Indiana no-tiller Rick Clark has gained some notoriety recently as one of a handful of farmers who is making organic no-till work — and on a large scale. Cropping about 7,000 acres near Williamsport, he’s intensely focused on building soil health in his diverse system that includes seeding cover crops, planting green, reducing inputs and incorporating livestock. Acknowledging that he doesn’t have all the answers, he nonetheless stresses the importance of challenging the status quo. At the 2019 National No-Tillage Conference, for example, he said “I challenge everyone to get a little uncomfortable. I think you’ll like the way it feels.”
In this episode of the No-Till Farmer podcast series, I caught up with Rick after he hosted a field day on his farm at the end of August, 2020 called “Regenerative Systems Deconstructed.” 250 people turned out for the event and several hundred more tuned in online to hear what Rick and other local experts had to say about his organic no-till operation. Tune in to hear about the equipment he uses, his approach to diverse cropping rotations, the weed outbreak progressions he’s seen since going organic, his thoughts on weeds becoming resistant to cover crops, and much more.