An Indiana Farmer’s Soil Transformation Journey

Roger Wenning shares how tiling, grid sampling, no till, cover crops, and nutrient management helped him transform multiple types of tough soils on his Indiana farm. The once erosion-prone hills and ‘crawdad ground’ have seen yields climb from 30 bushels below to 40 bushels over the county average.

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Meet Roger Wenning

Wenning’s soil challenges began more than 100,000 years ago, when the Illinoian glacier came to a stop in the middle of what is now his 900-acre southeast Indiana corn, soybean, and wheat farm. The glacier left behind drastically different types of soil on either side of its path. 

“I did not start with the best soils,” Wenning said. In the 1980s, he set out to change that. 

The glacier left behind Clermont Cobbsfork soil, which USDA describes as very deep silt loam with poor drainage. Wenning said there was about a 2′ layer of heavy, wet soil. “We call it ‘crawdad ground.’ I was having a little trouble with no tilling, but we got it working after I started tiling it,” he said. After other farmers saw his work, they started asking if he’d do the same for them, which led to Wenning starting a tiling and excavation business.

In fields untouched by the glacier, Wenning said, “We really didn’t have topsoil on the hills. With too many years of tillage and pillage, a lot of that soil washed down. Some of my bottoms were real good, but the hillsides were terrible at production.”

Thanks to switching to no-till, planting cover crops, and carefully monitoring nutrient management, those fields have also been transformed. “In the last 25 years, we’ve taken our yields from 30 bushels under the county average — which is about right for my soil compared to other soil in the county — to about 40 bushels over the county average.”

Wenning is past president of the Indiana Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts, and has been named Indiana Conservation Farmer of the Year and earned the American Soybean Association’s (ASA) National Conservation Legacy Award. He is currently director of the Indiana Soybean Alliance Board and a member of ASA. “Working with the associations is a way to help give back, and I’ve really enjoyed the opportunity to meet a lot of great people in the process,” he said. 

He went on a soybean promotion mission to Bogota, Colombia, as part of the board. “I saw the beans when they came out of the field, came off my combine. So, to get down there and to see them was cool for me and I think for them also,” he said.

Wenning also gives back to the industry by sharing the knowledge he has gained on his 45-year soil improvement journey. He shares his story with on-farm field days and volunteers as a judge for Purdue University’s soybean innovation contest. He is also a founding member of Farm Advisors, a mentoring program that links beginning Indiana farmers with more experienced counterparts. It launched last year, and the goal is to expand to other states.

Potential mentees answer a questionnaire and are paired with a mentor who has a similar operation. “It’s farmers mentoring farmers, and they’re strictly volunteers,” he said. “We’re hoping it really takes off and helps farmers to be successful on their first try, because if you’re unsuccessful that first time, we may have lost you. We’re there to help.”

Episode Highlights

• The Illinoian glacier stopped in the middle of Wenning’s Indiana farm, leaving behind drastically different types of soil on either side of its path.
• He began experimenting with no-till and cover crops in the mid-1980s to fight erosion on hills and improve difficult wet soils.
• Tiling, grid sampling, and nutrient management helped improve productivity on challenging soils.
• Over 25 years, he boosted yields from 30 bushels under to 40 bushels over the county average.
• In addition to farming, Wenning operates an excavation business.
• He co-founded Farm Advisors, a farmer-led mentorship platform in Indiana that matches beginners with more seasoned farmers based on operation type and size.
• Wenning has received state and national recognition for conservation efforts.
• He serves on the Indiana Soybean Alliance board, supporting global soy promotion and judging a soybean innovation contest at Purdue University.

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