Conserving soil since 1936

LEWISTON, Minn. - Clear Crest Farm has been implementing conservation practices on their farm ever since John Miller purchased the farm in 1936.
“When my grandpa bought this farm during the Great Depression, it had been abandoned for two or three years and nobody else wanted it,” Robb Miller said. “He said it was nothing but weeds and gullies, so he hired the soil conservation service to come out and lay out contours.”
Miller farms with his brother, Luke, and mother, Pat, near Lewiston. They milk 700 cows and farm 2,000 acres of corn, soybean, alfalfa, triticale and other cover crops mixes.

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The Millers were recognized as this year’s Winona County Outstanding Conservationist July 7 at the Winona County Fair in St. Charles. Luke accepted the award on the farm’s behalf.
“It’s an honor and surprising,” Miller said. “We are always trying our best to reduce tillage and seed as many acres as possible with cover crops, depending on the year. I am humbled because I know there are so many others that are deserving and further along in the steps than we are.”
The Millers have used many conservation practices from putting in contours when they first bought the farm to their father, Jack, switching from the moldboard plow to the chisel plow to reduce tillage.
Tillage is also one of the biggest changes the Millers have seen with conservation practices.
“The equipment has gotten better,” Miller said. “My dad got rid of the moldboard plow and brought in a chisel plow, then we went to medium-depth chisel plows. And now, we are using vertical tillage equipment which keeps getting better. There is more flexibility and more options which can be tailored to what you want to achieve.”
Today, the Millers implement cover crops into their crop rotations, contour hillsides, use minimum till practices and try to not leave the soil bare.
“We try to keep the soil covered as much as possible,” Miller said. “This helps keep the top soil in place because it is always the top soil that leaves in an erosion event. That’s your best soil, so if you can keep that in place, the crops get better, the fields are smoother, and it’s easier on equipment.”
The Millers plant triticale as a winter cover after corn and then chop it the next spring and plant no-till or vertical-till soybean after, depending on how wet the ground is. They also plant rye and a barley, oat and field pea mix after tilling up alfalfa.
“We are just trying to reduce erosion and eliminate gullies and washouts,” Miller said. “Land is too high priced to watch it go down the waterways, and my grandpa and dad worked hard to get this farm to where it is now.”
In turn, these cover crops and reduced tillage practices have worked to reduce soil erosion, eliminated gullies and washouts, and improved crop production.
“Each year is different, and there are always varying degrees of success,” Miller said.
To make sure employees and family members are following the conservation practices, the Millers lead by example.
“We have to be clear on how we want things done, so communication is key,” Miller said. “We also have to be adaptable depending on the amount of rain. Some things work one year, but they won’t work the next because we get a lot of rain.”
One practice the Millers are looking at expanding on is planting green.
“The last couple years we practiced planting green by interseeding rye into corn and soybeans, and it has worked well so far,” Miller said.  
Triticale has also proven to be a good feed source for their cattle, Miller said.
“Our nutritionist also figured out how to feed it so we don’t have to buy cottonseed or feed straw from Missouri, Arkansas or Nebraska anymore,” Miller said. “This saves on purchases and reduces the amount of weed seeds we are bringing in from out of state.”
The Millers have also received advice from their agronomist, seed dealers and Mike Unruh, who owns a cover crop seed sales business.
“They predict what issues we are going to be up against and select the seed or spray technology that helps us achieve a positive outcome on our crops,” Miller said. “Mike, for example, has only been out of college for four or five years and has a wealth of knowledge we can tap into.”
Some of their biggest mentors have been their father and grandfather as well as neighbors such as Everett Rolfing, who works for the farm and became familiar with cover crops within the last five years.
“We are still learning and picking up different ideas from people,” Miller said. “We see them try something, talk to them about it and then try it on our farm.”
Miller also joined a soil health team to learn more about good practices.
Twenty-five years ago, their parents won the same award.
“To us, this award means we are continuing the legacy our parents and grandparents set for us,” Miller said.
The award also incentivizes them to advance to where they want to be with soil conservation, Miller said.
“Most people are concerned about conservation so it helps that dairy farmers can be a part of that equation,” Miller said. “The cover crops can also help with our public relations because consumers can drive by and look at the fields in the fall and winter and they will still be green.”
In the future, they plan on changing their manure storage and equipment so they can implement more cover crops into their crop rotation.
“Our eventual goal is to have everything planted with cover crops,” Miller said. “With our current manure system, however, we are limited on the amount we can have as the window gets too tight, and we need to have fields to spread on in the fall. Once we change that, we can expand our legumes, cover crop mixes and implement different varieties.”

  Cutlines:

KR_Miller- 1_5484: Robb Miller stands in a field of soybean which was planted after triticale this spring. Miller and his brother, Luke, were announced as the Winona County Outstanding Conservationist July 7.

KR_Miller- 2_5482: Robb Miller holds up triticale which was chopped this spring. Due to harvesting 10 days later because of rain and the triticale being coarser, they are feeding most to the heifers.

KR_Miller- 3_5489: Robb Miller spreads apart soybean to reveal triticale stubble Aug. 16. Miller milks 700 cows and farms 2,000 acres of corn, soybean, alfalfa, triticale and other cover crops mixes with his brother, Luke, on their farm near Lewiston, Minnesota.

KR_Miller- 4_5496: A barley, oats and field pea mix comes up in one of Clear Crest Farm’s fields on Aug. 16. The farm has been practicing conservation since the farm was started in 1937.

KR_Miller- 5_5490: A field comes up green on Aug. 16. In the future, Robb Miller hopes to plant everything in cover crops which he believes has helped both reduce soil erosion, eliminate gullies and washouts and improve their crops.