Kyle Okke's guest appearances

Kyle Okke

Soil Sense

Joe Breker

Matt Nelson

Rob Sharkey

David Archer

Jason Hanson

Greg Amundson

Elizabeth Reaves

Nathan Thomas

Sam Landman

Miranda Meehan

Monica McConkey

Kari Olson

Mark Liebig

Dan Vagle

Allie Slykerman

OwlTail

In this episode we take you back one more time to Agronomy on Ice in Devils Lake, North Dakota. We hear from the man who started it all, Jason Hanson, along with his partner in crime on the Agronomist Happy Hour podcast, Kyle Okke. Jason has been a regular contributor to Soil Sense and we featured both him and Kyle on our Agronomy on Ice episode last April. We talk to the guys about their knack for making things fun when it comes to learning about agronomy and soil health, their approaches to soil health as independent agronomists, Jason’s experience with the Trusted Advisor Partnership, what they’ve learned from their podcast, and more.  “It feels to me to some degree, like how Agronomy on Ice started. It's just like, here's an idea. We implement something that gets more people involved, ideas come in and then all of a sudden, boom, it takes off. And then you’ve got people like, “Hey, I wanna be a part of this. I’d like to join. I see what you're doing.” Or they kind of hang back and then it registers.” - Jason Hanson Both Jason and Kyle have left corporate ag retail jobs to start their own independent agronomic consulting businesses: Jason several years ago with Rock and Roll Agronomy in Webster, ND; and Kyle Okke just this past year with Agile Agronomy in Dickinson, ND. The two also joined forces with Bridget Readel to form Ag Mafia which put on Agronomy on Ice and is offering training, coaching, and other media services.   “I absolutely really enjoy what I did before and I'm very thankful for the opportunity I was given and the development I got and just everything, crop protection and adjuvants and all that. But for me it was time. And doing this on my own has been the best move I felt like I could make because it's a lot of fun to be able to be impactful to the local group of farmers and retailers that I work with.” - Kyle Okke  This Week on Soil Sense:  Join Jason Hanson of Rock and Roll Agronomy and Kyle Okke of Agile Agronomy, both hosts of the Agronomist Happy Hour podcast  Discover their career journeys and what projects they are working on right now  Explore the future of biological inputs to better manage water, soil and pests  

In this episode we take you back one more time to <a href="https://agronomyonice.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Agronomy on Ice</a> in Devils Lake, North Dakota. We hear from the man who started it all, Jason Hanson, along with his partner in crime on the <a href="https://agronomistshappyhour.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Agronomist Happy Hour podcast</a>, Kyle Okke. Jason has been a regular contributor to Soil Sense and we featured both him and Kyle on our Agronomy on Ice episode last April. We talk to the guys about their knack for making things fun when it comes to learning about agronomy and soil health, their approaches to soil health as independent agronomists, Jason’s experience with the <a href="https://trustedadvisorpartnership.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Trusted Advisor Partnership</a>, what they’ve learned from their podcast, and more.  “It feels to me to some degree, like how Agronomy on Ice started. It's just like, here's an idea. We implement something that gets more people involved, ideas come in and then all of a sudden, boom, it takes off. And then you’ve got people like, “Hey, I wanna be a part of this. I’d like to join. I see what you're doing.” Or they kind of hang back and then it registers.” - Jason Hanson Both Jason and Kyle have left corporate ag retail jobs to start their own independent agronomic consulting businesses: Jason several years ago with Rock and Roll Agronomy in Webster, ND; and Kyle Okke just this past year with Agile Agronomy in Dickinson, ND. The two also joined forces with Bridget Readel to form Ag Mafia which put on Agronomy on Ice and is offering training, coaching, and other media services.   “I absolutely really enjoy what I did before and I'm very thankful for the opportunity I was given and the development I got and just everything, crop protection and adjuvants and all that. But for me it was time. And doing this on my own has been the best move I felt like I could make because it's a lot of fun to be able to be impactful to the local group of farmers and retailers that I work with.” - Kyle Okke This Week on Soil Sense: <ul> <li>Join Jason Hanson of Rock and Roll Agronomy and Kyle Okke of Agile Agronomy, both hosts of the <a href="https://agronomistshappyhour.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Agronomist Happy Hour podcast</a> </li> <li>Discover their career journeys and what projects they are working on right now </li> <li>Explore the future of biological inputs to better manage water, soil and pests </li> </ul>

