Subject: Re: info request

From: [email-masked] (James Meade)
Date: 3 Nov 1994 12:49:34 -0000

Joel,

Dick Thompson, Boone, Ia, founder of Practical Farmers of Iowa, plants 
rye on his ridges after harvesting corn and beans.  The next spring, he 
"scalps" the two rows of rye off with a modified Buffalo Ridge Till machine.

Call Dick at 515-432-1560 or write him at 2035 190th St., Boone, IA 
50036.  Dick is a very highly respected farmer-testor of sustainable 
agriculture techniques.  He works very closely with the Iowa State 
University Leopold Institute, which is dedicated to sustainable 
agriculture, and Rodale.  

Dick farms on relatively flat land and his practices, while using very 
few commercial fertilizer and essentially no chemical inputs (except for 
the test plots comparing conventional techniques with sustainable 
techniques) "looks" conventional and mainstream.  He has the reputation 
of being an excellent manager.  I've visited Dick and Sharon and their 
farm shows all the signs of superb management and profitability.

Dick's not online, but you email to [email-masked] Rick Exner, who 
works very closely with and can describe Dick's operation.  Rick is not 
the best guy in the world at reading his email, alas <G>.

Dicks operations are often described in New Farm as well as the PFI 
newsletter, which Rick Exner can tell you how to ftp.

Jim - Farmer - Iowa City, IA, 
[email-masked]