On March 24–25, 2026, Fields of Sinsinawa hosted the second installment of Dubuque County Watershed’s Roots to Results soil health training series. Educators included Barry Fisher, retired NRCS Soil Health Specialist from Indiana; Hillary Olson, Iowa NRCS State Soil Health Specialist; Alisha Sedlmayer, NRCS Northeast Iowa Soil Health Specialist; and Rick Bieber, soil caretaker for Fields of Sinsinawa. Together, they offered practical insights into what drives better soil function.
Along with classroom learning and an up-close look at more than 20 species of living cover crops, a highlight of the two-day session was a field tour across the diverse landscape at Sinsinawa Mound in southwest Wisconsin.
Though the tour started off brisk and breezy, field conditions were excellent. The group moved easily from site to site on a people mover towed by a pickup, and there was no shortage of interesting insights.
At several stops, attendees used shovels and simple soil probes to test conditions firsthand. In a field that had wheat sown last fall with a diverse, winter-killed cover crop mix, the probes slipped easily into the dark, crumbly soil. Just a short distance away, in an alfalfa field, much more force was needed to push the steel rod into the ground.
Other in-field tests, including slump tests and water infiltration rings, told a similar story. Fields with greater plant diversity consistently showed better aggregate stability. The poorest functioning soils were those that had grown soybeans the year before, followed by current alfalfa fields. Winter wheat fields planted last fall with a diverse cover crop mix performed well. The best water infiltration was found where winter wheat had been planted into a diverse forage mix in a Stock Cropper system that included grazing dairy calves, pigs, and chickens last summer. The takeaway was simple but powerful: a lot can be learned by paying attention. With a few basic tools, a willingness to look closely, and a bit of time, the soil begins to tell its story, and the story says diversity matters.
Check out the photos below!
