Tilling the land before planting is a common way farmers prepare their fields, but recently farmers with an eye for water quality practices have switched to no-till farming. Local farmer Rob Stout explains, when farmers use the no-till practice, they leave their fields as they are after the harvest, which helps the soil stay in place. Any tilling is done using the planter, and the only time he touches his fields during the off season is to apply manure or fertilizer.

Stout, who was named an environmental leader by the Iowa Soybean Association for water quality practices, says no-till is beneficial to both soil and water, “If there’s a lot of tillage being done, it’s more prone to being washed away if we have heavy rains, which we’ve been known to do around here particularly in the spring. Then that soil, if it’s not protected by a lot of residue, it can move some soil and it’ll end up in the waterways and up in the streams. And that’s not good.” Stout says going no-till isn’t the easiest thing to do, as he has to be very precise with his planter since he only gets one shot at it. However, in addition to helping with water quality, he finds no-till makes him more efficient, because it cuts back on the trips he has to make across the fields every year.