Producer Van Mansheim of Colome, S.D., was elected to the South Dakota Soil Health Coalition Board of Directors in January 2021. He attended Northern State University and operates ManBull Farming LLC with his brother Kirk Mansheim and nephew Heath Bullington. Together they custom graze cattle and grow corn, winter wheat, oats, soybeans, and alfalfa. Mansheim’s operation has been no-till since 2010, and they have been growing and winter grazing cover crops since 2014. They have planted into green cover crops since 2017 and have been using a roller crimper since 2019. They began twice-over rotational grazing cattle on rangeland in 2019 and started winter bale grazing in 2020.

Mainsheim’s soil health goals include remaining profitable while mimicking Mother Nature, continuing to increase his soil’s water infiltration rate and sequester carbon by following the Five Principles of Soil Health, and finding ways to decrease his dependency on synthetic fertilizers and chemicals.