Originally published in Farm and Dairy. The original article can be accessed here.
By Nella Citino
NAVARRE, Ohio — Ben Klick is seeding soybeans two weeks ahead of schedule. The sun is warming the soil as he runs his tractor over his plot of land in Navarre.
“It’s a little early, but I’m trying to get a jump on planting,” Klick said. He is expecting a new member of the family to arrive in three weeks.
Ben Klick is young, ambitious and willing to embrace new challenges, new research and new technology.
Klick has farming in his blood. He is part of a farm family that’s in its fifth generation, and he farms full time with his father and another partner. According to Klick, farming is a business, and everyone should be open to the entrepreneurial side. In the meantime, he is giving voice to a new generation.
Collaboration
One opportunity Klick embraces is participating in the Stark Sustainable Soils Initiative, which is in its fourth year of study. It is research conducted in collaboration between the Ohio State University College of Food, Agriculture and Environmental Sciences Extension Program and the Carbon Management and Sequestration Center.
The purpose of the project is to gauge the land management practices of 12 local Stark County farmers and how their practices impact soil health, crop production and the quality of nutrients. This project is funded by the Herbert W. Hoover Foundation.
As one of the farms in the research project, Klick’s farm is soil tested regularly. He strives to have a minimal-till or no-till crop farm and has become keenly aware of soil health and how it affects crop production.
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