Green Cover Podcast

Green Cover's Nathan Choat joins Keith to explain why the company runs hundreds of test plots every year — and why every farmer should be running small trials on their own ground, too. They dig into corn and soybean interseeding, nutrient cycling data, and why what works at someone else's field day might not work on your farm. Green Cover's summer field days are August 4th and 5th in Bladen, Nebraska — sign up free: https://greencover.com/pages/events/green-cover-summer-field-day-1

In this episode of the Green Cover Podcast, host Keith Berns talks with Karl Palmberg, a former F-16 pilot turned grass-fed beef producer in Larchwood, Iowa, about building a regenerative cattle operation from the ground up. Karl breaks down how he uses cover crops, baleage, and even carefully-timed corn silage to hit a 1:1 omega-6 to omega-3 ratio in his beef (versus roughly 10:1 for typical feedlot beef), along with his approach to genetics, herd size, and direct-to-consumer marketing. He also shares hands-on experience with virtual fencing including trialing collars from two different companies and the time saved from implementing the collars.You can purchase beef directly from Karl and his family through their website: https://sunlightandrain.com/Learn more about nutrient density from Dr. Stephan van Vliet: https://stephanvanvliet.com/nutrient-...Check out Green Cover's SmartMix Calculator to design custom cover crop mixes: https://smartmix.greencoverseed.com/Speak with a Green Cover sales representative at 402-469-6784.

After nearly four years of delays, the USDA has finalized guidance for the 45Z Clean Fuel Production Credit, and it's opening up real financial opportunities for corn and soybean farmers. Mitchell Hora, seventh-generation Iowa farmer and founder of Continuum Ag, breaks down how a farm's Carbon Intensity (CI) score works and how lowering it through cover crops, no-till, and better nitrogen management can add up to premiums of 10-50 cents per bushel on corn. We cover what documentation you need, how the audit process actually works, and why farmers who already delivered 2025 crop into the biofuel supply chain need to act now. Mitchell also shares how to calculate your farm's CI score for free at https://topsoil.ag/, so you can find out if this program is worth pursuing on your own operation. As Mitchell notes, the program is still in its early stages, with real uncertainties around exactly how much ethanol plants will share with farmers, whether nearby plants will participate at all and other risks but overall the program opens up new opportunity that could radically increase adoption of soil health practices across the US.

Wheat harvest isn't the end of your growing season, it's the start of a new opportunity. In this episode, Keith sits down with longtime cover crop expert Dale Strickler to talk through what to plant after wheat comes off, and how to turn those acres into high quality forage and free nitrogen for next year's crop. Dale breaks down the best species for summer grazing versus winter stockpile, how to fix the maximum amount of nitrogen, and how to time planting after harvest for maximum weed suppression. Ready to build your own mix? Try our SmartMix Calculator at https://smartmix.greencoverseed.com/ or contact our team to talk through your options. 402-469-6784Learn more and work with Dale Strickler: https://www.regenerativewisdom.com/

Mark Thomas has spent 30-plus years in the grass seed industry, and today he ranches south of Enid, Oklahoma with his wife Annette — raising 100% grass-fed beef on a system built around diverse annual and perennial forages. In this conversation, Keith and Mark dig into some of the most practical questions in regenerative grazing: How do you integrate perennials with annuals? When does it make sense to convert crop ground to grass? And what's actually happening in the rumen when cattle graze a diverse mix versus a monoculture?