Making Agronomy Fun with Jason Hanson & Kyle Okke

Nikki Bylin

Scott Bylin

In February Dr. Abbey Wick and I had the chance to attend a really unique event you may have heard of called Agronomy on Ice. This is an annual event on Devils Lake, North Dakota. Picture several ice houses and hundreds of people on a frozen lake in below zero temperatures who all just want to talk about agriculture and have a great time, and you’ll have the basic idea. “If you've ever been to an ag show and they have booths and you walk down the alleys and you can stop and talk to people, think of that same concept only you're on a lake in North Dakota, in February, and instead of booths, you're in an ice house…..And the whole point is to treat it like a meeting, you come in see what is in the house and you start making connections.” - Jason Hanson The folks at Anheuser Busch were kind enough to let us set up shop in their ice house and host a series of casual conversations about soil health. We hear a few highlights from three of those conversations in this episode, which include Agronomy On Ice founder and Rock’N Roll Agronomy independent agronomist Jason Hanson, his Agronomist Happy Hour podcast co-host, Kyle Okke, the one and only Shark Farmer Rob Sharkey, Anheuser Busch Agronomy Manager Nikki Bylin, and Scott Bylin who farms in Northeast North Dakota also happens to be Nikki’s husband. The day was filled with laughter, great conversation, food, and a whole lot of fun. “It's absolutely great. It's one of those things that's hard to explain...You look at it from the outside and you say, we're drinking beer, we're eating food. It looks like you're tailgating. I don't really see a lot of handouts or actual seminars... but the reality is you show up and you start meeting people, you start talking and you get into conversations…You make connections with people. You probably wouldn't have made in other settings and you probably learn more than you realize.” - Kyle Okke Throughout the day, we kept having people like Jason and Kyle pop in and sit down with us for a few minutes to talk about soil in their areas. Because as we know everyone's area and farm is unique. Our speakers shared what soil health means to their operation and customers. “Soil health is everything and it means a lot of things.….if you're not paying attention to your soil health, and you're not doing things to maintain good soils and good land, you're going to fall behind and you're not going to be profitable. You’re not even going to be economically sustainable at where crop prices are.” - Kyle Okke  This Week on Soil Sense:  Enjoy hearing some of the conversations that happened at Agronomy on Ice 2022 Listen to “hallway conversations” with Agronomy on Ice founder and Rock’N Roll Agronomy independent agronomist Jason Hanson, his Agronomist Happy Hour podcast co-host, Kyle Okke, the one and only Shark Farmer Rob Sharkey, and Anheuser Busch Agronomy Manager Nikki Bylin and her husband farmer Scott Bylin   Connect with Soil Sense  Soil Sense Initiative   Soil Sense Podcast is hosted by Tim Hammerich of the Future of Agriculture Podcast.

