Armored Soil

Renville SWCD
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  • EDUCATION

Renville County Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) is a local unit of government that manages and directs natural resource management programs for the conservation of soil, water, and other natural resources. Through this channel we hope to provide useful practices and programs to our farmers/landowners, a greater understanding of natural processes to our local youth, and a valuable resource for the Renville County Community. By commenting/posting you agree to our media comment policy, found on our website. www.renvilleswcd.com/media-policy

Episodes

  1. 06/21/2025

    Episode 11 - 70th Anniversary of Renville SWCD

    Join us while we celebrate 70 years of conservation in Renville County! In this episode we talk with the Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Renville County SWCD, and our County Commissioner liaison to the SWCD. To celebrate our anniversary, we reminisce on past events, uncover why our representatives felt called to serve, and most importantly – celebrate you! The landowners and operators of Renville County that allow us at the Soil and Water continue to our mission. Thank you for a great 70 years, and here’s to the next!

    24 min

  2. 05/17/2025

    Episode 10 - Importance of Diversity

    Join Renville SWCD district administrator, Holly Hatlewick, as she chats with farmer and seed dealer, TJ Kartes, about his experience with soil health practices personally and professionally. In this episode TJ will discuss: Diversifying cover crops and cash crops Keep it simple – each cover needs a purpose Cereal cover crops before cereal cash crops Keeping your purpose in mind when planting cover crops Nutrient cycling in above ground biomass Occasional soil and biomass testing to build personal dataset Landlord and tenant relationships around soil health Creative seeding solution

    56 min
  3. Episode 9 - Context

    04/19/2025

    Episode 9 - Context

    Join District Manager, Holly Hatlewick, as she talks with Phil and Robin Smith about their journey from a conventional farming system to a regenerative farming system in their 45 years of operating the farm! Discover how overtime Phil and Robin have added in soil health practices since 1992 as they have made agronomic and economic sense on their land. Phil and Robin will discuss: - Unconventional livestock on their farm - How to diversify from a corn and soybean rotation - Equipment transitions from deep tillage to all no-till crops - Changes to chemical necessities and application - Mindset of yield maximization or profit maximization Soil structure and health changes shaping agronomic decisions Adding cover crops to unlock deeper soil health benefits - Adjusting management for corn and cover crop residue

    38 min

  4. 11/25/2024

    Episode 8: Mentorship

    Join Pamela Winzenburg as she chats with Grant and Dawn Breitkreutz of Stony Creek Farms. The Breitkreutzes have transitioned from a conventional row crop and livestock operation to a regenerative agriculture system over the last 20 years. In this episode you will hear about: • Their current row crop and cattle operation • Finding a mentor at the beginning of their regenerative agriculture journey • Continued support from mentors from beginning to end • Impact of attending soil health focused meetings locally and nationally • The levels of learning about soil health • Cross-disciplinary conversations By commenting or posting you agree to our media policy, found on our website. www.renvilleswcd.com/media-policy

    54 min

  5. 11/18/2024

    Episode 7: Integrating Livestock

    Join Kyle, Brad, and Naomi Freyholtz as they talk in depth about how they have introduced livestock and many other soil health principles into their row crops and garden. In this episode you will hear them discuss: • Current row crop practices & how they translated that to their garden • Hogo-culture gardening • Livestock & small grain opportunities • Earthworm impacts & residue • Cover crop mixes in row crops and garden • Nutrients and soil testing • Soil and plant resiliancy • Future plans on the operation By commenting or posting you agree to our media policy, found on our website. www.renvilleswcd.com/media-policy

    44 min

  6. 11/04/2024

    Episode 6: Advising Soil Health Changes

    Join Kyle as he talks with Joe Ailts, an independent agronomist from Northwest Wisconsin, with a passion for soil health. Kyle and Joe will discuss: Changes in soybean's relative maturity to implement more cover crops Biological activity and brassica cover crop interactions Equipment changes New markets & expanding crop rotations Nitrogen credits in cover crop biomass Harvesting sunlight Increasing education and experience By commenting or posting you agree to our media policy, found on our website. www.renvilleswcd.com/media-policy

