The Importance of Covered Soils, Wet or Dry
by Ethan Begle Do you plant in wet soil in the spring, or is it usually too dry? When it’s wet, it’s tempting to scratch… Read More »The Importance of Covered Soils, Wet or Dry
by Ethan Begle Do you plant in wet soil in the spring, or is it usually too dry? When it’s wet, it’s tempting to scratch… Read More »The Importance of Covered Soils, Wet or Dry
by Ethan Begle, Technical Service Just as a dentist can quickly tell your eating and brushing habits, a visit to your field will reveal visual… Read More »Adjustments to Be Made for Harvest & Fall Seeding
by Ethan Begle, Technical Service A weed is a plant in an undesirable place. When we are trying to grow a monoculture of corn, soybeans,… Read More »Don’t Stimulate Weeds to Grow
by Ethan Begle, Technical Service For many farmers, this was the year in which waiting through April for warm, dry weather didn’t equal better conditions… Read More »Wet Spring? Less is More.
by Ethan Begle, Technical Service “For every person that says it can’t be done, there’s already someone on the other side of the fence doing… Read More »Tillage Increases Compaction, “Physically & Mentally”
It’s harvest season once again and we are sharing some reminders in order to better prepare your fields for next year’s planting. No-tilling means that… Read More »Top of Mind for Fall Harvest
This topic continues to be a major issue when no-tilling‚ and with good reason. How do you plant through all of the residues left on the… Read More »Hairpinning Residue? UniForce vs Row Cleaners
by Ethan Begle, Sales & Technical Service Representative While the simple act of not tilling the soil is becoming more common, there’s a missing piece… Read More »Living Roots and Covered Soils
Laying to rest the negativity towards Seed Firmers Struggling to get good emergence with your planter in no-till? Inadequate seed firming is often the culprit. … Read More »Set-up Your Seeds for Success: The Great Keeton Debate
I’ve spent a lot of time over the years urging no-tillers to avoid compaction and ruts with their equipment by using larger, low-pressure radials (see article) or… Read More »Dealing with Ruts in No-till
Content of this page is copyright 2005-2025 Exapta Solutions, Inc. (reprint with written permission only).
Thompson wheel covered by U.S. Patent No. 6,907,833. Liquid delivery feature of Valion seed tube guards is U.S. Patent No. 8,978,564. Ninja seed bounce flap U.S. Patent Pending. UniForce U.S. Patent Pending. All rights reserved on other designs. Exapta is a registered trademark of Exapta Solutions, Inc. Keeton is a registered trademark of Precision Planting. Mojo Wire, Thompson wheel, Valion guard, Ninja flap, UniForce, DuraLok, No-till Seeding Explained, and No-till Seeding School are trademarks of Exapta. Disclaimer: Recommendations & page content are current, accurate, and believed to be broadly applicable as of the time of writing (Dec 2005) and last update (2005 – 2014). Because of diversity of soils, climate, crops, planter & drill models/designs marketed worldwide, combinations of attachments, etc., actual results may vary. No warranty is made as to actual results obtained. Should you encounter exceptions or worthwhile annotations to the statements made on this page, please contact us.
Derek is Kansas native who grew up in a 100% no-till farming operation. From an early age the benefits of no-till were made known to Derek by his father and by attending no-till conferences. From there he furthered his passion for soils while at Kansas State University getting his agronomy degree. He has had the experience of working in various roles and sectors of agriculture from sales and consulting to management, which have all been within production agriculture. Derek has also worked in specialty ag markets such as turf and ornamentals.
Sales & Service Representative
Prior to joining Exapta, Bob Pagel was an Agricultural Territory Sales Manager for Ritchie Brothers, serving parts of MN, WI and IA. He continues to support his family farm in SE Minnesota.
Current Product Engineer
Jonathan Zeller joined Exapta excited to return to working with no-till planting equipment. He supported research of no-till planting and other ag related projects for 7 years with Kansas State University’s Agricultural Engineering Department after getting his engineering degree. He later worked 3 years for Landoll Company, LLC. where he gained experience in a design engineering role. Jonathan grew up on a small family farm in NE Kansas working with row crops, hay and cattle. Jonathan enjoys solving engineering problems and improving or creating products to be robust and easy to install and service.