In February Dr. Abbey Wick and I had the chance to attend a really unique event you may have heard of called <a href="https://agronomyonice.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Agronomy on Ice</a>. This is an annual event on Devils Lake, North Dakota. Picture several ice houses and hundreds of people on a frozen lake in below zero temperatures who all just want to talk about agriculture and have a great time, and you’ll have the basic idea. “If you've ever been to an ag show and they have booths and you walk down the alleys and you can stop and talk to people, think of that same concept only you're on a lake in North Dakota, in February, and instead of booths, you're in an ice house…..And the whole point is to treat it like a meeting, you come in see what is in the house and you start making connections.” - Jason Hanson The folks at Anheuser Busch were kind enough to let us set up shop in their ice house and host a series of casual conversations about soil health. We hear a few highlights from three of those conversations in this episode, which include Agronomy On Ice founder and <a href="https://rockandrollagronomy.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Rock’N Roll Agronomy</a> independent agronomist Jason Hanson, his <a href="https://www.agronomistshappyhour.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Agronomist Happy Hour podcast</a> co-host, Kyle Okke, the one and only <a href="https://sharkfarmer.com/about" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Shark Farmer Rob Sharkey</a>, Anheuser Busch Agronomy Manager Nikki Bylin, and Scott Bylin who farms in Northeast North Dakota also happens to be Nikki’s husband. The day was filled with laughter, great conversation, food, and a whole lot of fun. “It's absolutely great. It's one of those things that's hard to explain...You look at it from the outside and you say, we're drinking beer, we're eating food. It looks like you're tailgating. I don't really see a lot of handouts or actual seminars... but the reality is you show up and you start meeting people, you start talking and you get into conversations…You make connections with people. You probably wouldn't have made in other settings and you probably learn more than you realize.” - Kyle Okke Throughout the day, we kept having people like Jason and Kyle pop in and sit down with us for a few minutes to talk about soil in their areas. Because as we know everyone's area and farm is unique. Our speakers shared what soil health means to their operation and customers. “Soil health is everything and it means a lot of things.….if you're not paying attention to your soil health, and you're not doing things to maintain good soils and good land, you're going to fall behind and you're not going to be profitable. You’re not even going to be economically sustainable at where crop prices are.” - Kyle Okke This Week on Soil Sense: <ul> <li>Enjoy hearing some of the conversations that happened at <a href="https://agronomyonice.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Agronomy on Ice 2022</a></li> <li>Listen to “hallway conversations” with Agronomy on Ice founder and <a href="https://rockandrollagronomy.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Rock’N Roll Agronomy</a> independent agronomist Jason Hanson, his <a href="https://www.agronomistshappyhour.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Agronomist Happy Hour podcast</a> co-host, Kyle Okke, the one and only <a href="https://sharkfarmer.com/about" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Shark Farmer Rob Sharkey</a>, and Anheuser Busch Agronomy Manager Nikki Bylin and her husband farmer Scott Bylin</li> </ul> Connect with Soil Sense <ul> <li><a href="http://www.ndsoilsense.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Soil Sense Initiative</a></li> </ul> Soil Sense Podcast is hosted by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/timhammerich/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Tim Hammerich</a> of the <a href="http://www.futureofag.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Future of Agriculture Podcast</a>.

Agronomy on Ice featuring Jason Hanson, Kyle Okke, Rob Sharkey, Nikki Bylin and Scott Bylin

On the show today is Kyle Okke, regional agronomist at Winfield United. Most listeners are familiar with Winfield United, the large ag retail network that is part of Land O Lakes, a member-owned cooperative. Kyle is responsible for being a technical resource on anything related to crop protection, which includes employee training, customer education, troubleshooting, and technical advice. His job is impressive both in it’s scope of responsibilities, but also in its geography. Kyle covers from the Red River Valley all across North Dakota and Montana. With his experience of working very different areas of the state agronomically, he’s seen where farmers are generally the same, and where things are different.Today we navigate a variety of topics from tillage to carbon to pH to mistakes he’s seen some farmers make in a dry year like this one. “I definitely think it doesn't matter who they are as a farmer. I think they all have the same goal in mind and it's passing on what they have to the next generation….You can't just mine your soil, deplete it of all its nutrients, and deplete it of all its resources. ” - Kyle Okke He is seeing a trend with producers increasingly focusing on balanced fertility programs, better moisture retention, and making adjustments to retain as much topsoil as possible. Whether the producer wants to call it “soil health” or not the objective is to prolong the viability of ground they have available to farm. He has observed a lot of success and increasing popularity with strip tilling practices as a compromise between better agronomics and soil health. He cautions producers from focusing on any one factor as an individual. For example,  increasing carbon levels without adjusting for the carbon to nitrogen ratio. The concern here is that increased crop residue that leads to increased carbon in the soil will also temporarily tie up nitrogen in the soil. So rather than focusing on the carbon by itself, looking at the carbon as part of a system seems to be a better use and adjustment for soil health. He offers his opinion on carbon credits in light of this opinion. “The big thing is that this is incentivizing good soil health practices. That's what I see behind it is that it's an incentivization to do the right thing, you know, just to start building soil health.” - Kyle Okke As a final note, Kyle shares that he sees technology as a significant investment that will have a good return in the long term for producers. “I think technology is really going to pay for those guys that are adopting it and utilizing this data that they're collecting.” This Week on Soil Sense:  Meet Kyle Okke, regional agronomist at Winfield United  Learn about his experience and observations of trends working across the states of North Dakota and Montana  Explore his views on different agronomic practices from a high-level systems perspective rather than looking at one nutrient or factor at a time  Be sure to listen to The Agronomist Happy Hour Podcast that Kyle co-hosts. He recommends the episode called Complaints and Cocktails   Connect with Soil Sense:  Soil Sense Initiative   Soil Sense Podcast is hosted by Tim Hammerich of the Future of Agriculture Podcast.

