics in the world of conservation agriculture including cover crops, no-till, strip-till and much more.

In today’s episode of the podcast, brought to you by the National Strip-Tillage Conference, listen to a conversation with Lisa Kubik, an Iowa grower who grazes cattle and grows corn, soybeans and cover crops, while also working with growers through Agoro Carbon Alliance. Hear Lisa discuss her own farm operation, a recent Agoro Carbon cover crop case study where one farmer found success from accidentally planting green, and much more.

In today’s episode of the podcast, brought to you by Sound Agriculture, listen to a conversation with John Cussans, a UK based weed biology and management specialist with an organization called ADAS. Cussans addresses multiple confirmed cases of glyphosate resistance in the United Kingdom and how these cases differ and relate to confirmed cases of glyphosate resistance in the United States, as well as what role cover crops can play in cases of glyphosate resistance.

In today’s episode of the podcast, brought to you by Sound Agriculture, listen to a conversation between Rockwell City, Iowa grower James Hepp and Carlisle County, Ky., grower Joel Reddick, as they discuss their on-farm cover crop strategies during the Young Farmer Panel at the 2025 National No-Tillage Conference.

In today’s episode of the podcast, brought to you by Sound Agriculture, listen to a conversation with Rob Myers, director for the Center for Regenerative Agriculture at University of Missouri. Myers discusses timely cover crop considerations for spring such as species selection, termination timing, grazing options and much more.

In today’s episode of the podcast, brought to you by Sound Agriculture, listen to a conversation with Doug Fifer, Virginia no-tiller and president of the Virginia No-Till Alliance (VANTAGE). Fifer reflects on how his soil has changed for the better since implementing cover crops and no-till into his operation back in 2011 and what types of cover crop trials he plans to experiment with during the upcoming 2025 growing season.

In today’s episode of the podcast, brought to you by Sound Agriculture, listen to a panel discussion from the 2025 National No-Tillage Conference. This discussion, centered on cover crops and extreme weather conditions, features 4 growers from 4 different states who all have a wealth of experience using cover crops. Listen as No-Till Legend and former Ohio State Extension ag engineer Randall Reeder moderates this panel featuring Ray McCormick, Loran Steinlage, Barry Fisher and Allen Berry.

For this episode of the Cover Crop Strategies Podcast, brought to you by Sound Agriculture, we hear from Olivia Caillouet. She’s the soil health program manager at the University of Missouri’s Center for Regenerative Agriculture and she’s here to discuss some of the newest and most exciting cover crop related projects she’s been working on as of late.

In this episode of the Cover Crop Strategies podcast, brought to you by GS3 Quality Seed, Washington State University agronomist Andrew McGuire discusses his extensive research on the pros and cons of using cover crop mixtures vs. monocultures. After he presents his findings, we’ll then hear from Jasper, Mo., farmer Macauley Kincaid and Rockwell City, Iowa farmer James Hepp as they unpack some of McGuire’s research and offer their own first-hand experience with using cover crops.

For this episode of the Cover Crop Strategies podcast, brought to you by GS3 Quality Seed, I had the opportunity to travel to Jay Baxter’s farm in Georgetown, Del., and talk to him about cover crop seeding and termination methods, his opinion on multi-species cover crop mixes, the rich history of his family farm and much more.

In this episode of the Cover Crop Strategies podcast, brought to you by GS3 Quality Seed, I’m joined by Penn State University graduate student Megan Czekaj, as we discuss her research on best practices for applying residual herbicides when planting green. Her project focuses on cereal rye in soybean systems and delves into termination timing, cover crop biomass levels and lots more.

In this episode of the Cover Crop Strategies podcast, brought to you by GS3 Quality Seed, listen to a conversation with Deer Park, Wis., agronomist Joe Ailts, as he discusses everything from nitrogen for a following corn crop, best cover crop blends following small grain harvest, the most outside-the-box ideas he has encountered as an agronomist and much more.

In this episode of the Cover Crop Strategies podcast, brought to you by GS3 Quality Seed, listen to a conversation with Faulkton, S.D., grower Alex Frasier, as he discusses his unique practice of interseeding a cover crop mix into soybeans and how it has helped him save on fertilizer, fuel and other costs.

In this episode of the Cover Crop Strategies podcast, brought to you by Montag Manufacturing, listen to a conversation with Etienne Sutton, a PhD candidate at University of Michigan studying in the Soil & Agroecosystems Lab. She talks about her research on what factors affect cover crop biomass levels and how to improve cover crop performance overall.