    39 min

  7. 10/28/2024

    Episode 5: Diversity

    Join Holly Hatlewick as she talks with local grower Macius Schreoder about our third principal of soil health: diversity. Macius isn't afraid of any challenges when it comes to trying something new on his operation, especially when it comes to diversifying his cover crop mixes. Throughout the episode he will talk about: His 19 species mix cover crop planted this year His crop rotation Improved water infiltration Biostrips Tips to include more diversity in your crop rotation By commenting or posting you agree to our media policy, found on our website. www.renvilleswcd.com/media-policy

    31 min

  8. 05/13/2024

    Episode 4: Soil Biology

    Join us as we take a pause on the Soil Health Principles and gain a better understanding of the soil biology for your fields, garden, or even your flower beds. In this episode Kyle, Holly, and Pamela will discuss What is soil biology? Similar ideas of body biology and soil biology Reliance on synthetic vs. building up a natural system Mindset change from conventional to regenerative Rainfall infiltration & how biology is affected by water retention “Soil Your Undies” Unintended biological benefits of a regenerative system By commenting or posting you agree to our media policy, found on our website. www.renvilleswcd.com/media-policy

    38 min

  9. 05/06/2024

    Episode 3: Soil Armor

    Local grower, Erik Dean, talks about his journey from conventional farming to soil health focused farming in South Central MN. Erik has figured out how to utilize cover crop biomass and leaving crop residue on the surface to increase his soil armor. Erik will discuss: Conventional till to vertical till to strip till to no till and cover crops Diversified crop rotation Residue management Fertilizer management Planting & Green seeing Compaction & soil structure Water infiltration Spring delays Trial and errors By commenting or posting you agree to our media policy, found on our website. www.renvilleswcd.com/media-policy

    46 min

  10. 04/29/2024

    Episode 2: The Living Root

    Today we will meet Heidi from the Hawk Creek Watershed project and our first grower, Dean Dambroten. Dean is the 'financial manager' of the family farm in Western Renville County and is the 4th generation to farm the land. Dean will discuss the operation's: Reduced inputs with switching to strip-till from conventional tillage Fertilizer management Interseeding in young corn and dormant seeding after corn Residue management Weather resiliency to drought and rain Return on investment & yields Equipment changes Green seeding Diversity in crop rotations Planting concerns By commenting or posting you agree to our media policy, found on our website. www.renvilleswcd.com/media-policy

    54 min

  11. 04/23/2024

    Episode 1: Introduction

    Welcome to the Renville County Soil and Water Conservation District’s premiere episode of Armored Soil! This is the first of four episodes that we will be releasing in Spring of 2024, with hopes to release the rest of this series this summer and fall. In this episode we will   meet the SWCD team and our passion for conservation learn what the SWCD is and how it can help landowners and operators discuss what the historic land use in Renville County was & how that has changed discuss soil carbon and organic matter introduce the six soil health principles perform a slake test on 4 soil samples, all from different operations By commenting or posting you agree to our media policy, found on our website. www.renvilleswcd.com/media-policy

    56 min

  12. TRAILER

    Introducing Armored Soil...and the rest of the soil health principles

    In season one of Armored Soil, we will introduce you to who the Renville County SWCD is and some of our partners, but most importantly we'll talk soil health. This season will focus on the basics-the sixth principles of a healthy soil and talk with real area farmers who have implemented these practices in their operation. Stay tuned for our first drop coming early spring! By commenting/posting you agree to our media comment policy, found on our website. https://www.renvilleswcd.com/media-policy

    1 min

Trailer

About

Renville County Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) is a local unit of government that manages and directs natural resource management programs for the conservation of soil, water, and other natural resources. Through this channel we hope to provide useful practices and programs to our farmers/landowners, a greater understanding of natural processes to our local youth, and a valuable resource for the Renville County Community. By commenting/posting you agree to our media comment policy, found on our website. www.renvilleswcd.com/media-policy

Information

  • Creator
    Renville SWCD
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2025
  • Episodes
    12
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Renville SWCD
  • Show Website
    Armored Soil