A John Deere Publication

Jacob Rowland checks a field of soybeans growing up through a thick mat of crimped cereal rye on his southern Indiana farm.

Agriculture, Sustainability March 01, 2025

Adjusting your Sights

Letting go of the 'clean field' mindset.

by Katie Knapp

"I don't know if you ever really get over it," admits Jacob Rowland, staring across his field of puny popcorn seedlings last May that were planted into waist-high hairy vetch.

Growing up in southern Indiana, he learned that clean fields signaled good farming. But now he is part of a generation rewriting those rules and learning to see beauty in what looks like chaos to the untrained eye.

He and his father started using cover crops more than 10 years ago on their Washington County, Ind., farm. Now they use them across all their acres, ahead of both soybeans and popcorn.

He says how the fields look early in the season, especially the popcorn, is still hard to get past even knowing the result will be worth it in both profitability and soil health.

Northwest 775 miles, Dan Janski says letting cover crops flourish on his family's acres in South Haven, Minn., (that they used to hurry to plow) has been one of the hardest—and best—changes they have made on their farm in the past decade.

"When my brother suggested we try, I was skeptical. I had always heard no tillage, no yield," Janski says. "I was afraid of failure."

They started slowly in 2016 with their least productive ground. He remembers thinking "what did we have to lose?" Now he says, "every acre of our farm has some sort of different thing going on all the time."

Janski goes so far to say, "I wouldn't even have to get paid to do this. I know it works."

His all-in moment came after the 2021 season when his first son was a newborn.

"He cried so much," Janski remembers of those long, early days. "I took him for a walk outside one day hoping that might calm him down, and it did. All of a sudden, I noticed I could hear the bees and other insects in the cover crops instead of his cry."

Janski has been a firm believer in the changes they have made on their farm since that day, realizing that capitalizing on nature's natural rhythm really works.

"Now instead of comparing our fields to our neighbors' I find myself comparing my crops to the forest," Janski says. "Our soils are improving. Our water retention is improving. And our crop nutrition seems to be improving. That tells me we're going in the right direction."

Rowland is seeing their success in how much they save in input costs and time. "We probably farm as cheaply as anyone because we are able to cycle our nutrients. The past few years we have been able to cut our insecticides and other inputs. It is paying off."

In addition to soybeans and popcorn, Rowland also raises laying hens. He has to spend a lot of time in the barn, but his flock also provides quality litter for fertilizer.

Above. Dan Janski stands with his wife Bridgette and two sons, Waylon and Calvin, in one of their central Minnesota fields recently harvested and now flush with cover crops.

Learning curve. Rowland says knowing how long to let the cover crops grow is one of the hardest pieces to get right.

"I know the popcorn will hate it, but I know planting into green cover crops is the right thing to do. Keeping the soil protected, suppressing weeds, and building soil through the whole year is important," he explains.

He also hopes to get a little extra nitrogen out of the hairy vetch in his mix by letting it bloom.

Rowland adds that he likes soybeans more, partly because they tolerate the early season stress much better. He now roller crimps all their soybean fields.

Janskis, who deal with more snow cover and colder temperatures ahead of planting than Rowlands, have learned to focus on water management to know when to terminate their cover crops.

"We look at it as how full is the glass of water. How much water is there? How much do we want the cover crop to drink, and how much do we want the crop to get? We've realized how important it is to get them terminated in a timely manner, especially in dry years," Janski says.

Both young men know each year will continue to bring unique challenges, but they believe they are past the initial hurdles of adopting the practice across their whole farm.

"Some years are better, and some are not. But in 2023 we only had to roll and spray our beans once and averaged 70 bu./acre. That's a home run!" he says, knowing he is starting to reap the rewards of change. "Next, I want to precision plant the covers." ‡