Crop Science and Agriculture

Biography

Rick Bieber is a no-till farmer from the center of the United States of America. He farms in a 425mm precipitation zone on 5000 acres (2200 hectares) of cropland and also has 5000 acres (2200 hectares) of native rangeland for a 500-head cow/calf operation. He has been in a continuous low disturbance no-till system for 30 years. His main crops include hard red spring wheat, hard red winter wheat, corn, flax, chickpeas, sunflowers, and alfalfa. He has been using cover crops for the last 18 years to further his unending quest for soil health. Rick is intensely interested in keeping the farm operation economically viable and gets to the heart of a problem quickly before it becomes a major problem. Rick is a strong advocate of diverse crop rotations and understands how to implement the ‘5 Soil Care Principles’ for a successful soil health system to exist. He has been a popular speaker at a number of no-till conferences throughout the United States over the last 20 years. He has also spoken at many conferences through out the world including Great Britain, Finland, Russia, Ukraine, Bulgaria and Australia. He served as the President of The South Dakota No-till Association for 12 years and is presently on the Board of Directors for No-till on the Plains. To farm is to care for the “Skin of the Earth” Rick considers himself a “Soil Care Taker” rather than a farmer.

Research Interest

Soil Research and Agriculture