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Derek and Renee Martin, Mount Pulaski, Ill., are National Outstanding Young Farmers. Here’s a look at their operation and their attention to soil health.

Holly Spangler, Senior Editor, Prairie Farmer

February 22, 2019

3 Min Read
Derek, Renee, Dean, Reed Martin
FAMILY: Derek and Renee Martin are raising their sons, Dean and Reed, on Martin Family Farms at Mount Pulaski, Ill. The boys are the eighth generation in an operation that started in 1827.

Not every young farmer can say they’re among the top farmers in the nation, but Derek and Renee Martin, Mount Pulaski, Ill., can make that claim. They were recently named one of four National Outstanding Young Farmers award winners by the Outstanding Farmers of America organization, during dayslong competitions among 10 finalists.

“Really, the most important thing that Renee and I have achieved [from this experience] is a set of wonderful friends that will last a lifetime, from old to young in agriculture, that we can team up together with and help promote agriculture going forward,” Derek says.

At one point known as the Jaycees Outstanding Young Farmer award, this award is presented based on agricultural production and progress, conservation achievement, and community involvement.

Derek and Renee are the seventh generation to operate Martin Family Farms near Mount Pulaski. They raise corn and soybeans on 3,600 acres, where half those acres also grow cover crops. They farm with Derek’s brother and sister-in-law, Doug and Erin Martin. Derek and Doug’s father, Jeff, an early no-till pioneer, has been reinvigorated by the new technology and possibilities in today’s agriculture. To say the Martins are “big soil conservationists” might be an understatement.

“We strip till and no-till everything,” Derek says. “We really hang our hat on improving soil structure and soil quality through cover crops and biologicals that we use on our farm.”

Biological details
Derek says they’ve been able to decrease applied inputs, thanks to using a biological mix on their soils. They work with agronomist Brad Hobrock, AgriBio Systems, to create a biological solution with more than 4,000 beneficial fungi and bacteria.

Applied in both spring and fall, the solution is called Biomax. “It allows us to bring our soil ratios back into balance of maybe what they should be when it was just prairie grass,” Derek explains. “It improves our soil health, improves our soil aggregation, water infiltration and our water-holding capacity.”

Further, Derek says they’ve been able to decrease total applied nitrogen for the past three years while maintaining yield. Last year, they eliminated soybean seed treatments, and pesticides and insecticides on their soybeans.

“We don't use any fungicide on any of our crops — corn or beans — because our soil is proven to be healthy enough to take care of those things naturally like it should,” he adds.

They apply a majority of their nitrogen in the fall as anhydrous with strip till, and then make another pass in the spring with a chemical pass behind the planter. They want to put on less fall-applied N, but their primary goal is to move away from anhydrous and N-Serve, to improve soil health. “We’ve actually eliminated N-Serve in our nitrogen program because our soil is healthy enough to hold that N without a stabilizer,” Derek says.

Renee and Derek Martin

WINNERS: Renee and Derek Martin were named one of four national winners at the recent National Outstanding Young Farmers conference in the Quad Cities.

Renee left her job as a dental hygienist last year, focusing instead on the farm. She’s become a “brewmaster” of sorts for their biological solutions.

“You have to brew it, almost like a tea,” she says. “It takes a lot of time to do that.”

Derek and Renee have two boys, Dean and Reed. They’re also active in the community, coaching youth sports, and serving the park district, drainage district and county Farm Bureau. They’re also working to share their farm story through their website, Facebook page and a new soil health podcast.

As part of their National Outstanding Young Farmers prize, the Martins will receive a savings bond from John Deere and a trip to the 2020 National Ag Day festivities in Washington, D.C. They also will be featured in a segment with Orion Samuelson on “This Week in Agribusiness.”

About the Author(s)

Holly Spangler

Senior Editor, Prairie Farmer, Farm Progress

Holly Spangler has covered Illinois agriculture for more than two decades, bringing meaningful production agriculture experience to the magazine’s coverage. She currently serves as editor of Prairie Farmer magazine and Executive Editor for Farm Progress, managing editorial staff at six magazines throughout the eastern Corn Belt. She began her career with Prairie Farmer just before graduating from the University of Illinois in agricultural communications.

An award-winning writer and photographer, Holly is past president of the American Agricultural Editors Association. In 2015, she became only the 10th U.S. agricultural journalist to earn the Writer of Merit designation and is a five-time winner of the top writing award for editorial opinion in U.S. agriculture. She was named an AAEA Master Writer in 2005. In 2011, Holly was one of 10 recipients worldwide to receive the IFAJ-Alltech Young Leaders in Ag Journalism award. She currently serves on the Illinois Fairgrounds Foundation, the U of I Agricultural Communications Advisory committee, and is an advisory board member for the U of I College of ACES Research Station at Monmouth. Her work in agricultural media has been recognized by the Illinois Soybean Association, Illinois Corn, Illinois Council on Agricultural Education and MidAmerica Croplife Association.

Holly and her husband, John, farm in western Illinois where they raise corn, soybeans and beef cattle on 2,500 acres. Their operation includes 125 head of commercial cows in a cow/calf operation. The family farm includes John’s parents and their three children.

Holly frequently speaks to a variety of groups and organizations, sharing the heart, soul and science of agriculture. She and her husband are active in state and local farm organizations. They serve with their local 4-H and FFA programs, their school district, and are active in their church's youth and music ministries.

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