On the show today is Kyle Okke, regional agronomist at <a href="https://www.winfieldunited.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Winfield United</a>. Most listeners are familiar with Winfield United, the large ag retail network that is part of Land O Lakes, a member-owned cooperative. Kyle is responsible for being a technical resource on anything related to crop protection, which includes employee training, customer education, troubleshooting, and technical advice. His job is impressive both in it’s scope of responsibilities, but also in its geography. Kyle covers from the Red River Valley all across North Dakota and Montana. With his experience of working very different areas of the state agronomically, he’s seen where farmers are generally the same, and where things are different.Today we navigate a variety of topics from tillage to carbon to pH to mistakes he’s seen some farmers make in a dry year like this one. “I definitely think it doesn't matter who they are as a farmer. I think they all have the same goal in mind and it's passing on what they have to the next generation….You can't just mine your soil, deplete it of all its nutrients, and deplete it of all its resources. ” - Kyle Okke He is seeing a trend with producers increasingly focusing on balanced fertility programs, better moisture retention, and making adjustments to retain as much topsoil as possible. Whether the producer wants to call it “soil health” or not the objective is to prolong the viability of ground they have available to farm. He has observed a lot of success and increasing popularity with strip tilling practices as a compromise between better agronomics and soil health. He cautions producers from focusing on any one factor as an individual. For example,  increasing carbon levels without adjusting for the carbon to nitrogen ratio. The concern here is that increased crop residue that leads to increased carbon in the soil will also temporarily tie up nitrogen in the soil. So rather than focusing on the carbon by itself, looking at the carbon as part of a system seems to be a better use and adjustment for soil health. He offers his opinion on carbon credits in light of this opinion. “The big thing is that this is incentivizing good soil health practices. That's what I see behind it is that it's an incentivization to do the right thing, you know, just to start building soil health.” - Kyle Okke As a final note, Kyle shares that he sees technology as a significant investment that will have a good return in the long term for producers. “I think technology is really going to pay for those guys that are adopting it and utilizing this data that they're collecting.” This Week on Soil Sense: <ul> <li>Meet Kyle Okke, regional agronomist at <a href="https://www.winfieldunited.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Winfield United </a></li> <li>Learn about his experience and observations of trends working across the states of North Dakota and Montana </li> <li>Explore his views on different agronomic practices from a high-level systems perspective rather than looking at one nutrient or factor at a time </li> <li>Be sure to listen to <a href="https://www.buzzsprout.com/1384621" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Agronomist Happy Hour Podcast</a> that Kyle co-hosts. He recommends the episode called <a href="https://www.buzzsprout.com/1384621/6607486" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Complaints and Cocktails </a></li> </ul> Connect with Soil Sense: <ul> <li><a href="http://www.ndsoilsense.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Soil Sense Initiative </a></li> </ul> Soil Sense Podcast is hosted by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/timhammerich/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Tim Hammerich</a> of the <a href="http://www.futureofag.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Future of Agriculture Podcast</a>.

Agronomic Challenges and Soil Health Opportunities with Kyle Okke